Another Edelman or Randle El? Dolphins hope Perry can be latest ex-QB success story
Who’s the natural comparison, the player that Malcolm Perry has a chance to ultimately become?
That was the question tossed around with Navy coaches last week about the Miami Dolphins’ new secret weapon, the seventh-round draft pick who rushed for a ridiculous 7.1 yards per carry in four years at Navy while averaging 21.4 yards per reception and, oh yes, also playing quarterback in a triple-option offense.
“The obvious comparison to Malcolm is Julian Edelman because he also played college quarterback,” Navy offensive line coach Ashley Ingram said of the former Patriots seventh-rounder who has 36 touchdowns in an ongoing 11-year career.
“And I don’t mean to compare Malcolm to one of the best players in the NFL, but he may be [Carolina All Pro running back] Christian McCaffrey, a guy who’s a perimeter runner and can catch the ball out of the backfield.”
Navy offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach Ivin Jasper has another:
“Without a doubt, there’s a comparison to Edelman, but also, Antwaan Randle El was great in his time, too.” Randle El, a second-round pick, was a college quarterback at Indiana, but became a multipurpose star for the Steelers, earning first-team All Pro honors in 2005.
In an interview with the Associated Press, Navy coach Ken Nuimatalolo compared Perry to Darren Sproles, one of the great third-down backs in recent history.
The odds are against any seventh-rounder becoming a long-term NFL standout. But Navy’s coaches believe Miami has added a special player, and the Dolphins would be elated if Perry becomes anything close to as productive as Edelman and Randle El, two of the NFL’s biggest quarterback-convert success stories.
The Dolphins — who have never had a player from one of the service academies play a regular-season game for them — are listing Perry as a running back, but he’s also expected to get work as a slot receiver and perhaps as a returner.
He worked as a receiver at the NFL Combine, but his college coaches said in telephone interviews that they believe he also is well-equipped to thrive as an NFL running back after averaging 8.6, 6.3 and 6.8 per carry the past three years, with many of his 614 career rushing attempts coming as an option quarterback and others from a slot back position, which Ingram describes as a hybrid between slot receiver and running back.
“As a running back, he can be really good at it,” Ingram said, noting a lot of Perry’s runs went to the perimeter. “He’s dynamic with the ball in his hands.”
Jasper said Perry’s “running ability is natural. He has the instincts, and he can cut on a dime and and go full speed.”
Navy coaches strongly believe Perry’s speed is better than his 4.63 40-time at the NFL Combine suggests. Edelman, by contrast, ran a 4.52 at the 2009 Combine.
NFL Network draft analyst Daniel Jeremiah said becoming a third-down back “will be Perry’s best opportunity” to make an early NFL impact, and Ingram agrees, noting Perry has “good great hands and can run routes really well. And [at 5-9, 186 pounds], he’s going to get bigger and stronger.”
Perry didn’t catch a pass last season because he was playing quarterback but has 22 career receptions for 470 yards and three touchdowns.
Ingram recruited Perry out of Kenwood High in Clarksville, Tennessee, and immediately knew he was exceptional, even though Rivals gave him no stars as a prospect and even though he had no Power 5 offers.
“His athleticism stood out,” Ingram said of Perry’s high school tape. “He was playing quarterback, but there was not one pass on his video. He was the best player on the field. I talked to his high school coach; he said he’s everything you’re looking for. The guidance counselors, teachers raved about him.”
Perry said last week that he “didn’t have a lot of offers coming out of high school. I had the three service academies which were probably my best offers, so I narrowed it down to those three and chose Navy after a good visit.
“It’s a pretty strenuous process to get into any one of the academies. You have to get several senators’ signatures and recommendations. I ended up having to go to a prep school as well, so I spent a year there before I actually got on campus.”
At Navy, Perry emerged as a star as a sophomore, starting nine games at slot back and three at quarterback and becoming the only player in the FBS in 2017 to have two runs of 70 or more yards and one reception of 70 or more yards. What’s more, he joined former Michigan quarterback Denard Robinson as the only players in FBS history to rush for 100 or more yards in a game as both a running back and quarterback in the same season.
Perry started the first five games of the 2018 season at quarterback before moving to slot back for the rest of the year. As a senior, he moved back to quarterback, starting all 13 games for an 11-2 team and finishing second in the country with 2,017 rushing yards and tied for third nationally with 21 rushing scores on 295 carries.
His career passing numbers: 58 for 113, for 1311 yards, 10 touchdowns and five interceptions. So if the Dolphins use him as a Wildcat quarterback, opposing teams won’t be able to always assume it will be a running play. He’s positioned to replace Kalen Ballage as Miami’s Wildcat QB.
“We moved him to quarterback to slot back, then back to quarterback, and he never batted an eye,” Ingram said. “He’s just a great young man.”
The versatility and big play potential are what most intrigues NFL teams. Last season, Perry had 65 runs of 10 or more yards, which led the country.
“When you get the ball in his hands, good things are going to happen,” Jeremiah said.
Ingram said Perry’s name occasionally came up when he was catching up with Dolphins quality control coach and old friend Mike Judge, who coached at Navy from 2008 to 2018. But Judge never indicated that the Dolphins planned to draft him.
“The Patriots probably showed the most interest,” Perry said.
According to Ingram, Dolphins fans “will see he’s super quick and super explosive. And don’t discount this: He’s as tough as it gets. He played through a separated shoulder and he’s stronger than you would think. He created a lot on his own [even without great blocking at times]. People didn’t know what to do with him. But when we got the ball in his hands, he was special.”
Perry said he’s fine playing anywhere but noted he “felt pretty natural at running back.”
Perry — whose parents both served 20-plus years in the Army — will immediately be available to the Dolphins, because President Trump asked the Department of Defense to change its policy and allow players from the service academies to defer their service to a later date.
“It means a lot because I know a lot of guys that I played with in the past who didn’t get the opportunity, but definitely had the talent,” said Perry, who was a quantitative economics major at Navy.
Perry said he “first started thinking the NFL was a possibility somewhere in my senior season — midseason. I felt like I had the ability to do it, was having a good year and might get the shot.”
And “if the NFL doesn’t work out, I’ll be a Marine Corps officer. After the NFL career, whatever it is, I still owe [at least five] years of active duty of service.”
This story was originally published May 1, 2020 at 4:17 PM.
