How important is the run game for these Miami Dolphins?

Miami Dolphins coach Brian Flores has stated recently how he strives for a balanced run and pass game on offense.

The Miami Dolphins need to find a balance in their offense and the running game can give them that but how important is it really?

Ideally, most teams also seek to have a balanced attack. Many have done well not doing so and playing to their strengths or mixing and matching.

It’s been said that past Miami Dolphins’ great quarterback Dan Marino had not much of a running game. I was at the game where running back Sammie Smith was booed and jeered off the field from untimely fumbles that cost the game.

We have seen the running back position take a hit in popularity, with many stating that you shouldn’t invest highly in them. As of now, the highest-paid RB is Christian McCaffrey at 16 million on average a year. There are six other backs making double-digit millions a year as well. Joe Mixon holds the floor at 12 million on average a year.

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Should this younger Miami Dolphins team invest in one of the better RB’s in free agency should one become available? For the longest time, former head coach Adam Gase wanted to get Jordan Howard. When this did take place later it didn’t work out and Howard is now back on the Eagles.

So just getting, what should be a good running back doesn’t just solve that problem. Matching up Tua Tagovailoa to what he excelled with at Alabama should make sense, and that is said to be the run-pass option. So a good match would be a back that is skilled in RPO.

This might be all water under the bridge and something that is in the plans for this coming off-season, where the rookie quarterback might be able to have more of a traditional training camp (God willing under the COVID pandemic)

I have a hankering that we will see more play-action passes, where the run is faked but the back gets the pass instead. Backtracking to former head coach Adam Gase, I really thought he was going to open this up as well with the use of double back sets. So I might be dead wrong again.

Myles Gaskin had a nice game in the close win over the Raiders. His running and receiving numbers were about the same. However, his two touchdowns came in the air. Running the ball is seemingly important in order for the RPO to be effective. We have seen many poor results in the past when the Miami Dolphins had no running game established but would force this play.

Just getting a running back accustom to this design of play and running it, still might not be enough. Better blocking upfront could also go a long way toward making it successful. Many are already getting hyped over the draft and how an early pick could be used on an offensive lineman.

An OL may not seem like something to be excited about, but our last one got traded away and now we have extra early picks in the next draft thanks to the Texans.

Last season seems so far off, with Ryan Fitzpatrick chucking it and ducking it. While poor Josh Rosen was a sitting duck. Even that team somehow found a way to five wins. It is certainly something to appreciate how we got here and having some expectations on how this will all progress.