Miami Needs To Get A “Name Brand” RB

Sometimes when grocery shopping I will buy the Store Brand items, in Walmart it’s the GREAT VALUE brand that is privately produced which are lower-priced alternatives to name brand products. But there are just some items that I just refuse to take the Store Brand over a Named Brand like Ketchup for some reason…

Just like in my pantry where I have a mix of Named Brand and Store Brand items, the same can be said about building an NFL roster it should be full of both Name Brand and Store Brand players. The RB position in the NFL has been devalued by many, as the thinking is among far to many is you can get a good RB later in the draft. (See My Article It’s Time To RE-VALUE The RB Position!) the store brand version of a running back, and a case can be made because many RB’s drafted later in the draft have had some success in the NFL.

Now Days teams more than likely use the RB position as a running back by committee approach where teams have more than one RB that are used on different downs and scoring situations. Some teams are moving away from that approach because defenses can just about tell what an offense is going to do when they put in a certain package with a specific RB.

The RB that can be a Swiss army knife type back where he can run, catch & block well is what teams are looking for as they can remain on the field for all three downs.

Let’s take a look at the RB position over the years starting with the best RB’s today and then the best RB’s in history and then the best RB’s in Dolphin history and finally the best RB’s in the upcoming NFL Draft.

The Top RB’ Today

Ezekiel Elliott, Dallas (First Round Pick #4 )
Saquon Barkley, New York Giants (First Round Pick #2 )
Christian McCaffrey, Carolina (First Round Pick #8 )
Todd Gurley, Atlanta Falcons (First Round Pick #10 )
Melvin Gordon, Denver Broncos (First Round Pick #15 )
Le’Veon Bell, New York Jets (Second Round Pick #48)
Joe Mixon, Cincinnati (Second Round Pick #48)
Derrick Henry, Tennessee (Second Round Pick #45)
Alvin Kamara, New Orleans (Third Round Pick #67)
Kareem Hunt, Cleveland (Third Round Pick #86)

The top RB’s in history

Emmitt Smith (First Round Pick #17)
Barry Sanders (First Round Pick #3)
Jim Brown (First Round Pick #6)
Walter Payton (First Round Pick #4)
Eric Dickerson (First Round Pick #3)
LaDainian Tomlinson (First Round Pick #5)
Marcus Allen (First Round Pick #10)
Adrian Peterson (First Round Pick #7)
Franco Harris (First Round Pick #10)
Terrell Davis (Sixth Round Pick #7)

The best RB’s in Dolphin history were

Larry Csonka (First Round Pick #8 )
Ricky Williams (First Round Pick #5 )
Ronnie Brown (First Round Pick #2 )
Mercury Morris (Third Round Pick #63)

Statistics show that RB’s drafted in the first round are more successful than RB’s drafted later on. Just look at the results above as the majority of the RB’s listed are first round picks 9 out of the 10 best RB’s in history were first round selections.

Teams that are built to play tough Defense and run the ball need a top shelf Name Brand RB, the Dolphins are being built that way as they will be recognized as a tough defensive team and will focus on a ball controlled offense.

The Top 10 rushing teams in the NFL last year was

Baltimore Ravens 204.8 yards per game (Made the Playoffs)
San Francisco 49Ers 153.5 yards per game (Made the Playoffs/ went to SB)
Tennessee Titans 143.5 yards per game (Made the Playoffs)
Dallas Cowboys 134.6 yards per game
Indianapolis Colts 133.1 yards per game
Seattle Seahawks 131.9 yards per game (Made the Playoffs)
Buffalo Bills 130.9 yards per game (Made the Playoffs)
Minnesota Vikings 127.2 yards per game (Made the Playoffs)
Houston Texans 124.7 yards per game (Made the Playoffs)
Arizona Cardinals 124.4 yards per game

The Miami Dolphins were dead last in the league in rushing last year rushing for a lowly 72.2 yards per game!

If any team needs to draft a RB in the first round it is the Miami Dolphins as despite some wanting to take a store brand RB later in the draft the Dolphins need to take a name brand RB and the best names in the upcoming NFL draft are

RB D’Andre Swift, Georgia 5-9, 215
RB Jonathan Taylor, Wisconsin 5-11, 219 (my favorite)
RB J.K. Dobbins, Ohio St 5-10, 217
RB Zack Moss, Utah 5-10, 222
RB Cam Akers, Florida St 5-11, 212

Hopefully Miami will pick from the top shelf!

TDS

Fins Up!

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