The Dolphins are looking at Jonathan Taylor and J.K. Dobbins, and that’s no surprise at all. Running back is among their most pressing needs, and they’re overloaded with draft picks.
Miami has three picks in the first round – 5th, 18th and 26th – and another two choices in the second round. It would be a shock if they don’t select a running back before the start of the third. Probably Taylor, Dobbins or D’Andre Swift out of Georgia.
Teams don’t like to use early draft picks on running backs, but with the combination of his production at Wisconsin and his measurables at the combine, Taylor (pictured) looks like he’ll make some team very happy in the late first or early second round . With another 23 yards as a freshman, he could have gone over 2,000 rushing yards in all three of his seasons in college.
Taylor ran a 4.39 at the combine in Indianapolis, a freaky time for a man weighing 226 pounds. It’s early, but if he lands in a decent spot, I think Taylor will be one of the first 10 running backs selected in most fantasy drafts this summer.
Dobbins ran for 2,003 yards at Ohio State last year and also has good size (5-10, 217). Reports indicate the Dolphins arebringing in Dobbins for a visit (he’s training in Florida). He didn’t run at the combine.
The Dolphins, of course, couldn’t run it worth a hoot last year. No offensive line, and they didn’t have a running back capable of simply doing it on his own. (I don’t know that any running back would have had much success in that offense). All of Miami’s running backs combined ran for 833 yards, the fewest by any team in the last 15 years.
There have been four others in the last 15 years that haven’t gotten 1,000 rushing yards from their running backs in a season. Out of curiosity, I ran a check on those teams, looking at their most productive back in the following season. Two of those teams actually had a decent back, with Chris Carson (two years ago) and 2006 Edgerrin James both running for over 1,100 yards. Using PPR scoring, those were the 15th- and 17th-best backs in those seasons.
The other offenses coming off disaster seasons didn’t have any backs of note. Kevin Jones (2007) and Rashard Mendenhall (2013) ranked 27th and 29th in PPR scoring, and neither ran for 700 yards.
| RISING FROM THE ASHES | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Player | Att | Run | Avg | Rec-Yd | TD | PPR |
| 2006 | Edgerrin James, Ariz. | 337 | 1,159 | 3.4 | 38-217 | 6 | 17 |
| 2007 | Kevin Jones, Det. | 153 | 581 | 3.8 | 32-197 | 8 | 27 |
| 2013 | Rashard Mendenhall, Ariz. | 217 | 687 | 3.2 | 18-134 | 8 | 29 |
| 2018 | Chris Carson, Sea. | 247 | 1,151 | 4.7 | 20-163 | 9 | 15 |
—Ian Allan