Local legend Duke Johnson makes starting case with breakout performance for Dolphins
It was a familiar sound at Hard Rock Stadium and, really, in Miami Gardens in general.
The home team’s running was jetting through a hole and the crowd was yelling, “DUUUUUUUUKE!”
It started off as just a little treat Sunday: Duke Johnson, playing in just his second game as a Miami Dolphin, got the start and the first carry, and ran for 3 yards and got the crowd of 66,035 to do it out of habit.
And then the Dolphins gave him another, and then another and another until he had 22 — by far the most in his NFL career — and was forming the foundation of Miami’s 31-24 win against the New York Jets.
For at least one day, Johnson looked like the player he was when he played for the Miami Hurricanes, or maybe even when he starred for Miami Norland Senior High School just down in the road in Miami Gardens.
“It just reminded me of college,” Johnson said. “It means a lot. I think being from here, it means a lot.”
In only his second game as a Dolphin and his first start, Johnson put together the best game of his career, seven years in. He ran 22 times for 107 yards and two touchdowns — all career bests — and added one catch for 20 yards.
The 20-yard reception wasn’t surprising. Johnson has built a reputation as a quality third-down back throughout his career, averaging 3.4 catches per game in his first six years.
No one had ever asked him to be the type of player he was Sunday. Johnson’s previous career-high in carries was 16 and his previous career-high in rushing yards was 78. The Houston Texans cut him in February and no one, not even the Dolphins, gave him a real shot in the league this season.
Johnson got cut from the Jacksonville Jaguars’ practice squad in September and had a fruitless tryout with the Carolina Panthers later in the month. The Dolphins (7-7) put him on their practice squad in October, gave him one brief chance against the Jets (3-11) in November, then sent him back to the practice squad until an emergency last week.
Running backs Myles Gaskin, Salvon Ahmed and Phillip Lindsay all tested positive for COVID-19 in the last two weeks, and, even though Gaskin and Ahmed were available Sunday, Johnson got the starting nod because he was the top tailback available for practice last week. For the first time in his career, Johnson had to be a workhorse.
“For me, it was just doing what the team needed from me,” he said.
The result might just have been the discovery of a much-needed No. 1 running back for the Dolphins.
The Dolphins ran for 182 yards Sunday — nearly 50 more than they have in any other game this season — while averaging more than 5 yards per carry for the first time all year, and Johnson did it without strictly leaning on his trademark explosion.
Johnson entered the weekend averaging 6.2 yards per touch in his career — sixth best among active players — yet his longest run Sunday was for just 12 yards. Johnson was methodical and powerful, finding holes efficiently and running through tacklers for extra yards, and it meant he rushed for 22 yards more than expected, according NFL Next Gen Stats.
Gaskin, for comparison, has run for fewer yards than expected this season.
“He definitely gave us a spark,” quarterback Tua Tagovailoa said.
With Tagovailoa struggling, it was exactly what the Dolphins needed.
Most of South Florida knew a game like this was possible. Johnson, after all, scored five touchdowns in Norland’s 2011 state-championship victory, then solidified himself as a local legend when he went to play for the Hurricanes and ran for more than 3,500 yards in three seasons.
Isaiah Ford knew it, too. The wide receiver played for the Virginia Tech Hokies in 2014 and was on the wrong side of a 249-yard game by Johnson.
He was glad to share a sideline with him Sunday. He should get more chances to moving forward.
“I’ve seen that a couple times,” Ford said. “It was awesome to watch.”
This story was originally published December 19, 2021 at 6:12 PM.
