May 4, 2012; Davie, FL, USA; Miami Dolphins running back Lamar Miller (44) during rookie mini-camp practice at the Dolphins training facility. Mandatory Credit: Steve Mitchell-US PRESSWIRE

Last season the Dolphins featured the league’s 11th rushing attack led by Reggie Bush. It also had a hopeful rookie Daniel Thomas, who only averaged 3.5 yards/carry, not living up to expectations. Overall the run game did well. Gone are the dominant days of the two-headed monster of Ronnie Brown and Ricky Williams, and now with a switch to a west-coast offense, you should expect something much different this coming season.

In the off-season, the Dolphins surprisingly traded up in the 4th round to acquire Miami Running Back Lamar Miller. Throw in the Dolphins landing the CFL’s top back, and we got ourselves an interesting offseason for running backs.

Here’s a look at some hot topics heading into training camp.

The Starter

There is little doubt that Reggie Bush will start the season as the starting running back for the Miami Dolphins. He proved for at least one season that he can carry a starting running back’s workload. The interesting thing to look out for in camp is how Reggie Bush will be used in the passing game. Back in his New Orleans days, Bush was one of the top receiving running backs in the NFL, but once he came to Miami, he wasn’t getting nearly as much production receiving out of the backfield. With a switch to the west coast offense, it will be interesting to see how many extra touches Joe Philbin will want to give Bush receiving the football. Expect more creativity.

The Rookie

Lamar Miller will most certainly make the final roster at training camps end, but the interesting thing to watch for is how fast he adjusts to the NFL and if he can outshine the other running backs. He will likely be used in the same way as Reggie Bush to start, but how many of those plays will he actually take away from Bush? It’s hard to envision Miller replacing Daniel Thomas in his backup role because of how similar Miller is to Bush, but Miller has to prove everything he can if he wants to get carries come game time. Also, watch out to see if the coaches have Miller returning kicks. If they want to get the most out of their 4th-round pick in his first season, using him as a kick returner might be the way to do it.

The Battle

The biggest battle will be for the last spot on the roster. Bush, Thomas, and Miller are all locks to make the final cut, but someone like Steve Slaton, who hasn’t been very productive in a long time, may get shoved out by a younger back with more upside.

The Dolphins signed the CFL’s best running back in Jerome Messam this past off-season. He’s a big back with surprising speed. Could he prove to be the real deal and challenge Slaton for the last spot? It’s tough to say, because the Dolphins are so young at running back and a veteran like Slaton could at least give the Dolphins a little experience on the bench.

Marcus Thigpen, another former CFL player, is another guy who will be fighting for the spot. Thigpen has never had an NFL carry and will really need to impress at camp if he wants a shot. He’s going to get his chance, let’s see what he does with it.

There are also many other backs who will be participating in camp, but none of them really has a realistic shot to be on the roster day one of the season.

Final Thoughts

Overall the running backs in camp won’t have as much drama and competition as some other positions, but the excitement of rookie Lamar Miller and a change in style should help keep things interesting during camp.

Dec. 26, 2010; Miami, FL, USA; Miami Dolphins running back Ronnie Brown (23) during a game against the Detroit Lions at Sun Life Stadium. The Lions won 34-27. Mandatory Credit: Steve Mitchell-US PRESSWIRE

Former Dolphins running back, Ronnie Brown, signed with the Chargers today on a one year deal. After six solid seasons with the Dolphins and a bad experiment with the Philaledphia Eagles, Brown will get a  another fresh start backing up the injury prone Ryan Mathews. Brown only totaled 136 yards on 42 carries last season, and found himself out of place in Philadelphia.

Brown could easily get a fair share of carries with the Chargers, and at the least should be used as passing downs to block, similar to how the Chargers used Mike Tolbert. Also, Ryan Mathews hasn’t been the most durable back so far in his career, so Brown may be used as the starter a few times next season.

This is a good pickup for the Chargers, but is something that shouldn’t upset Dolphin fans. We all miss the Ronnie Brown of old, but he’s nowhere near that player today.

The days of Ronnie Brown and Ricky Williams tearing up the football field and carrying the offense are gone, and we’re now in an era where passing the ball will be our main attack. We’ve gone from a power back duo to big play speed backs like Reggie Bush and Lamar Miller.

I love the new direction the team is going, but I can’t say I don’t miss Ronnie and Ricky tearing it up. It’s for the best, however, because we’re implementing a winning system from Joe Philbin, and the old style play just wasn’t getting the job done.

Let’s go Phins.

May 22, 2012; Davie, FL, USA; Miami Dolphins quarterback

It was only day one of the Dolphins’ OTA’s today and already there is some interesting news in regards to the quarterback situation in Miami. According to live updates from The South Florida Sun-Sentinel, David Garrard was the most impressive of the three quarterbacks in today’s session. The reports said that for Garrard, “Decision making is quick” and for Tannehill, “is slow”.

Both Omar Kelly and Izzy Gould, beat writers for The South Florida Sun-Sentinel, both agree in this video that Ryan Tannehill looked a little slow and still has to adjust to the speed of the game. They also said Matt Moore looked like his usual self in practice, which they make seem not great by saying he is a better game performer than practice performer.

It’s way too early to say if any of this means anything, but it at least proves that Garrard has something left in the tank and shouldn’t be counted out of the quarterback battle.

A few days after owner Stephen Ross said he expects Matt Moore to be the starter day one, Garrard came out and tried to prove him wrong. With a whole new coaching staff and a new offensive system, the starting  job is open for anyone.

I still expect Matt Moore to win the job, because he proved last season he can lead this team to wins and Joe Philbin knows that. No matter who wins the job, they will be on a pretty short leash with a duo of solid QB’s breathing behind their neck.

In non-quarteberback related news, according to reports Lamar Miller had a good practice today, which is something I’m sure most fans are excited to hear.

This is only the beginning of the long battles ahead, but for now we’ll take any news we can get.