Will Dolphins Regret Their Running Back Decision?

The Miami Dolphins bypassed the opportunity to select a running back in the 2020 NFL draft, but now look like they'll be going with a group approach

When Miami Dolphins offensive coordinator Chan Gailey said Tuesday that he couldn't say his offense would have "a guy" at running back, one couldn't help thinking back to the 2020 NFL draft.

The Dolphins had plenty of chances to land "a guy" during that 2020 draft considering they had five of the first 56 selections in the first two rounds.

A total of six running backs were selected in the first two rounds — Clyde Edwards-Helaire, D'Andre Swift, Jonathan Taylor, Cam Akers, J.K. Dobbins and A.J. Dillon — and the Dolphins could have had any of those six.

They could have selected CEH or Swift even after trading down from 26th to 30th in the first round, but instead selected cornerback Noah Igbinoghene.

By the time they picked 39th, CEH and Swift both were gone, but the Dolphins still could have had any of the other four.

Instead, the Dolphins selected tackle Robert Hunt from Louisiana-Lafayette at number 39 and then watched Taylor go to the Colts, Akers to the Rams and then Dobbins to the Ravens just before the Dolphins selected defensive tackle Raekwon Davis with the 56th overall pick.

The Dolphins bolstered their lines with the selections of Hunt and Davis and that's a sound approach if both players pan out because the best teams usually are the ones who are best at the line of scrimmage.

But there's also nothing wrong with having a dynamic running back who can impact the game, and the Dolphins look like a team in short supply when it comes to playmakers on offense.

At the time of the draft, the Dolphins already had signed veteran Jordan Howard, a back who's always been productive but also has battled injuries.

They also signed him to a contract that allows them to walk away from him next spring without taking a 2021 cap hit, according to overthecap.com.

That's partly why there was an expectation, at least from those outside the Dolphins facility, that they would grab one of the big-name running backs in the draft.

Instead, they traded a fifth-round pick to the 49ers for speedy Matt Breida, though again maybe this wasn't done with the long term in mind because he's scheduled to become an unrestricted free agent next spring.

Now, the Dolphins have played only one game, so maybe we shouldn't overreact to Howard averaging less than 1 yard per carry on his eight rushing attempts or playing only nine snaps against New England because it's not like he had big holes created in front of him.

And maybe we shouldn't make a big deal of Breida getting only 14 snaps because, again, it's only one game.

But, again, it's impossible to look at what happened Sunday and then hear Gailey's comments without thinking back to that 2020 NFL draft and doing some second-guessing — although it also was first-guessing from this end because we suggested it was the one move (or non-move) in the draft they might end up regretting.

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“I don’t know that I could ever say that we’re going to, at this point, have a guy," Gailey said. "I think that we’re going to let the guys try to do what they do best. We’d like to play Breida more. I think we’ll try to incorporate some of his skill set into what we do. But there are a certain number of plays in a game and you can’t get them all in there at once. We’re going to try to expand all of their roles but at the same time, there’s only a certain number of plays for guys to get in. I think we’ll look and see what fits each player best and try to do that with them.”

Everybody knows by now that Edwards-Helaire had a monster NFL debut with the Chiefs, but you can expect some of those other rookie running backs to play big roles before too long.

Dobbins had two touchdowns for the Ravens in their opener and played the most snaps of any running back on the team; Taylor will start for Indy in Week 2 after opening-day starter Marlon Mack was lost to a season-ending injury; and Swift played the most snaps of any Lions running back in Week 1, though his day forever will be remembered for him dropping a game-winning touchdown pass in a four-point loss.

The running back position was devalued for a while, but that certainly looks to have changed with the recent contracts signed by Alvin Kamara and Dalvin Cook, among others. Those guys got paid because they are impact players.

Those always are good guys to have on a roster. One or more of the running backs selected in the 2020 NFL draft have the chance to become one of those guys, and the Dolphins could have had one of them.

The question now is whether they'll regret not having gone for it.