Improving the Run Game

Our OL is young and 3 of them are rookies. I think a little bit of time and they’ll be fine.

I went with "just time", but I also think we grab a stud RB in the upcoming draft. The young kid looked good though yesterday in limited touches....you can see the speed and the vision. I hate that I don't remember how to spell his name.

Does anybody know why Solomon Kindley was replaced by Jesse Davis at RG for nearly the entire game yesterday?

"The Guy wrote:

Does anybody know why Solomon Kindley was replaced by Jesse Davis at RG for nearly the entire game yesterday?

Wasnt Hunt playing RT? Maybe they went with their best 5.

A bit of both in needing time and acquiring better talent at RB. The line has enough talent to improve and become better at run blocking, but the Dolphins need to get a lead back in the mold of a Dalvin Cook/Zeke Elliot

"mlb1399 wrote:

Wasnt Hunt playing RT? Maybe they went with their best 5.

Given the rave reviews of Kindley and Hunt's inability to supplant Davis at RT until Davis had to replace Jackson at LT, I would've thought the best five would be the original starters -- Jackson, Flowers, Karras, Kindley, and Davis.

It's a passing league and they got a passer now. That can open up the run game a little bit. Besides Cook and Henry teams don't rely on their run game to win games anymore.

Every time Jordan Howard touched the ball I felt like we were going backwards. Except that one 8 yard gash at the end and the TD run.

"The Guy wrote:

Given the rave reviews of Kindley and Hunt's inability to supplant Davis at RT until Davis had to replace Jackson at LT, I would've thought the best five would be the original starters -- Jackson, Flowers, Karras, Kindley, and Davis.

I found this on the Sun Sentinels article on 20 things we learned from yesterday’s win.

“
Davis takes over at right guard
Austin Jackson’s return from injured reserve, and Solomon Kindley’s struggles at right guard motivated Miami’s coaches to move Jesse Davis from left tackle to right guard on Sunday. Davis, who has started 49 games for the Dolphins, hasn’t played right guard for Miami since the 2018 season but it might be his best position. The hope is that moving Davis inside will help jump-start the running game. -- OK (Doug Murray/AP)”

"TheHighExhaulted wrote:

It's a passing league and they got a passer now. That can open up the run game a little bit. Besides Cook and Henry teams don't rely on their run game to win games anymore.

I was thinking of this when I saw the title.

I'd be interested to know who got the most amount of rushing yards across the league yesterday other than Cook. Wouldn't shock me if the answer was Kyler because it felt like nobody was getting any success rushing the ball and yet the scores across the league were huge. I'd even argue that the Titans being focused on giving Henry so many touches every game works to the detriment of their own team.

If the run game continues to be this bad the rest of the season we need to spend a 2nd rounder on RB.

"Destroyer wrote:

If the run game continues to be this bad the rest of the season we need to spend a 2nd rounder on RB.

Drafting is going to be so much easier now that we have Tua.

I think priority #1 is making this into a great offense and that means we need a true #1 WR that teams are afraid of. The next biggest priority IMO is a good LB because our defense has trouble against the run, especially against dual threat QB's. But once those two are addressed (preferably with our 1st rounders) I agree we should pick a RB and possibly a TE. Make this into a scary offense. DE is also acceptable in the 2nd.

"cbrad wrote:

Drafting is going to be so much easier now that we have Tua.

I think priority #1 is making this into a great offense and that means we need a true #1 WR that teams are afraid of. The next biggest priority IMO is a good LB because our defense has trouble against the run, especially against dual threat QB's. But once those two are addressed (preferably with our 1st rounders) I agree we should pick a RB and possibly a TE. Make this into a scary offense. DE is also acceptable in the 2nd.

How much of the run woes is LB vs DL? I don’t pay attention to see how our DL as maintaining gap control.

I think LB, WR, DL in the first round and in the 2nd you start looking at a RB and any one of those first 3 needs or S.

"cbrad wrote:

Drafting is going to be so much easier now that we have Tua.

I think priority #1 is making this into a great offense and that means we need a true #1 WR that teams are afraid of. The next biggest priority IMO is a good LB because our defense has trouble against the run, especially against dual threat QB's. But once those two are addressed (preferably with our 1st rounders) I agree we should pick a RB and possibly a TE. Make this into a scary offense. DE is also acceptable in the 2nd.

1a: Micah Parsons
1b: DeVonta Smith
2a: Travis Etienne
2b: Andre Cisco

"KeyFin wrote:

I went with "just time", but I also think we grab a stud RB in the upcoming draft. The young kid looked good though yesterday in limited touches....you can see the speed and the vision. I hate that I don't remember how to spell his name.

Did anyone else catch that kid’s name yesterday?

[ATTACH:full]

"Destroyer wrote:

If the run game continues to be this bad the rest of the season we need to spend a 2nd rounder on RB.

Bunk that, if there’s a first round quality stud running back, you grab him!!

Where in the hell are the Barry Sanders, Emmitt Smiths, and Ricky Williams anymore?

To answer the OPs question, I don't think you can ever go wrong with getting the O line as close to elite as possible. If you have a great offensive line, then any back that's talented enough to be a pro will be able to run behind it. Of course, having a super talented running back would help and if there is a Barry Sanders or another Ricky Williams out there, i'd be more than willing to jump on that player if we have the draft cap to do so. As of right now, I think Travis Etienne is the best back in the draft? Certainly not a Sanders, Williams, or Tomlinson, but he's going to be pretty good. Finding a workhorse back should definitely become a priority at some point. I would love to see us trade for Saquan Barkley, but I don't think the Giants are quite ready to give up on him.

My problem with drafting top tier RB’s is the life span of a NFL is just way too short to take the risk. That and we see good RB’s coming out of the 2nd and middle rounds.

As far as drafting OL, I think you always have to have depth there. I’d have no problem using a pick or two in the mid or late rounds.

"mlb1399 wrote:

My problem with drafting top tier RB’s is the life span of a NFL is just way too short to take the risk. That and we see good RB’s coming out of the 2nd and middle rounds.

As far as drafting OL, I think you always have to have depth there. I’d have no problem using a pick or two in the mid or late rounds.

Agree, they don't have a long shelf life in the NFL. However if the running back is a generational talent...Someone like a Marshall Faulk, LT, Saquan Barkley, I could understand making that move with a top pick. With that said we've seen all time greats like Thurman Thomas, Curtis Martin, Terrell Davis go in later rounds. We've seen Kijana Carter taken with the first pick only to have his career derailed by injuries. Other guys like Ronnie Brown end up having so so careers and are taken extremely high. Trent Richardson was just a straight up bust! I think it comes down to health, security, and the strength of your offensive line. Ezekiel Elliott is definitely struggling right now due to poor QB play, but Dallas also has issues with their O line. Their best guy is not playing this season and it certainly shows even with a back as talented as Zeke.

They do not need to waste a high draft pick on a running back. Great quarterback play will open up the run game no matter who is back there.

They need a wide receiver who can take it to the house at any moment. Shore up the trenches. Linebacker, safety are all positions I would look at before running back.

"TheHighExhaulted wrote:

They do not need to waste a high draft pick on a running back. Great quarterback play will open up the run game no matter who is back there.

They need a wide receiver who can take it to the house at any moment. Shore up the trenches. Linebacker, safety are all positions I would look at before running back.

Respectfully disagree. I know I come from an older era of football where running the ball is KEY to everything, but if you have a great quarterback AND a great running back their relationship is symbiotic and they will dominate.

Harris and Bradshaw
Dorsett and Staubach
Craig and Montana
Thomas and Kelly
Davis and Elway
Smith and Aikmen
Bettis and Roethlisburger
Henry and Tannehill

Many others I'm sure I can't recall off the top of myu head but the bottom line is, you don't want your entire offense designed around one player. That's the stupidest thing any team can do a la Colts 2006 with Manning out for the season.

Star running backs can be found in the mid rounds.

"The_Dark_Knight wrote:

Respectfully disagree. I know I come from an older era of football where running the ball is KEY to everything, but if you have a great quarterback AND a great running back their relationship is symbiotic and they will dominate.

Harris and Bradshaw
Dorsett and Staubach
Craig and Montana
Thomas and Kelly
Davis and Elway
Smith and Aikmen
Bettis and Roethlisburger
Henry and Tannehill

Many others I'm sure I can't recall off the top of myu head but the bottom line is, you don't want your entire offense designed around one player. That's the stupidest thing any team can do a la Colts 2006 with Manning out for the season.

The last five Super Bowl winning starting running backs were Damien Williams, Legarrette Blount (twice), Sony Michel and C.J. Anderson.

Edit: All undrafted except for Michel.

"The_Dark_Knight wrote:

Respectfully disagree. I know I come from an older era of football where running the ball is KEY to everything, but if you have a great quarterback AND a great running back their relationship is symbiotic and they will dominate.

Harris and Bradshaw
Dorsett and Staubach
Craig and Montana
Thomas and Kelly
Davis and Elway
Smith and Aikmen
Bettis and Roethlisburger
Henry and Tannehill

Many others I'm sure I can't recall off the top of myu head but the bottom line is, you don't want your entire offense designed around one player. That's the stupidest thing any team can do a la Colts 2006 with Manning out for the season.

Don't think anyone is saying to ignore the RB position and just focus everything on the QB (we've already had bitter experience of how that plays out, as the team never got a running game for #13) but even from that list, not all were 1st & 2nd rounders.
Alf & the team were talking about Jordan Howard on the 5 Reasons post-game show and Alf was saying that he is a player that needs touches, as he has historically got better & more productive the more touches that he got in a game. Who is to say that if one back got the majority of the touches in the game that they won't produce, particularly if we can stretch the game from the QB position?