Which back can get it going?
DAVIE — The Miami Dolphins are holding auditions for a starting tailback, and the casting call features a foursome who all bring something different to the stage.
But they also have their own unique limitations, which makes the decision difficult on who will replace an injured Arian Foster — sidelined by groin and hamstring injuries — heading into the team’s home opener Sunday against the Cleveland Browns.
Rookie Kenyan Drake works well in space, but he’s a lackluster pass blocker.
Jay Ajayi runs with a little power, but his hands are average, which was evident Sunday when he fumbled in Miami’s loss to the New England Patriots.
Damien Williams has a toughness that’s unique, but the the former Oklahoma standout has never proven that he can be effective between the tackles in the NFL.
And Isaiah Pead is a good outside zone runner, but his all-around game needs some refining.
Head coach Adam Gase said he would probably run a different offense for each of the four tailbacks, who might all have to be active Sunday as the Dolphins attempt to jump-start a running game that’s ranked 27th in the NFL after two games, both losses.
“I’m still feeling some things out,” Gase said. “I know some strengths for the most part, but every once in a while I’ll be like, you good with this? They’ll say, ‘yes,’ then you watch them run it and you’re like, I don’t think I’m going to call that one again.”
Gase said the determining factor will be how each back performs in practice this week. Plenty is at stake, considering the Dolphins’ offense has sputtered for most of the season’s first two games, and the running game is at the root of the team’s offensive issues.
The Dolphins are averaging 67 rushing yards per game, and 3.7 rushing yards per attempt, which checks in at 16th. Considering the rushing attack feeds Miami’s play-action passing game, it is critical that the team gets the ground game in gear.
“Whoever is going to be out there on the field, I know it will be an exciting opportunity,” said Ajayi, whose attitude the week after not being named the starter led to him being left home for the season-opening loss to Seattle.
He’s since worked his way out of the coaching staff’s doghouse, but his 2.8 yards-per-carry average hints that he might not be starter material. Ajayi believes practicing with a level
of consistency will help him earn the coaching staff’s trust.
“I feel like I’ve got to make the best [of my] opportunities when I’m out there on the field,” said Ajayi, a 2015 fifth-round pick. “In the NFL, opportunities are limited, so when I’m out there on the field I just have to make it happen.”
Miami’s executives and coaches were hopeful that someone would step uphis level of performance like Cleveland’s Isaiah Crowell has done, becoming the man by rushing for 195 yards and two touchdowns on 30 carries in the first two games.
But that hasn’t happened, and proof of this is that quarterback Ryan Tannehill leads the Dolphins with 52 rushing yards and one touchdown.
“You take the week as it goes,” said Drake, who scored his first NF L touchdown on an outside zone run Sunday. “I have the same approach any given week. ...
“We’re teammates. This
is football. At the end of the day, everyone is going to get their reps, and people will perform to their capabilities.”
Pead was making some headway in practice and preseason games before suffering a hamstring injury that has kept him sidelined for three weeks. He says he’s fully recovered and ready to pick up where he left off.
“His strength is more of the running game,” Gase said of Pead, who averaged 6.6 yards per carry in the preseason, “and we’ve been trying to open up more of what he can do in the passing game. It’s something that he hasn’t really been able to do a bunch of.
“He showed some good things in training camp and the preseason games, it’s just we haven’t had the chance to get him out there in a real game.”
Sunday might present that opportunity, and the Dolphins could surely benefit from someone stepping up and jump-starting the running game.