Miami Dolphins have found lightning in a bottle
There was a time at the start of the regular season when the thought of losing former Pro Bowl running back Arian Foster would be deemed a significant tragedy for the Miami Dolphins. Foster’s retirement announcement Monday night was a shock. However, it will have little force on the Dolphins season and what they are doing offensively.
AROUND COVER32
QB Rankings: Rivers rises and Keenum cracks
2017 NFL Draft:: Previewing the 2017 linemen class
Headlines:: The beast storylines from Week 7
Dolphins News: Foster’s retirement will help Miami
Follow us on Twitter here
The abrupt emergence of Jay Ajayi makes Foster’s retirement more acceptable for us as Dolphins’ fans to accept. Remember this wasn’t the Jay Ajayi we saw in training camp and the preseason. The Dolphins also have two young backups — Damien Williams and rookie Kenyan Drake — who are progressing each week.
In some ways, Foster, 30, was getting in the way of the fullness of Miami’s young trio. The Dolphins won two in a row frequently without Foster and have some impulse as they near the second half of the season. Foster identified he wasn’t part of Miami’s future.
The Dolphins signed him to a one-year, $1.5 million contract as a short-term rental to set the example for younger players on the roster. It turns out Foster was less than a year removed from groin and hamstring injuries that continued to hinder him. Foster missed almost as many games as he played after all.
It also was obvious that Foster would be a backup to Jay Ajayi for the rest of the season. Ajayi is younger and more explosive than Foster and he has caught his stride in his second season. Ajayi’s back-to-back 200-yard performances put him in the aristocracy company as just the fourth player to accomplish that feat in the Super Bowl era.
After Foster’s injury, he knew that he most likely wasn’t going to get his starting job back this year. That may have made his decision to retire, instead of trying to play hurt and fight through the groin and hamstring injury.
In a diminished role, Foster got three carries for five yards on Sunday against the Buffalo Bills in what was likely his final NFL game. Foster had an excellent NFL career. He entered the league with the Houston Texans after going undrafted, and rushed for 6,527 career yards, 54 touchdowns and made four Pro Bowls. His novel is one of pertinacity, hard work, and production. The Dolphins are a young team that needs to concentrate on its present and future. Ajayi is showing to be a big part of those plans.
READ MORE: Dolphins sign veteran safety Rambo
The post Miami Dolphins have found lightning in a bottle appeared first on Cover32.
