Like you, I am counting down the hours and seconds until the Lockout is over the Miami Dolphins can finally start adding pieces to their roster for the 2011 season. This entire offseason, outside of the draft, we have been left to only speculate about what the Dolphins are going to do to improve this team. One of the two positions that’s been speculated about most is the running back position. The Dolphins drafted Daniel Thomas out of Kansas State in the 2nd round of April’s draft. The speculation has been about who else the Dolphins will have, to team with Thomas in the backfield.
Yesterday, Jason LaCanfora of the NFL Network said that the Dolphins would likely “set the market” for the Saints’ Reggie Bush. Jason is a respected NFL insider, so I don’t doubt a source told him this. However, I do doubt that the Dolphins would actually set the market for Reggie Bush (let alone tell people about it before they did it). Reggie Bush is a nice player, but certainly isn’t worth a big contract. In fact, I think he should be the 3rd or 4th option at RB that the Dolphins explore this offseason.
If you’ve stopped by PhinNation.com before, you know that our top choice at RB would be to land DeAngelo Williams. Williams would come into Miami and would be the starting running back, allowing Daniel Thomas to share carries and learn the ways of the NFL at his own speed. Williams, as you know, is rumored to have bought a house recently in South Florida and is interested in playing for the Dolphins. Yes, Williams was injured last season, but in the previous 2 seasons he rushed for 1,500 and 1,100 yards respectively, totaling 25 TDs over those 2 years. He also averaged over 5.2 ypc each of those years.
Ahmad Bradshaw of the Giants would be our 1A to DeAngelo Williams. Last year, Bradshaw shared the backfield with Brandon Jacobs, and still rushed for 1,200 yards and 8 TDs (4.5 ypc average). He, like Williams, would be capable of carrying the load for the Dolphins running attack, adding big play ability, and allowing Daniel Thomas to work his way into his role.
That brings us to Reggie Bush. In his 5 NFL seasons he’s never rushed for over 600 yards and has averaged just over 400 yards per year. His career ypc average is 4.0, so for all of the hype that surrounds him, he is less dynamic than Williams and Bradshaw. This is why I find it hard to believe the Dolphins would set the market for Reggie. Does he catch the ball out of the backfield better than DeAngelo and Ahmad…Yes. But would he be as good of a compliment to Daniel Thomas….I would say no. However, if the Dolphins lose out on Ahmad (re-signing with the Giants) and DeAngelo (taking more money from the Broncos), Reggie Bush would be a good backup option. The one thing that Reggie would bring, that the other RBs do not, is return ability, which the Dolphins need. This is why Bush and Darren Sproles would be on our list of backup options. One thing is for sure, once free agency starts, things are going to move quickly….The Dolphins roster today could look drastically different in 2 weeks!
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