Miami can’t repeat last year’s mistakes
Team needs more solid plan to fill its needs for tailback
The Miami Dolphins decision-makers failed to address the tailback position last year, and they shouldn’t let history repeat itself.
Miami could have had any tailback it wanted in the 2020 tailback-rich NFL draft if it had used its last of three first-round picks to address this seemingly constant position of need.
But instead, Miami took Auburn cornerback Noah Igbinoghene with the No. 30 pick after trading down and rolled the dice on finding a tailback on Day 2 of the draft.
Clyde Edwards-Helaire was taken by the Chiefs with the 32nd pick and delivered 1,100 all-purpose yards and five touchdowns on 217 touches in the 13 games he played as a rookie.
D’Andre Swift, my favorite tailback in last year’s draft, became the first tailback taken on Day 2, selected by the Lions with the 35th pick. He had a promising season, producing 878 scrimmage yards and 10 touchdowns on 160 touches in his 13 games.
Miami drafted offensive linemen Robert Hunt with the 39th pick in the second round, and he started 11 games at right tackle as a rookie.
That’s a positive, and hopefully Hunt becomes a reliable NFL starter in the years to come.
But would that pick have been better utilized on Jonathan Taylor, who was taken two spots later by the Colts, and delivered 1,468 total yards and scored 12 touchdowns as a rookie in his 15
games?
I don’t know about you, but I’d certainly prefer a Pro Bowl caliber tailback to a decent starting right tackle or maybe guard.
The Rams then took Cam Akers (748 yards and three touchdowns) with the 52nd pick, and the Ravens drafted J.K Dobbins (925 yards and nine touchdowns) with the 55th pick, one spot ahead of Miami’s selection of defensive tackle Raekwon Davis.
I’m certain the approach to wait to address tailback was a calculated decision, because the position had some depth in that draft class. But Miami misplayed their hand by not preparing for or predicting the run they saw at the position.
Eleven tailbacks were taken in the first three rounds, and as a result the Dolphins were left emptyhanded at one of their biggest positions of need, despite the numerous picks they had stockpiled.
It wasn’t intentional, because on Friday (rounds 2-3) and Saturday morning, the Dolphins were calling around the NFL inquiring about possible trades for a tailback and discussed contracts with agents of free-agent tailbacks still unsigned, according to multiple league sources.
On the Saturday of last year’s draft the Dolphins traded for Matt Breida for a 2020 fifth-round pick from the 49ers, and the hope was he’d serve as a complement for Jordan Howard, the free-agent addition they signed to a two-year, $9 million deal.
But neither veteran fit well in Miami’s offense. Myles Gaskin, who began training camp as an afterthought, leapfrogged both, earning playing time and then the starting spot in the season’s first month.
It is important to acknowledge that Gaskin, a 2019 seventh-round pick, had a solid season (972 total yards and five touchdowns on 183 touches in 10 games) when he was healthy.
But let us not pretend that Gaskin’s emergence was planned, or that he can carry this rushing attack for years to come.
Miami got lucky because Gaskin made the rushing attack salvageable.
Luck is nice, but the Dolphins need more from general manager Chris Grier and coach Brian Flores, the people in charge.
This franchise should not strike out on free agents such as Howard, and to not whiff on traded players, such as Breida.
Miami shouldn’t leave a tailback-heavy draft emptyhanded.
This year’s draft has a handful of capable starters — not nearly as many as last year — so it’ll be interesting to see how the Dolphins play it.
The Dolphins need a respectable rushing attack more than they need anything else. That would take some pressure off second-year quarterback Tua Tagovailoa’s shoulders and lighten the defense’s snap count by helping the offense hang onto possessions longer.
That’s why Miami can’t get caught sleeping again.
Although signing a free agent such as Le’Veon Bell or Duke Johnson can add some bite to the Dolphins’ toothless backfield, it would be nice to see this organization execute a plan to give Miami a jaw-dropping run game.
This time let’s hope for a plan that has some vision and staying power — which happen to be two traits that should be atop their wish list for a young tailback.