The Dolphins have a bunch of great running backs. They currently list two starters. They may end up with more than that.
“I mean, who says we have to stop at two?” coach Mike McDaniel told reporters on Monday. “Maybe we can just have four. I think you have to let the players determine who gets the ball and how frequently and how much during the game, and that’s very important. I think the cool thing when you have a position group that on the front end you know by NFL standards is very, very talented — one of the most, if not the most talented that you can remember or you’ve been on teams with — you don’t worry about how that is going to unfold. You let it unfold and it’s always very obvious.”
Raheem Mostert and De’Von Achane are the top two. The Dolphins also have Jeff Wilson Jr., Salvon Ahmed, Chris Brooks, and rookie Jaylen Wright, a fourth-round pick in the 2024 draft.
“You can tell by how people execute their blocks and their belief of the player carrying the ball and you have to be able to be open-minded to how it plays out,” McDaniel said. “So I think the residuals of a deep room, you can see on each individual player. I’m seeing for instance some of Jeff Wilson’s best ball that I’ve seen him play. I worked him out as a player in North Texas back in 2018 and some of his best stuff has been in this camp and I can’t help but attribute that to the overall talent of the entire room. So it’s something that you just keep coaching, you keep seeing how much guys’ games can develop. You don’t put a ceiling on that because guys will continue to surprise you in a positive manner if you let them and we just know that a strength of ours can be handing the ball off to some pretty good backs and we just go from there.”
In the preseason opener, Wright had 10 carries for 55 yards. Brooks had 12 for 40. Mostert, Achane, and Ahmed did not play.