Dolphins Looking at RB Options

The Miami Dolphins put in a waiver claim for former Detroit Lions running back Kerryon Johnson

One of the major storylines of the 2021 draft for the Miami Dolphins was their decision not to take a running back until the seventh round.

After the fact, General Manager Chris Grier denied any disappointment at the Denver Broncos taking highly touted prospect Javonte Williams after trading up five spots in the second round to get right in front of the Dolphins, instead expressing his confidence and satisfaction in the group of running backs already on the roster.

But that's exactly what you'd expect any GM to say, and it also didn't mean the Dolphins were done looking for help at the position.

And now we have proof.

The Dolphins put in a waiver claim for running back Kerryon Johnson after he was released by the Detroit Lions late last week, though they lost out on their bid to the Philadelphia Eagles.

The waiver order is the same as the one for the draft prior to trades, meaning the Dolphins had the 18th spot in the NFL, whereas the Eagles were sixth.

That waiver priority order will remain the same until after the first three weeks of the 2021 season, at which time it will change to reflect the standings at any given time.

Johnson clearly would have been a nice pick-up there because he's a fourth-year back who was good enough coming out of Auburn to be a second-round pick in the 2018 NFL draft. Yes, Johnson's production has slowed after an impressive rookie season, which included a career-best 158-yard outing against the Dolphins that year, but he certainly represented a low-risk, high-reward option as a waiver claim going into the final year of his rookie contract.

Getting with a younger, less expensive option certainly appears to be the Dolphins' M.O. at running back, which makes it questionable whether they'd entertain the idea of going after one of the high-profile veterans still on the market, like Todd Gurley, Le'Veon Bell or Adrian Peterson.

For the moment, the running back corps includes 2020 starter Myles Gaskin, free agent acquisition Malcolm Brown, Salvon Ahmed, Patrick Laird, rookie seventh-round pick Gerrid Doaks, Jordan Scarlett and 2020 seventh-round pick Malcolm Perry, who's more of a utility player than a pure running back.

The group, though, clearly might change between now and the start of training camp. The move to pick up Johnson certainly proved that.