Tag: Myles Gaskin

Brian Flores says two players who were on the COVID list are able to practice Friday

This would leave four players still on the list.

The Miami Dolphins have received some great news on Friday after a tough week.

According to head coach Brian Flores, running backs Myles Gaskin and Salvon Ahmed are available to participate in the team’s final practice of the week. This would mean that the players have cleared the COVID-19 protocols after being placed on the reserve/COVID list earlier in the week.

Gaskin and Ahmed will join Duke Johnson on the active roster for Sunday’s game against the New York Jets which will really help the coaches stay committed to that run game as they have through their winning streak.

Four players remain on the reserve/COVID list for Miami, including wide receiver Jaylen Waddle, safety Jevon Holland, running back Phillip Lindsay, and practice squad running back Gerrid Doaks.

With the league’s new protocol put out on Thursday that requires each player to produce only one positive test, there is a greater chance that some of these guys could return before the Saturday afternoon deadline.

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Brian Flores says RB Malcolm Brown will practice on Wednesday

The Dolphins are getting much-needed reinforcements.

The Miami Dolphins have been dealing with COVID-19 running through their running back room in the past week.

Myles Gaskin, Phillip Lindsay, and Salvon Ahmed were all added to the reserve/COVID list, leaving the Dolphins without a healthy running back on their active roster before Duke Johnson was elevated from the practice squad.

Now, the team is getting some good news, as Malcolm Brown is set to return to practice on Wednesday, according to head coach Brian Flores.

Brown suffered a quad injury in the first quarter of Miami’s Week 7 game against the Atlanta Falcons and has been on injured reserve ever since. His return to practice would start his 21-day practice window where the Dolphins would have to either activate him or lose him for the season.

Miami’s running game hasn’t been great this year, in fact, they’ve been the second-worst in the league. However, over their last five games, the Dolphins have shown a commitment to the run game that the coaches don’t want to stop now. If Brown can come back and grab a few carries, that will help.

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The Dolphins offensive coaches don’t plan on shying away from the run despite availability concerns

The trio of backs might be out, but the Dolphins still want to stay balanced.

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Balance is key for any great football team.

A team that throws the ball 50 or 60 times a game every week probably won’t be all that successful, and the same could be said about a team giving their backs 40 carries. It’s about finding a middle ground, and that’s something the Miami Dolphins have been working on this year.

During Miami’s seven-game losing streak they were throwing 41.3 pass attempts per game and the running backs were receiving 16.7 carries per game. In their five-game winning streak, the pass attempts have dropped to 36.8 per game, and the rush attempts have jumped to 24.8.

With three of their running backs being placed on the reserve/COVID list in the last few days, it will be hard for the Dolphins to stick to a balanced offensive attack, but that’s exactly what co-offensive coordinator and running backs coach Eric Studesville wants to do.

“Well, that’s always our plan,” Studesville said in his media availability on Tuesday. “Our plan is to be a balanced attack, so we want to make sure we have a commitment to the run game in every game plan. Some game plans are different than others, and some games go different than others, but our intention is to always have the run game be an integral part of our game plan.”

The other co-offensive coordinator, George Godsey, echoed the same sentiment in his media availability.

“We’d like to be balanced and get a little more efficiency on normal downs in the run game,” Godsey said. “It’s kinda lending towards our team’s identity. Play good defense. Move the chains. Control field position. Win time of possession. Running the football helps with all that.”

As Godsey alluded to, the Dolphins haven’t been successful on the ground this season, averaging 79.2 rushing yards per game, the second-fewest in the league. However, it’s more about what the run sets up. If they can keep opposing defenses honest by running, they will have more success passing, and that’s how Miami can keep winning games.

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Targets, Touches and TDs: Week 15

A look at the most meaningful fantasy football streaks.

The fantasy football postseason is upon us in the majority of leagues, and team managers will be eager to keep riding — or seeking to avoid — the hottest hands.

So, with momentum in mind, we’re highlighting the currently active player performance streaks of note in this week’s TT&T and breaking down what they mean for the fantasy playoffs. Streak data, it must be mentioned, comes courtesy of the Stathead database maintained by the informative folks at ProFootballReference.com

Here goes, kicking off with …

Consecutive games with multiple TD passes

6: Kirk Cousins, Vikings

4: Justin Herbert, Chargers

3: Aaron Rodgers, Packers; Matthew Stafford, Rams; Russell Wilson, Seahawks

2: Tom Brady, Buccaneers; Jimmy Garoppolo, 49ers; Ben Roethlisberger, Steelers;

Quick takeaways:

  • That only five quarterbacks own current streaks of three or more games with multiple TD tosses shows how much volatility there is, even at fantasy’s most consistent position on a week-to-week basis.
  • Cousins, the No. 1 QB on this list, continues to fly under the fantasy radar for the most part. He’s sixth at the position with 301.4 total fantasy points (Huddle Performance scoring) and has had at least 19.9 fantasy points in all six contests during his current TD-pass streak and in 10 of 13 games overall this season.
  • Basically written off early in the season, Jimmy G and Big Ben now are very much a part of the QB2/fill-in starter conversation, and both have fantasy playoff schedules (Weeks 15-17) ranked among the four most favorable at the position, according to The Huddle’s handy Strength of Schedule tool.

Consecutive games with 275-plus passing yards

4: Herbert, Chargers; Rodgers, Packers

3: Stafford, Rams

2: Brady, Buccaneers; Joe Burrow, Bengals; Garoppolo, 49ers

Quick takeaways:

  • During his four-game span, from Week 11-14, Herbert paced all quarterbacks with 1,277 aerial yards, 11 TD tosses and 112.18 total fantasy points. On the season, the Bolts’ second-year QB has climbed up to third at this position in total fantasy points (349.9) and TDs (30) and fourth in passing yards (3,822). He also ranks a surprising ninth among quarterbacks with 268 rushing yards and has tallied a pair of rushing TDs.
  • Burrow hit the 300-yard passing mark only twice in his first 11 games this season, but now has done it in back-to-back weeks with 300 and 348, respectively, in shootout-esque losses to the Chargers and 49ers.

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Consecutive games with a rushing/receiving TD

10: Jonathan Taylor, Colts

7: James Conner, Cardinals

6: Cam Newton, Panthers, Patriots

5: Austin Ekeler, Chargers; Alvin Kamara, Saints

4: Deebo Samuel, 49ers

3: Leonard Fournette, Buccaneers; Javonte Williams, Broncos

Quick takeaways:

  • Remember way back when Taylor hadn’t found his way into the end zone? Amazingly, that was the situation as we entered Week 4, but in the 10 games since, all the second-year Indy back has done is total 18 TDs — which leads Conner and Ekeler by two on the season as a whole.
  • As you can see, Newton’s touchdown streak dates back to his final two games with the Patriots, which included a receiving TD in Week 17 of 2020 — his final game in New England. But, as also must be noted with Cam circa 2021, he has as many rushing/receiving scores (six) as he does passing TDs during this six-game span, including a 4-to-3 rushing-to-passing edge in four games this season with Carolina.

Consecutive games with 15-plus touches

47: Derrick Henry, Titans

10: Taylor, Colts

7: Dalvin Cook, Vikings; Myles Gaskin, Dolphins; Kamara, Saints

5: Fournette, Buccaneers

4: A.J. Dillon, Packers; Devonta Freeman, Ravens

Quick takeaways:

  • Henry’s eye-popping streak, which began in Week 14 of the 2018 season, is the fourth-longest such streak since the 1970 merger, trailing only runs by LaDainian Tomlinson (72 games from 2003-08), Walter Payton (69 games from 1977-81) and Marcus Allen (1983-86). Henry, who has been out since suffering a Halloween foot injury in the Week 8 overtime win over the Colts, could return before the regular season is over, but it’ll likely be too late to matter in deciding most league championships.
  • Some might be surprised to see Gaskin included here, but he ranks 11th in the league with 199 total touches in 13 games this season and has averaged 19.4 during his current seven-game, 15-touch streak which began in Week 7. Gaskin did test positive for COVID-19 during Miami’s Week 14 bye, and will need to be cleared this week if he’s to play next Sunday against the Jets.

Consecutive games with 100-plus scrimmage yards (RBs)

5: Cook, Vikings

2: Conner, Cardinals; Kamara, Saints; Najee Harris, Steelers

Quick takeaways:

  • Yikes, this list is even shorter than we thought it would be, and consider that Cook had a week off (Week 13) during his streak due to a shoulder injury and that Kamara had four games off (Weeks 10-13) in between his two games as he dealt with a knee injury.
  • Of course it should be noted that the Colts’ Taylor — the league leader with 1,684 yards from scrimmage — was only three yards in Week 12 away from a current 10-game streak of 100-plus-yard outings. Taylor is averaging 129.5 scrimmage yards per contest and has a whopping 414 more yards than the next closest running back (Harris) on the season.
  • Kamara’s 27 rushing attempts Sunday against the Jets marked a career high, while his 31 total touches matched a personal best and marked only the third time in 76 career contests he’s logged as many as 30 in a game.

Consecutive games with 100-plus scrimmage yards (WRs + TEs)

3: Davante Adams, Packers; Tee Higgins, Bengals; Hunter Renfrow, Raiders

2: Chris Godwin, Buccaneers; George Kittle, 49ers; Cooper Kupp, Rams

Quick takeaways:

  • While rookie teammate Ja’Marr Chase has received most of the fantasy fanfare, ranking seventh among wideouts with 225.6 total fantasy points (PPR scoring) on the season, Higgins has paced all league wideouts with 366 yards over the last three weeks and ranks only behind Kupp (76.8), Renfrow (71.5) and the Vikings’ Justin Jefferson with 68.6 total fantasy points over that span. Chase, meanwhile, has totaled 168 receiving yards and 42.4 fantasy points over those three games.
  • Prior to his current three-game century-mark run, Renfrow had only topped 100 receiving yards in two of his previous 39 career games. And those came in back-to-back contests (Weeks 16 and 17) of his rookie season in 2019.
  • Although he’s missed three of the 49ers’ 13 games, Kittle ranks third among league tight ends with 170.1 total PPR points. A full 43.3 percent (73.7) of those points have come over the last two weeks as Kittle has caught 22-of-27 targets for 332 yards and three TDs against the Seahawks and Bengals. Kittle is now averaging a position-most 17.0 fantasy points per game, and the Ravens’ Mark Andrews (15.7), the Bucs’ Rob Gronkowski (15.5) and the Chiefs’ Travis Kelce (15.1) are the only other tight ends averaging more than 13 fantasy points per outing.

Consecutive games with seven-plus receptions

9: Cooper Kupp, Rams

4: Adams, Packers

3: Antonio Brown, Buccaneers; Renfrow, Raiders; Jaylen Waddle, Dolphins

2: Godwin, Buccaneers; Jefferson, Vikings; Kittle, 49ers; CeeDee Lamb, Cowboys; Amon-Ra St. Brown, Lions

Quick takeaways:

  • Kupp, who entered Week 14 as the only player in league history with 100 or more catches and double-digit receiving TDs in the first 12 games of the season, went ahead and tacked on a career-high 13 receptions for 123 yards and a TD in Monday night’s win over the Cardinals. Kupp has had double-digit targets and at least seven catches in 12 of his 13 games this season and is easily on track to win the receiving “triple crown” as he’s currently pacing the league in receptions (113), receiving yards (1,489) and TD catches (12) on a league-most 151 targets.
  • Renfrow, who had 105 total receptions on 148 targets over his first two seasons, is tied for fifth in the league with 86 catches but is 16th with 106 targets. That’s a model of efficiency with Renfrow’s 81.1 percent catch rate trailing only Cardinals rookie Rondale Moore’s among wideouts with at least 50 targets.
  • Brown, the Motor City rookie, has reeled in 18-of-24 targets for 159 yards and a TD over the last two weeks for a total of 40.1 fantasy points after averaging 4.7 targets, 3.5 receptions, 32.0 receiving yards and 6.7 fantasy points over his first 11 games.

Consecutive games with 15-plus PPR points

10: Taylor, Colts

9: Kupp, Rams

6: Keenan Allen, Chargers

5: Conner, Cardinals; Kamara, Saints

4: Ekeler, Chargers; Diontae Johnson, Steelers

Quick takeaways:

  • Allen, who is expected to return Thursday in Week 15 after missing Sunday’s game against the Giants due to a positive COVID-19 test, has put up double-digit fantasy points in all 12 of his games this season with high-water marks of 22.4 in Weeks 9 and 13. For the year, he’s had at least 14.8 fantasy points in all but a three-game stretch from Week 4-6.
  • Cards RB Chase Edmonds is due back soon from ankle injury sustained early in the team’s Week 9 game against the 49ers, but Arizona isn’t in too much of a rush with Conner having totaled at least 15.4 fantasy points in every outing during that five-game stretch starting in Week 9. Even more impressive, Conner averaged 25.8 fantasy points per game during that span, which trailed only Taylor’s 31.6 average among running backs. For the season, Conner ranks sixth at the position with 221.4 total PPR points (17.0 per game).

Dolphins place another RB on the reserve/COVID-19 list

Miami has no running backs who are healthy on the active roster.

Just one day after placing Myles Gaskin on the reserve/COVID-19 list, the Miami Dolphins have now placed Salvon Ahmed there as well.

This news also comes days after the team put running back Patrick Laird on injured reserve with a knee injury.

Ahmed is reportedly vaccinated, so like Gaskin, there’s a chance that he could return before the Week 15 matchup with the New York Jets, but he will have to have two negative test results at least 24 hours apart before he can return to the team.

Phillip Lindsay is the only available running back on the active roster, but he’s been dealing with an injury of his own that kept him out of last week’s game against the New York Giants.

Veteran back Duke Johnson and rookie Gerrid Doaks are able to be elevated to the active roster if needed, and the chances of that go up every day of practice that Gaskin and Ahmed miss next week.

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RB Myles Gaskin has been placed on the reserve/COVID-19 list

The Dolphins are down to just Salvon Ahmed as the lone healthy back on the 53.

The Miami Dolphins running back room continues to get thinner and thinner as the days pass.

Earlier in the week, the team placed Patrick Laird on injured reserve with a knee injury and have had Phillip Lindsay recovering from an ankle as well. Now, Miami has placed Myles Gaskin on the reserve/COVID-19 list.

While the team is on their bye, they won’t have to think about whether or not this will affect his availability for some time now, but there’s always a chance that Gaskin misses their next game against the New York Jets.

According to NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero, Gaskin tested positive and is fully vaccinated, so the team is hoping that he will be back in time for the Week 15 matchup.

A vaccinated player who tests positive will have to produce two negative COVID-19 tests at least 24 hours apart to return to the club, according to the NFL’s protocols, so Gaskin has some time.

For now, Salvon Ahmed is the only healthy, active running back the Dolphins have, but they also have Duke Johnson and Gerrid Doaks on the practice squad if they need a fill-in.

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WATCH: The Dolphins ran a hilarious trick play against the Ravens

That was crazy.

On their fourth drive of the second half, with a surprising 6-3 lead over the Baltimore Ravens, the Miami Dolphins offense decided they needed something extra to get the group going.

In order to do so, Tua Tagovailoa dropped back, threw a screen to running back Myles Gaskin, who threw the ball back to the quarterback. Tagovailoa got the ball back and then threw it right back to Gaskin who ran for a first down.

FOX’s commentators, Joe Buck and Troy Aikman, both mentioned how ridiculous the play was. It’s not common that a double-pass goes back to the same player.

The play started a drive that extended the Dolphins’ lead to 9-3.

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Texans vs. Dolphins first quarter recap: Miami takes 7-0 lead

The Houston Texans fell behind early to the Miami Dolphins 7-0 in the first quarter in Week 9.

Dolphins 1st drive (3 plays, 0 yards, 0:48) — The Texans defense was able to get after QB Jacoby Brissett and pressure him. Miami goes three-and-out.

Texans 1st drive (8 plays, 56 yards, 3:32) — Welcome back, QB Tyrod Taylor. Houston starts off with RB Phillip Lindsay as the feature back. Lindsay provided Houston with three carries for 21 yards. The offense seemed to be cooking. On a third-and-1 from the Miami 16-yard line, Taylor threw an interception to Dolphins S Javon Holland.

Dolphins 2nd drive (12 plays, 75 yards, 6:03) — Miami is having a better time moving the football. TE Mike Gesicki bodied up CB Terrance Mitchell for an 18-yard catch. RB Myles Gaskin is able to score a 6-yard touchdown out of the wildcat formation. Dolphins, 7-0

Texans 2nd drive (3 plays, 3 yards, 0:50) — The Texans look the way they did the past seven games. Maybe it isn’t QB Davis Mills. Houston goes three-and-out with Taylor skipping a screen pass to the flat to WR Brandin Cooks on third-and-7.

Dolphins 3rd drive (2 plays, 0 yards, 0:15) — The Texans pass rush gets after Brissett. On the Dolphins’ second play, S Eric Murray gets a key interception.

Texans 3rd drive (6 plays, 17 yards, ) — Houston was able to pick up one first down, but not enough to get into scoring range. Houston had to punt it away.

Dolphins 4th drive () — Houston stuffed Gaskin for a 2-yard loss on the first play, which ended the first quarter.

Six points with David Dorey

Friday’s quick look at six fantasy items to know

And then there were none.

The Cardinals fell to the Packers despite all of their starting receivers were out of the game. Even then, the Cardinals were in excellent shape to win  or at least tie it with a field goal, just so long as the Arizona receivers would remember a route is not complete until you turn around. The gift interception doused the comeback fuse right before it reached the dynamite.

So heading into Week 8, the fantasy-regular season is half over for most leagues, but there are still seven or eight games left for all those fantasy starters on injured reserve to get back onto the field. We’re not quite to the point in the season where you’ll say, “Okay, if I can just win the rest of my games…”

Hopefully,  we’ll see an interesting trade or two before 4 P.M. EST on Tuesday, November 8. But there are things happening for this weekend that are worth watching.

1.) RB Phillip Lindsay (HOU) – The Texans moved Mark Ingram to the Saints that signals the fire sale is on, and the Texans are looking to collect draft picks while losing games for better placement in the 2022 NFL draft. Offensive coordinator Tim Kelly has used a committee approach with three running backs, so what happens now? The Texans average 26 touches from their backfield and have already used all three backs.

The question is, where do Ingram’s touches go? David Johnson has been more of the third-down back. Ingram was the primary rusher with 92 carries while Johnson (27) and Lindsay (38) were just lesser parts of the rushing game. It will be interesting to see how the distribution will be handled. Adding Ingram’s carries to Lindsay will make him a full-time back with an average of 19 carries per week. With the NFL serving up a constantly changing set of injured running backs, any player with more than a dozen carries ill be owned.

2.) RB Mark Ingram (NO) – He returns to the Saints where he played from 2011 to 2018, and while he was gone for two and a half years, the same offense and offensive coordinator remain. His usage will be interesting since the Saints used Tony Jones for up to 11 rushes as the back-up to Alvin Kamara, but no running back carried more than twice since Jones was injured in Week 4. The Saints need someone desperately since Kamara is on a path to rush 323 times, but his career-high was only 194 rushes. He’ll break down even more than the usual one or two missed games.

Ingram’s role should provide at least minor fantasy value each week. His final season in New Orleans had him with an average of 12 rushes and two receptions per game. Ingram is 31 years old now, and there’s a legitimate concern that he’s hit the wall and in decline. We’ll find out.

3.) WR Jamal Agnew (JAC) – The Jaguars’ progress with their passing offense is worth tracking since Trevor Lawrence is improving and the Jaguars have one of the lightest schedules for wide receivers. They face the Colts (twice), Jets, Texans, Falcons, and Patriots over the final weeks of the season. Marvin Jones finally had a 100-yard performance last week versus the Dolphins. Laviska Shenault hasn’t scored yet but is consistent with 60 yards games. But the departure of DJ Chark impacted Jamal Agnew the most with the last two games starting to create some fantasy value.

Agnew posted six catches for 41 yards against the Titans in Week 5 when he was first used. He then gained 78 yards on five receptions versus the Dolphins. The trading of Dan Arnold to the Cardinals removed another receiver from the passing scheme. Agnew is trending toward being fantasy-relevant and only started being used two games ago.

4.) RB Kenneth Gainwell (PHI) – Miles  Sanders is week-to-week with an ankle injury, and that means that Kenneth Gainwell and Boston Scott will handle the backfield duties. When Sanders was injured at Las Vegas, the duo took over with Scott (7-24, TD) and Gainwell (5-20) sharing the load. The receiving duties fell to Gainwell (4-41, TD), who had caught as many as six passes for 58 yards in past games. Scott is a third-year back that’s proven to be a more than adequate plug-n-play when injuries happen to starting running backs. But Gainwell could be more.

The Eagles drafted the Memphis rusher with their fifth-round pick as the ninth running back selected. He’s built like a third-down back at 5-11, 195 pounds, and already made a difference as a receiver. The Eagles could just use Scott as a 1:1 replacement for Sanders or bump up the talented Gainwell as a rusher.  Facing the Lions and then Chargers will provide an easier spot in the schedule to see what Gainwell can do.

5.) RB Myles Gaskin / RB Salvon Ahmed (MIA) – The Dolphins placed Malcolm Brown on injured reserve with a quadriceps injury, and the only corresponding move was to add Duke Johnson to their practice squad. It is entirely possible that the loss of Brown just results in adding work for Myles Gaskin and he ran a season-best 15 times  for 67 yards last week versus the Falcons, and he scored on his four catches for 10 yards.  Brown consumed up to nine touches per game, so his absence is either going to push Gaskin up to be a weekly fantasy option, or Ahmed gets more work and the committee approach continues.

6.) New England backfield – Damien Harris is the clear primary back and doesn’t share nearly as much as the position would in years past. The loss of James White probably helped his increased workload. But after him, the rotation seems even more “on a whim” than in past years. Rhamondre Stevenson was inactive last week and running for 23 yards and a touchdown on five carries in Week 6, plus catching three passes for 39 yards.  Last week in the easiest matchup of the year, Harris blew up on the Jets. Brandon Bolden went from two touches for two yards (Week 6) to six catches for 79 yards and one score.

J.J. Taylor even ran in two touchdowns on his nine rushes for 21 yards during mop-up time in the fourth quarter.  That led to Stevenson being dumped in many leagues and that’s hard to argue against. It is believed that he was inactive because he missed a tackle that resulted in a sack in Week 6. This is a mess and an ever-changing situation behind Damien Harris. But this is also the No. 4 fantasy backfield and it is worth tracking because Harris will play in his eighth game of the year on Sunday. In his three previous seasons, his personal best was only ten games. Of the 48 possible games in his first three years, he only played in 19.

ESPN’s Field Yates says Dolphins should be relying on Myles Gaskin

Should Gaskin be getting more opportunities?

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The Miami Dolphins haven’t been able to get much going on the ground this year despite having a trio of running backs at their disposal.

Myles Gaskin, Malcolm Brown, and Salvon Ahmed have all played limited roles for the team to this point in the season, and it’s resulted in being dead last in rushing yards per game (70.4).

Last week, against one of the toughest fronts in the league, Gaskin was effective. He carried the ball just five times but averaged five yards per carry while bringing in 10 receptions for 74 yards and two touchdowns.

His flashes of ability have led many to question why he isn’t being used to his full potential. ESPN’s Field Yates shared those exact sentiments on his “Fantasy Focus” show.

While the show generally is more fantasy-relevant than NFL-relevant, Yates makes some great points.

Gaskin is rushing for 4.9 yards per carry, Brown is rushing for 3.6, and Ahmed is at 1.9. To be a successful running back, you need to hit at least 4.0 in that statistic.

Gaskin also provides the most upside in the passing game.

Five weeks into the season, the Dolphins need to start putting the ball in the hands of their most dynamic playmakers, and, right now, Gaskin should be near the top of the list.

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