The Dolphin
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- Mar 19, 2019
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The Dolphins didn’t take a running back until the seventh round of the draft, when they selected Gerrid Doaks from Cincinnati. One of the incumbent running backs, Myles Gaskin, said he wasn’t paying attention to whether the team took a tailback in one of the first two rounds of the draft.
“Above my pay grade,” Gaskin said with a laugh when asked that question by reporters on Monday. “To be honest with you, whatever they do upstairs is what they do upstairs. Whoever we bring in, I know it’s going to be the best for the team. I don’t think drafting a back or bringing in a back is going to change anything for me. I’m trying to compete with myself, compete with others obviously; but definitely compete with myself, make sure I’m the best running back I can be come the end of July whenever camp starts, and then leading up into the season. So I don’t think bringing on anybody changes my routine. I’m excited for the guys that did get drafted. A couple years ago, I was in the same spot, so I mean – I watched the draft, which is exciting for people, but whoever we draft, I’m just excited to have them on the team.”
Gaskin, a seventh-round pick in 2019, led the Dolphins in rushing last year with 584 yards on 142 carries.
He also was asked whether he’s troubled by the fact that, before the draft, talking heads were saying the Dolphins needed a running back.
“Not really,” Gaskin said. “You see the stuff on Instagram. You get tagged on things on Instagram. I try my best to stay off of that, but I don’t find my confidence in what anybody else says, whatever it may be. I find my confidence in myself. It is what it is. Whoever is going to be out there, they’ve got to play just as much as anybody else. So it is what it is.”
What it is for the Dolphins is a running back depth chart that looks a lot like New England’s. No clear workhorse. Instead, the team has role players who do different things based on whatever the team needs in any given game plan.
Gaskin remains projected to be the leader of the bunch, but Rams veteran Malcolm Brown has arrived via free agency. Beyond those two and Doaks, the Dolphins have Salvon Ahmed, Jordan Scarlett, and Patrick Laird.
By the time Week One rolls around, some will stay, some will go. But chances are that none will become Miami’s newest every-down dynamo, racking up the kind of yardage generated by Ricky Williams. Indeed, the Dolphins have had only two 1,000-yard rushers since Williams’ tenure with the team ended — Reggie Bush in 2011, Lamar Miller in 2014, and Jay Ajayi in 2016. Given the way the duties were spread around in 2020, it would be a surprise if it happens in 2021.