Team adopts patient stance in RB search
CORAL GABLES — Much like a tailback waiting for his blockers to open up a running lane, the Miami Dolphins have realized that showing some patience will benefit the franchise when it comes to addressing the running back position.
After losing starter Lamar Miller in free agency to the Houston Texans, the Dolphins have struggled to add a proven tailback to the roster.
The Denver Broncos matched the offer Miami made to C.J. Anderson, who was a restricted free agent. Chris Johnson decided to re-sign with the Arizona Cardinals hours after visiting Miami, and this week the Dolphins brought in former Texans tailback Arian Foster to see how his recovery from the Achilles injury he suffered last season is going.
However, Mike Tannenbaum, the Dolphins’ vice president of football operations, said Wednesday that his focus has shifted from free agents to draftable options at that position.
“I’ve been in situations before where we didn’t knowin June who our starting quarterback would be. In the nature of free agency and the cap situation not every position is going to be perfect,” Tannenbaum said at the conclusion of the University of Miami’s ProDay.
“I think we want to be thorough, and when opportunities present themselves we want to take advantage of it. The draft is a big part of it, and we’ll keep looking.”
Draftable prospects at tailback include Ohio State’s Ezekiel Elliott, Alabama’s Derrick Henry, Indiana’s Jordan Howard, Arkansas’ Alex Collins, Utah’s Devontae Booker and Louisiana Tech’s Kenneth Dixon. Those six backs are all viewed as talents who will likely be selected in the first four rounds of April’s draft.
Tannenbaum didn’t rule out the possibility of the Dolphins trading for a tailback, and he also said it’s possible Miami could add to the backfield “in August or September” when training camp, the exhibition and regular season arrived.
Plenty comes into play at that position, and that includes the health of many free agent backs, players like Foster, who was injured in Miami’s 44-26 win over Houston last year.
The Dolphins brought Foster, who has 6,472 yards and 54 touchdowns in his seven-year career, to Davie on Tuesday to check on his recovery.
“It was a good visit. I’m glad he came in,” Tannenbaum said of Foster, who has also drawn interest from Seattle. “He got a chance to know us, and we got a chance to knowhim. I think he’s still a little ways away. We’ll stay in touch with him and his agent.”
Dolphins coach Adam Gase said during the NFL meetings last week that the franchise needs to be patient with the position, and he’s optimistic that Jay Ajayi, a fifth-round pick in the 2015 draft, can handle the workload that comes with replacing Miller as Miami’s lead back.
“He’s a shiftier guy than I ever thought he was,” Gase said of Ajayi, who gained 187 rushing yards and scored one touchdown on the 49 carries he got in nine games last season. “His elusiveness — when defenders are coming at him — I think that kind of surprised me.”
Ajayi recently received a vote of confidence from center Mike Pouncey, and quarterback Ryan Tannehill during the NFL meetings. Both players are confident that the former Boise State standout can be a featured weapon in Miami’s offense if given 200 carries.
“I think he’s excited about the opportunity to have a bigger role and that’s kind of our offense,” Tannehill said. “You look at their subbing patterns from the last few years in Gase’s offense he doesn’t run guys in and out through a series. It’s a guy goes in and he plays a series, so I think that’s going to be huge for guys like Jay, who need to get into a rhythm and develop other parts of his game.”
But Gase stressed his offense will indeed feature a backfield by committee approach.
“I’d like to have multiple backs. Right now, we don’t have a lot of guys on the roster. I think we only have three guys on the roster right now,” Gase said, referring to Ajayi, Damien Williams and Jahwan Edwards.
“We’re going to need to really develop that stable of backs. Options will present themselves. We just need to stay patient, whether it’s through the draft or somebody gets cut free, or there’s somebody else out there that we need to take a look out.”