Dolphins face tough call - but good situation - with four experienced starting backs

In the blink of an offseason, the Dolphins have gone from being a team that can’t run for its life - averaging a puny 3.5 yards per carry, second-worst in the league - to boasting four experienced starting running backs, including the league’s active leader in yards per carry and the guy who finished sixth last season in that category.

The revamped room is so deep that Myles Gaskin could go from starting in 2021 to not even making the team.

So will ego be an issue with a group in which any of four players - Chase Edmonds, Raheem Mostert, Sony Michel and Gaskin - can make a case to start?

“It’s no egos,” Edmonds said Thursday. “I’m a team first guy. I do what I’m asked to do and see if I can continue to exceed expectations. I want to see my brothers ball. I want to see [them] get paid. We’re all in this business for the same reason - to take care of our families. There’s no ego for me.”

Only six teams last season averaged less than 4.0 yards per carry and only one of those six - Las Vegas - made the playoffs.

Since then, the Dolphins have added a player in Mostert whose 5.7 career rushing average would lead every active NFL back if he had enough carries to qualify.

They added a player in Edmonds whose 5.1 per carry average last season was sixth among all backs with a minimum of 100 carries.

They added a player in Michel who averaged 5.7 and 4.1 yards the past two seasons.

Edmonds and Mostert are the top candidates to start, and nobody would be surprised if Edmonds gets the nod.

But Mostert has one advantage: his experience playing in a wide zone running scheme when he worked with McDaniel with the 49ers for the past five years.

“Just getting to know him and getting to know his story, him starting as a GA in multiple places under the Kyle Shanahan tree and then working his way up… it’s beautiful to see him be able to run a team and run it efficiently,” Mostert said. “I’m excited for him, honestly. I wouldn’t be here without him.

“We’re always talking. He’s always saying, ‘Hey, Raheem. I wouldn’t be here without you, man.’ I’m saying the same thing to him. That’s just the relationship we have and the relationship that he’s going to build and manifest into other players. It’s going to be awesome to see.”

Mostert seemingly has regained his speed after last September’s season-ending knee injury; he was timed as the fastest player on the team on Friday, and when McDaniel told the team that, Mostert was given a loud ovation.

Edmonds, by contrast, said he hasn’t had much exposure to this wide zone running scheme, either during his college career at Fordham and four years with the Arizona Cardinals.

But Edmonds is coming off his best NFL season, and his impressive rushing and receiving skills have been on full display early in camp, and McDaniel said, “last couple days, he’s put tremendous stuff on tape.”

Edmonds noted that “in college and at Arizona, I was primarily inside zone. Those blocks are a little more vertical. I’m still training to... figure out which cuts to make at the second level.

“I don’t think it’s too difficult because with repetition you get neurological memory. Now it’s kicking in. I never had 1000 reps at outside zone. My last 10 years of football has been inside zone .. I consider myself an expert at that particular play.”

Edmonds ran for seven yards on one play on Thursday but said he could have gained 20 - and should - as he grows more comfortable in this offense and continues to study practice film and game tape.

“When I read second level blocks, I’m usually pressing and get under it. With this one, if I could have stayed on my first level block, I could have done a little shimmie and gone back outside.

“Inside zone is kind of a cat and mouse with the linebacker. I have to displace the linebacker with my track and path. With outside zone, I’m riding the wave and the frontside blocker needs to get to the second level. That’s physics right there.”

Even though Mostert excels in that system, he needs to learn the tendencies of a new offensive line - another key in this system because everything must be in sync. He has been practicing every other day; the team is being cautious even though he has been cleared medically after last season’s cartilage injury.

“This is a new group of guys that I have to work with,” he said. “...We all have to be on the same page.We have to mesh together. I know it’s going to click, and when it does, you can tell what’s going to happen. I can’t wait – it’s exciting, man, honestly.”

Finances won’t dictate playing time decisions, but it’s worth noting that Edmonds is earning the most of the group - $6.1 million this season between his base salary and bonuses. Mostert, off the serious knee injury, is making $3.1 million and Michel $1.75 million. Gaskin is due to make $2.5 million, but that’s not guaranteed, and he stands at risk of being traded or cut.

Gaskin got 173 carries for the Dolphins last season, along with 49 receptions, but he averaged just 3.5 yards per rush in 17 games and 10 starts.

Edmonds had a career-high 116 carries last season (along with 43 receptions) in 12 games and 11 starts for Arizona.

Michel had 208 carries and 21 receptions in 17 games and 7 starts for the Rams; his career high in carries is 247 in 2019, for New England.

“The camaraderie has been good,” Michel said Saturday of the running back room. “Guys love to compete. Guys are out here working their tails off trying to earn spots. Nothing is given, everything is earned and you get what you earn out here.”

Mostert had 6, 34, 137 and 104 rushing attempts in his first four seasons with the 49ers; he missed last season after sustaining a knee injury in the opener, after just two carries.

“Hopefully, I’m able to expand my role, just like I’ve always wanted to do,” Mostert said. “I started doing that and that stuff, but unfortunately with the injury, it kind of hindered me.”

Behind them are Salvon Ahmed, who has had a good start to camp; second-year back Gerrid Doaks and undrafted rookie ZaQuandre White. (Former Raiders player Alec Ingold is expected to make the team as a fullback, a position that McDaniel’s offense uses on some plays.)

How McDaniel allocates snaps among his top backs will be one of the fascinating subplots for a team now possessing a wealth of offensive riches.