Miami Dolphins trades haven’t worked out at RB this year
By Brian Miller
The Miami Dolphins thought they could make some trades and solve the RB spot. They were wrong.
From free agency to the draft to the NFL trade deadline, the Miami Dolphins failed to address one of their biggest needs and are paying for it.
Looking over what the Dolphins have done this off-season, here are the hits, the misses, and the mistakes.
Miami’s biggest mistake this year was signing Jordan Howard in free agency. The move cost Miami money but otherwise could have been a simple mistake. Signing Howard left the team believing they could get through this year with a serviceable runner. That wasn’t the case.
Howard may have given the Dolphins a small sense of comfort heading into the draft where they opted to not take a running back. They did, however, trade for one.
The trade that brought Matt Breida to the Dolphins should have been a really good one for the Dolphins but Miami gave up an early 5th-round draft pick for Breida. They took DE Jason Strowbridge with the next pick in the draft.
Miami had three selections in the 5th-round, they sent one to San Francisco, and wasted their third on Curtis Weaver who didn’t make it out of training camp.
As for Breida, the Dolphins smartest move was not giving him an early extension. Breida is in the final year of his contract and thus far, has shown little of what he may be capable of doing. While he hasn’t looked like a 5th round trade steal, his value is his speed. Is this a case of Chan Gailey not using him correctly? That is a very good possibility.
Breida is not an inline runner and when he is asked to do that, it’s far less impressive than when he can either bounce outside or is used in the passing game. Something Miami hasn’t done much so far with him.
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Through the 2020 season thus far, Breida has 168 yards rushing on 47 attempts. He has 9 receptions for 96 yards. This is not going to cut it and yes, Gailey should be held accountable for not getting him the ball in the passing game. In San Francisco, he averaged just over 30 catches per season. That leads me to believe that there is also a performance hiccup as well.
Miami wasn’t sold entirely on Breida and that led to a trade for DeAndre Washington. We can say that last Sunday’s game against the Jets was really the first we got to see of Washington as a Miami Dolphins’ runner. He looked much better than Breida did but didn’t look as convincing as Myles Gaskin or Salvon Ahmed. Time will tell on that trade but it a minimal swap.
Miami sent Kansas City a conditional 6th-round pick for Washington while receiving the running back and a conditional 7th-round pick. No matter what happens with Washington, the trade itself isn’t something that will be categorized as a massive bust or a bust at all.
Then there is Lynn Bowden, Jr., another Miami Dolphins trade acquisition. Bowden was brought to Miami in what would essentially a swap for Raekwon McMillan who Miami traded to the Raiders for a 4th. Bowden was drafted in the 3rd round of the 2020 draft.
Miami also received a 6th round pick as well for Bowden who has experience playing WR, RB, and QB. The biggest problem is that Gailey doesn’t know how to use him and the rookie has largely been ineffective this year in the minimal amount he has been on the field.
Is this a busted trade? No, it’s too early to tell and the compensation was minimal at best. What all of this shows, however, is that the Dolphins are not confident in what they have at running back and will need to further address the position next year.
Whether it is the offensive line play, the Chan Gailey play calling, or the players themselves, the Dolphins are finding their run game stagnant and that could be a problem down the stretch of this season.