Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
Drake’s big day draws notice
Now, the question for the Dolphins is what happens next
DAVIE — Does Kenyan Drake have a second act?
That’s one of the biggest questions that linger for the Dolphins headed into the Monday night’s nationally televised game against the New England Patriots (10-2).
In his first game as the Dolphins’ featured back, handling the bulk of the tailback workload while Damien Williams recovers from a shoulder injury, Drake got the attention of the entire NFL, especially those with a fantasy football fascination.
His production — 120 yards and a touchdown on 23 carries, and 21 yards on three receptions — was enticing. And the fact he did it in a 35-9 victory over the Denver Broncos, which had the NFL’s the best run defense heading into that game, makes it applause-worthy.
The Dolphins (5-7) want to figure out if they can expect that type of performance every Sunday from Drake, who was a backup at the University of Alabama his entire career before the Dolphins selected him in the third round of the 2016 draft.
The answer will likely dictate what the Dolphins do at the tailback position this offseason.
“At the end of the day, whatever assessment they decide to make with my body of work, or the team’s body of work in general, that’s them. I’m here to play football and help this team win games.” Dolphins running back Kenyan Drake
“I’m just here to help this team win games,” said Drake, whose 4.9 yards per carry average ranks ninth in the NFL among tailbacks with at least 60 attempts. “At the end of the day, whatever assessment they decide to make with my body of work, or the team’s body of work in general, that’s them. I’m here to play football and help this team win games.”
Establishing a productive rushing attack is the only thing that’s going to alleviate some pressure on the quarterbacks and the passing game. It will help the defense by eating up some time of possession, keeping the defenders off the field for a few more minutes.
The problem is the rushing attack — which is averaging 84.7 yards per game, ranking the Dolphins 29th in the NFL — has been inconsistent, no matter who is lining up behind quarterback Jay Cutler in the backfield.
The Dolphins have rushed for 100 or more yards in 11 games during Adam Gase’s two seasons, and Miami has won 10 of those 11, with the only exception being the 100-yard rushing performance Miami had in this season’s 45-21 loss to the Carolina Panthers. In that game, Drake broke a 66-yard touchdown run, which was coincidentally Miami’s first of the season, and it put the Dolphins over the century mark on a 17-carry day.
Busting the big runs have become Drake’s specialty, and that’s the enticing part of his game. But the Dolphins admittedly don’t want to become a prisoner to the big runs.
That was one of the things that made Miami’s coaches uncomfortable with Jay Ajayi, who was traded to the Philadelphia Eagles a little over a month ago for a 2018 fourth-round pick, opening the door for another tailback to step up.
Drake initially split the workload with Williams, who will become an unrestricted free agent this summer. Now Drake has the backfield to himself, and his focus is on continuing to earn the coaching staff’s confidence and his teammates’ trust.
“I thought he did a great job with his ball security this last week. I saw a different guy when he got into traffic, making sure that he protected the ball,” coach Adam Gase said of Drake, who had committed two fumbles this season. “You just have to keep growing from that. Any time you have a running back that you can count on down-in and down-out to make sure we have the ball at the end of the series, that’s what you’re looking for.”
When asked to critique his own performance, Drake confessed that he wasn’t running full speed on some of his passing routes early in the game because he was winded.
“I pride myself on having a high motor and going full speed, down-in and downout, so I was a little disappointed seeing I put that on the film,” he said. “So that’s something I’m going to try to work on this game.”