Dolphins Stand Pat at Running Back

The Miami Dolphins have made six selections so far in the 2020 NFL Draft and they have doubled up on offensive linemen and defensive backs, mixing in a quarterback and a defensive lineman.

What they haven't added is a running back, something the current roster suggests was a position of need.

Clyde Edwards-Helaire of LSU was the only running back selected in the first round as he was 32nd overall, but there were four running backs taken in the second round.

Four picks before the Dolphins selected at No. 39, the Detroit Lions took Georgia's D'Andre Swift, who had been mocked in more than one place to the Dolphins.

Between that pick and the time selected again at number 56, the Dolphins saw running back Jonathan Taylor got 41st to the Indianapolis Colts, Cam Akers go 52nd to the Los Angeles Rams, and finally J.K. Dobbins go to the Baltimore Ravens on the pick right before the Dolphins selected Alabama defensive tackle Raekwon Davis.

For good measure, A.J. Dillon of Boston College — the alma mater of Dolphins coach Brian Flores — went 62nd to the Green Bay Packers.

Dolphins GM Chris Grier was asked after Round 3 whether he had any discussions with other teams about trying to move up to land Dobbins, in whom the team reportedly was interested.

The question also included a second part about whether the Dolphins have had discussions with the Jacksonville Jaguars about a trade for running back Leonard Fournette.

“No, we have not had any conversations with anyone, and for us with the board, we’re calling teams all the time up and down, (but we weren’t) specifically moving up to go after any real specific player,” Grier said.

The Dolphins added four-year veteran Jordan Howard as a free agent in the offseason to join a running back corps that also includes 2019 rookies Patrick Laird and Myles Gaskin, as well as Samaje Perine, Kalen Ballage and De'Lance Turner, as well as fullback Chandler Cox.

Ballage was a fourth-round pick in the 2018 draft, while Gaskin and Cox were seventh-round choices last year.

The most highly rated running backs still available in this draft include Eno Benjamin from Arizona State, Joshua Kelley from UCLA, Anthony McFarland from Maryland and Florida's Lamical Perine, who happens to be the cousin of Samaje Perine.

The Dolphins also could decide to make a move for Fournette, though he's widely expected to be moved by the Jaguars one way or another. So perhaps the best course of action there would be to just wait out Jacksonville if the Jaguars aren't willing to accept a modest trade offer.

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