Dolphins will have options at running back in draft but looking for right value
.JPG "Iowa State running back Breece Hall speaks during a press conference at the NFL football scouting combine in Indianapolis, Thursday, March 3, 2022. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy)")
The Dolphins’ lead running back at the start of the 2022 NFL season could be currently on their roster, or it could be an impending free agent. And there’s a chance it could be any of the nearly four dozen running back prospects gathered in Indianapolis for the NFL scouting combine this week.
The team knows the importance of the running game, especially in new coach Mike McDaniel’s scheme, but that doesn’t necessarily mean the Dolphins will use high draft capital — or significant cap space — on a running back in the offseason.
“The value of the running back position — what value do you put on anywhere from a third to a half of the plays on a given offensive season?” McDaniel said Wednesday. “You got to realize running backs, collectively, whether you do it part to whole or one guy, you have about 300- to 400-some touches, so it’s incredibly valuable. But there is a more diverse way of finding them. There is, traditionally, from a historical perspective, there are rookies, second-year players, mid-to-late-round draft [picks] that have more success at that position than some others. ... It’s of paramount importance. We just have a concrete skill set that we found that can really flourish in a zone-blocking system.”
As the NFL has moved to a pass-first league in recent seasons, the running back position has become devalued, with fewer teams picking backs at the top of the draft. Day 2 and Day 3 have become the sweet spot for finding productive players whose ability to run routes, catch passes and block is now just as sought-after as their running.
“The running back position is very important to [McDaniel],” general manager Chris Grier said, “and to have success in this league you kind of have to run the ball as well. It’s one of the positions we’ll be studying hard and we love this time of year with free agency and the draft.”
Two of the draft’s top running back prospects, Texas A&M’s Isaiah Spiller and Iowa State’s Breece Hall, said Thursday that they have had meetings with the Dolphins in Indianapolis.
As the Dolphins continue to evaluate their roster and potential additions through the draft and free agency, they figure to seek running backs with good patience and vision for cutback lanes, prime skill sets in the zone running scheme.
Spiller — 6-1, 215 pounds — rushed for 2,993 yards and 25 touchdowns in college but was also a factor as a receiver, catching 74 passes for 585 yards and a touchdown. Spiller said he models his running style after players such as Adrian Peterson, Le’Veon Bell and Joe Mixon.
“Just being patient and letting my blocks set up,” he said. “Running aggressively, physical.”
Hall — 6-1, 220 — called himself “the best running back in this draft.”
“I feel like over the last two years, no running back has been able to do what I’ve been able to do,” he said.
Hall’s confident talk isn’t hyperbole: during the last two seasons, he’s touched the ball 590 times, more than any running back in college football. Despite the large workload, he remained a big-play threat and one of the toughest players to bring down. His 22 carries of at least 15 yards ranked seventh this past season, and his 194 broken tackles over the last three seasons led the nation, according to Pro Football Focus.
He’s also well-versed in the zone running scheme McDaniel seeks to implement. Hall’s 175 zone rushing attempts in 2021 ranked 11th in the nation, according to PFF.
“As a freshman, I was kind of a deer in the headlights,” Hall said. “I was trying to make a play but as I got older, the game started to slow down to me and I started to control the pace of the game.”
Hall acknowledged teams may have concerns about his speed but said he’s looking forward to running the 40-yard dash on Friday.
“I’m just really smooth and patient. I’ve always said I’m slow to and fast through,” Hall said.
Jeremiah lists Hall and Spiller as his 35th- and 36th-ranked prospects, respectively. The Dolphins have a pair of fourth-round picks, where Jeremiah said the best value at running back might be. The team also has decisions to make on a pair of unrestricted free agent backs, Duke Johnson and Phillip Lindsay, as well Salvon Ahmed, who is an exclusive rights free agent.
“At the end of the day,” Grier said, “if there is that talent that is just so unique that you have to take him — people argue whether Saquon Barkley worked out or not, but he was an extremely talented football player. Ezekiel Elliott was the same. So you kind of go through those and make your judgments, but at the end of the day, you always do what’s best for your team.
“Mike’s had a lot of success finding good running backs in that mid-late round in terms of evaluation ... We had [Kenyan] Drake in the third round a few years ago, so that balance is right. At the end of the day, you go with your gut and that information you find out on players. We work through it and you decide the value of the player if you end up taking him, whether it’s the first round or seventh round of a free agent.”
This story was originally published March 3, 2022 at 3:15 PM.
