Combine chatter: Dolphins will draft a running back — and are targeting the very best
There’s a real chance the Miami Dolphins use the first round of the NFL Draft to overhaul their entire offensive backfield.
As in quarterback at 5 and running back at 18 or 26.
Too steep a price for a ball carrier?
Not when the talent is this good. Mel Kiper Jr. has Miami selecting D’Andre Swift with the 26th pick, and he might be onto something.
The Dolphins have done extensive work on the aptly named Georgia speedster, with informal chats and a scheduled sitdown Thursday at the NFL Scouting Combine.
But they’re not focused solely on Swift. The Dolphins’ plan to take a back early is widely known.
“I know that they kind of want a running back,” Ohio State’s J.K. Dobbins said. “I don’t know what the coaches think. But from what I’ve seen the running back was kind of down this year for that team. So I definitely think they would benefit off of getting a running back.”
There are plenty of excellent options. Swift and Dobbins are the best, and ESPN ranks both in the top 35 of all draft-eligible prospects.
And the Dolphins are in on them both. Dobbins, who shattered Ohio State rushing records in 2019, said he has spoken extensively with running backs coach Eric Studesville.
Dobbins on Wednesday called himself the best back in the draft, and with 2,003 yards on 301 carries last fall, he has a point.
“I think I have tremendous vision,” he said. “I can do it all. I can be explosive, I can grind it out. And I’m also a leader. I’m a pretty athletic guy. Pretty fast as well.”
Swift has the same high opinion of his own abilities. He has great natural gifts, but he also has the type of work ethic Dolphins coach Brian Flores covets. While his college classmates would be out at the bars, he would be in the gym, working out in the middle of the night.
Said Swift: “I’d catch myself staying up sometimes, thinking, so I’m like, ‘why not go try to get better?’”
Flores on Tuesday talked up the significance of pre-draft interviews to unearth just that kind of context. Every team has a player’s game film. But the best teams can identify the players who have the desire and discipline to be great.
That, particularly in Miami, is as important as any other factor.
Florida State’s Cam Akers said he has had extensive contact with the Dolphins.
Their biggest question: Can he handle Miami? Is he mature enough to handle it?
Granted, that’s only part of the equation. Boy Scouts are good. Boy Scouts who can run a 4.4 and truck a 250-pound linebacker are better.
“Running backs come in all different shapes and sizes, and I think it depends on who you’ve got,” Flores said. “I think we’re always going to do what’s best for the player. Chan [Gailey, Miami’s new offensive coordinator,] has done a really good job of freeing the scheme with the different players he’s had. Yeah, you want somebody who’s fast and breaks tackles, can block and he’s gotta protect. Yeah, we’re looking for all those things.”
Maybe Jonathan Taylor is that complete package. Wisconsin’s workhorse rushed for more yards in three seasons (6,174) than any player in college football history. Taylor, who has met with Flores and Studesville, might have the draft’s best combination of brawn and brains.
He would be a realistic option for the Dolphins on Day 2.
But that’s assuming they don’t take one on Day 1. The conventional wisdom in the NFL holds that taking a running back in the first round isn’t the best value play. But the thing is, the best, most impactful running backs are by and large the ones taken at the top of the draft.
“I think everything goes in cycles in this league,” Dolphins coach Chris Grier said. “For a while, everyone’s saying running backs weren’t important and then Zeke Elliott and Todd Gurley had big years and running back’s really important. Then the year before, New England did a good job with their backs by committee and won, so I don’t really value or devalue any position. I think each team’s going to make their determination of what’s best for them, and there’s a lot of good players at that position. I would say I don’t really view it as devalue or value, I think you’ve just got to make whatever decision’s best for your team.”
This story was originally published February 26, 2020 at 12:44 PM.
