Subpar Dolphins running game could have been avoided | FinHeaven - Miami Dolphins Forums

Subpar Dolphins running game could have been avoided

datruth55

datruth55

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When the Dolphins parted with Lamar Miller in March, unwilling to pay him the $6 million per year he wanted despite having the cap space then and now to accommodate that, they figured it wouldn't be difficult to find a replacement.

Fast forward six months.

After two games, Miller has 189 yards rushing for the Houston Texans, fifth in the league and more than twice the rushing yards generated by all of Miami's running backs.

In fact, 27 NFL running backs, by themselves, have accounted for more rushing yards than the 82 yards, on 25 carries, that Dolphins' backs have produced.

And Miami's already suspect running back is even weaker now after losing Arian Foster, who is out for a undetermined amount of time with a groin injury.

That means Miami will need to turn to disappointing Jay Ajayi, rookie Kenyan Drake, or perhaps Damien Williams or Isaiah Pead to carry the load.

It didn't need to be this way, of course.

Despite Adam Gase's desire to re-sign Miller, the Dolphins front office never felt comfortable paying Miller more than $4 million to $5 million per year and felt no inclination to match, let alone top, the Houston Texans' four-year, $26 million offer.

In each of his first two games, the Texans gave Miller more carries than he ever had in a game in Miami (28 and 25). The Dolphins felt he wouldn't be as effective, or wear out physically, if they gave him that big a workload, even though his metrics showed he often ran well in games with substantial carries.
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http://www.miamiherald.com/sports/spt-columns-blogs/barry-jackson/article102695362.html

I have to wonder if Tannenbaum was telling the coaches last year to limit Miller's carries on purpose.
 
Maybe, wasn't there even something ridiculous put out that Campbell/Philbin felt Ajayi was the better all around back. LOL, LOL, LOL, some of the same folks who thought Nanee was better than Hogan.
 
The one really bad move in the off season was not re-signing Miller. He never got the credit he deserved when he was here. Well, our loss is Houston's gain.
 
There's no guarantee Lamar would have 189 yards for Miami this year. Aside from Tannehill's runs, Miami as a whole has run 25 times. Miller has run 53 times in Houston. There's a reason behind the large difference.
 
Spiff said:
3.56 yards per carry is not really that impressive. He would not be an upgrade at this point.
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More from Barry's article.

Miller's 3.6 per carry average is below his career average, but he has contributed substantially in two Houston wins.

The Dolphins also could have signed ex-Chicago Bears running back Matt Forte, but apparently weren't inclined to top the three-year, $12 million offer that the Jets gave him. Forte's 196 rushing yards (on 3.8 per carry) rank second in the league through two games.

They also failed to land C.J. Anderson, with Denver matching the offer to the restricted free agent. He's sixth in the league in rushing with 166 yards, on 4.2 per carry.

They made an offer to Chris Johnson, who instead opted to stay in Arizona, where his numbers so far have been modest this season: 56 yards on 3.3 per carry.

Meanwhile, Dolphins running backs are slogging along at a meager 3.3 per carry.

The Dolphins are 25th in rushing yards (with 134) and 17th in per carry average (at 3.7) but both of those figures are inflated by the rushing totals for quarterback Ryan Tannehill (11 for 52).
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Not saying Miller would be better or worse as our RB, but it is hard to compare what one player does for one team and what they would do for this team...that 3.5 yard per could be that here, could be better, or it could be worse...
 
FSU Truth said:
Not saying Miller would be better or worse as our RB, but it is hard to compare what one player does for one team and what they would do for this team...that 3.5 yard per could be that here, could be better, or it could be worse...
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I've seen enough of these backs this year to say Miller is better than all of them (I will exclude Drake though since we haven't seen enough but he is an injury waiting to happen given his history).
 
Really pisses me off when I see our division opponents run the football so effortlessly, like the Jets and the Pats.

It's going to be hard to beat good defenses when our offense is completely one-dimensional. At least our pass protection has improved, so I'm not scared for Ryan's life anymore, but still. Teams need a running game to be successful.
 
DuderinoN703 said:
There's no guarantee Lamar would have 189 yards for Miami this year. Aside from Tannehill's runs, Miami as a whole has run 25 times. Miller has run 53 times in Houston. There's a reason behind the large difference.
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He is getting more chances because he is converting in short yardage, our RB's are not.
 
FSU Truth said:
Not saying Miller would be better or worse as our RB, but it is hard to compare what one player does for one team and what they would do for this team...that 3.5 yard per could be that here, could be better, or it could be worse...
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He would probably be giving us what he always has, about 4.5 ypc.
 
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