Ahmed Shows Off Speed, Makes Bid for Dolphins Roster Spot
Salvon Ahmed followed his blockers over the left side, deftly stepped out of a few tackles and didn't stop running until he'd gone 65 yards — and maybe into a Miami Dolphins' roster spot.
On Saturday, the former University of Washington running back made a strong case for spending another season in South Beach by rushing for 99 yards and catching an 8-yard touchdown pass as Miami beat the Houston Texans 28-3 in an exhibition game.
Yet while he made inroads with strong performance, Ahmed might have put former Husky and current Dolphins teammate Myles Gaskin in jeopardy with cutdown date to the 53-man roster limit fast approaching.
"I just show up to work, be at practice and come to the game doing my job," Ahmed said, deflecting questions about his roster status.
For now, Ahmed and Gaskin have each flourished in exhibition outings, making the Miami front office scramble some to figure out which running backs to keep.
Well-traveled veteran Raheem Mostert, who played collegiately for Purdue, is projected as the Dolphins starter, while De'Von Achana is dealing with a shoulder injury.
Gaskin, the UW's all-time leading rusher, made his bid for further employment by rushing for 57 yards on 7 carries, breaking a 35-yard gainer, and catching 2 passes for 20 yards, against Atlanta in the exhibition opener.
Ahmed drew 12 carries for his 99 yards and caught 4 passes for 32 yards against the Texans.
He gave Miami a 14-3 lead in the second quarter by catching his TD pass in the left flat.
A short time later from the Dolphins 18, he zipped up the field and looked like he might go the distance, only to have the Texans' Ka'dar Hollman shove him out of bounds at the Houston 17.
"That's a great room I'm in with those guys," Ahmed said. "We all try to learn from each other. We all try to help each other. There's competition in life and sports."
Go to si.com/college/washington to read the latest Inside the Huskies stories — as soon as they’re published.
Not all stories are posted on the fan sites.
Find Inside the Huskies on Facebook by searching: Inside Huskies/FanNation at SI.com or https://www.facebook.com/dan.raley.12
Follow Dan Raley of Inside the Huskies on Twitter: @DanRaley1 or @UWFanNation or @DanRaley3
Have a question, direct message me on Facebook or Twitter.