The Dolphins' Real Running Back Issue

The Miami Dolphins have been dealing with injuries at running back, but have deeper problems at the position

Help could be on the way for the Miami Dolphins running game after they played against the New York Jets in Week 12 without their two rushing leaders.

The Dolphins are hoping that leading rusher Myles Gaskin could return this week after he missed the past four games with a knee injury, and there's also hope that second-leading rusher Salvon Ahmed could be back after he sat out the Jets game with a shoulder injury.

But there's a real question that needs to be asked just about now: How much of a difference would either player make?

Without Gaskin and Ahmed, the Dolphins rushed for 104 yards on 25 carries in the 20-3 victory against the Jets at MetLife Stadium.

The 104 yards represented the fourth-highest total of the season for the Dolphins, and the team's 4.2 average also was its fourth-best and also its highest since the first Jets game back on Oct. 18 when the average was 4.4.

But the bottom line when it comes to the Dolphins running game is that it just hasn't been very good all season, as evidenced by the fact Miami ranks 30th in rushing yards per game (95.3) and dead last in rushing yards per attempt (3.63).

Without question, the offensive line shares some of the blame, but it's also fair to point the finger at what is a lackluster running back corps.

The Dolphins do have some genuine success stories at running back, starting with the former University of Washington teammates, Gaskin and Ahmed.

But Gaskin came into the NFL as a seventh-round pick, while Ahmed arrived as an undrafted rookie free agents.

Two of the other three running backs currently on the roster — Patrick Laird and Matt Breida — also entered the NFL as undrafted free agents, while newcomer DeAndre Washington initially was a fifth-round pick of the Oakland Raiders.

Now, it's a common refrain that you can find running backs anywhere, but can you really?

Here's a stat for you: Only three teams in the NFL do not have a running back either on their active roster or a reserve list who came into the league as higher than a fourth-round pick. One is the Jacksonville Jaguars, another is the Los Angeles Chargers, the other is the Miami Dolphins.

And only Jacksonville and the Dolphins have no running backs who came into the NFL as higher than a fifth-round pick.

And, in case you're wondering, the stat still would apply even if the Dolphins hadn't decided to move on from veteran Jordan Howard because he also entered the NFL as a fifth-round pick.

So maybe it's not pure coincidence that the Dolphins are one of only two teams in the NFL without so much as a 25-yard run by any of its running backs this season — the longest was a 21-yard run Gaskin. The other team is Indianapolis.

The Dolphins simply haven't devoted a lot of premium resources on the running back position the past few years.

Yes, they signed Howard as an unrestricted free agent and traded a fifth-round pick for Breida this past offseason, but that doesn't qualify as premium resources, does it?

For the record, 12 teams have a running back that came into the league as a first-round pick, and an additional nine have at least one running back who came into the NFL as a second-round pick.

The Dolphins haven't gone that route lately, though they certainly have had their share of running backs.

Go back to the 2017 season and the top three rushing yardage totals for each the past four seasons (excluding quarterbacks) belong to (10) players (out of a possible 12 slots) — Kenyan Drake (2017-19) Jay Ajayi (2017), Damien Williams (2017), Frank Gore (2018), Kalen Ballage (2018), Mark Walton (2019), Laird (2019), Gaskin (2020), Ahmed (2020) and Breida (2020).

The Dolphins have done a tremendous job rebuilding their roster, but it would be difficult to argue against the idea that running back remains a primary need.

The Dolphins had a great opportunity to address the position in the 2020 NFL draft armed with five picks in first two rounds and with a large group of blue-chip running backs available, and it's certainly fair to second-guess the failure to do so.

Six running backs were taken before the end of Round 2, none before the last pick of the first round when the Chiefs selected Clyde Edwards-Helaire out of LSU.

Given that the Dolphins selected cornerback Noah Igbinoghene with the 30th overall pick and he's played two defensive snaps in the past four games, it certainly would be fair to second-guess the decision not to take Edwards-Helaire with that pick — or D'Andre Swift, Jonathan Taylor, Cam Akers, J.K. Dobbins or A.J. Dillon.

Then again, the Dolphins' massive improvement over last year has earned them the benefit of the doubt and it's also much too early to give up on the idea of Igbinoghene developing into a quality NFL defensive back.

But what's a fact is the Dolphins have had to overcome the lack of a productive running game to put themselves in the thick of the AFC playoff race and it's certainly possible they'll continue to have to overcome that problem in the final month of the regular season.