It always kills me to look back at the list of "leading rushers" the Dolphins had while Marino was here. During Marino's tenure, we had one RB hit 1000 yards. One!!! That one was the legendary Karim Abdul-Jabar in 1996. His yards per carry that season? A whopping 3.6 ypc.

In fact, only 5 times during Marino's career did we have a RB that averaged 4 ypc.
1994 Bernie Parmalee - 4.0 ypc (868 yards)
1987 Troy Stradford - 4.3 ypc (619 yards)
1986 Lorenzo Hampton - 4.5 ypc (830 yards)
1985 Tony Nathan - 4.7 ypc (667 yards)
1984 Woody Bennett - 4.2 ypc (606 yards)

Can you imagine how much those Miami RBs must have scared opposing defenses?!

Not once during Marino's career, did we have a 1000 yard RB that averaged 4 or more ypc. In other words, we never really had a good RB while Marino was here. Even the Patriots, a team not exactly known for running the football, have had four 1000 yard rushers that have averaged 4 or more ypc during Brady's career; and it's a good bet that Ridley does it again this year.

One more thing: Jabar's 1116 yards in 1996 didn't even put him among the top 10 rushers that year. So the best year a Miami RB had during the Marino era was still not a top 10 year.

The bottom line is that Marino was forced to carry that offense.

So this brings me to Tannehill. Much has been said about him being our first real franchise QB since Marino. I believe/think/hope he has that kind of talent; but one thing is for sure: Tannehill will need a good running game in order for this team to be successful. He may develop into a franchise QB; but it takes a complete team to win in today's NFL, so we absolutely must have a good running game. Unfortunately, this is something Marino never had in 17 years as the Dolphins QB!! Philbin can't count on Tannehill carrying this offense the way Marino did. Even if Tannehill makes huge strides as a QB this year, we still a good running game this year if this team is going to have success.

If the running game fails this year, Tannehill will be forced to carry the offense, which is not a good thing. Miller has the talent to succeed, but the line has to help him a lot. Run-blocking by our offensive line may actually be the key to our success this year. We brought in a lot of receiving weapons this year, but let's not forget the importance of a good running game. Just ask Mr. Marino.

Lamar Miller will rush for 1200+ yards this year. Mark it down.

________________________________________________________
The beatings will continue until morale improves.

I hope you're right. That would greatly increase our chances of a winning season.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/23/2013 06:03AM by Northeast Fin Fan.

berkeley223 Wrote:
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> Lamar Miller will rush for 1200+ yards this year.
> Mark it down.


&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&
I have my doubts without Vonta Leach.

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"When you suck long enough, you get a Hickey"

I love Marino, but he's partly to blame for the lack of a running game all those years.

Its true we never gave him an elite back to work with, but he always had good to great Olines and that should be enough to allow an average back to get 62.5 yards a game.

Dan never had as much faith in running the ball as he did in his ability to throw it (for obvious reasons) and checked out of a ton of running plays over his career. Its too bad. If he'd have invested more in the running game he'd have had a better play action weapon to use and he'd have been even BETTER throwing the ball.

Aqua&Orange Wrote:
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> berkeley223 Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > Lamar Miller will rush for 1200+ yards this
> year.
> > Mark it down.
>
>
> &&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&
> I have my doubts without Vonta Leach.


It will come down to touches.

1200 yards is only 75 a game.

If Miller gets 20 carries a game he'll get 1200+ yards, with or without Leach blocking for him every 7th carry.

If they split up the carries between Miller, Gillislee and Thomas then nobody is having a huge year.

Truth, if we sign Leach he will be in the game way more than whatever FB is on the roster if we don't sign him, certainly not 1 in 7 running plays. Our offense will not be identical to what it would be if we had Javorskie Lane in there. That's what I think you're missing. We'd have more of a 2 back set, at least on earlier downs and short yardage.

________________________________________________________
The beatings will continue until morale improves.

Th running style of this offense is one cut and go, it is not follow the lead blocker through the whole.. Even if we signed Leach, he would be used in his own one back set more then he would ever lead block... Our run game isnt built that way, it is one cut go, that is all. That is why they were unhappy with Bush, he didnt listen and didn't run in the style Sherman and Philbin wanted...

I dont think Miller has 1000 yards let alone 1200, and Leach will have nothing to do with it, even if he is on the roster... As I pointed out in the other topic, Miller didnt do very well when he was put into run against teams that defend it well.. He did well against teams that suck at run defense...
And now, you guys want to change the entire system for one player, a FB? And will blame the lack of a pro bowl FB on why Miller doesnt reach such lofty goals in a base one back set... ????????????
After all the money we just spent this offseason, you guys have lost your minds, chasing this Leach dream...

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All things are subject to interpretation whichever interpretation prevails at a given time is a function of power and not truth.
Nietzsche



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/23/2013 08:00AM by Crowder52.

If you put in 2 back sets, with 2 WR's and a TE, you allow the defense to stack the box and bring up a safety... If you go 3 or 4 wide or 2 TE sets with one back. It opens up the field more spreads the defense out. Makes it so if Miller gets past the line, there is maybe one guy to beat instead of 3... But lets change all that, change our whole philosophy, so we can have a lead blocking FB.... smh....seriously guys? 2 back sets are not what will help this offense no matter how good Leach is... 2 back sets are sparano football, with 2 WR's.... WHich make it much easier to cover the defensive backfield...

We just spent around a 100 million on WR's this offseason and you guys want to minimize their impact as well with 2 back sets...

-----------------------------------------------------------------
All things are subject to interpretation whichever interpretation prevails at a given time is a function of power and not truth.
Nietzsche

It doesnt matter who the runner is...........If the OL isnt opening holes......we are done.

Thats the biggest IF the offense has.........The offensive line.

I agree with Truth that Marino deserves much of the blame for the poor running game during his tenure. He had a classic handoff that still makes me cringe to this day when I think about it. It was absolutely horrible.
Recall, as soon as he took the snap his arm was fully extended giving the defense a full 2 or so seconds to recognize that it was going to be a run and to rush the line. Never once did I see a fake where he would pull the ball in at the last second and catch the defense by surprise with a pass like Manning is famous for, although I admit to missing quite a few games while I was away at sea before the era of affordable satellite TV.
I never understood why Shula could never break him of that bad habit.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/23/2013 09:08AM by Hooligan2.

Marino had a lousy handoff on outside runs, but it probably wasn't close to 2 seconds, even if it seemed like it was. Handoffs on inside runs didn't take as long. He also did a lot of pitches on outside runs, and those were fine. I would guess that he did more pitches than handoffs on outside runs.

Marino wasn't great for handoffs, but he did more than his share to help keep defenses honest with his incredible deep ball and quick release. Both of those attributes more than made up for the fact that his inside handoffs were lousy. Did you ever see 8 men in the box when Marino was QB? Not often. The running game stunk during those years because 1) they never had a good RB and 2) the line was built for pass protection.

It felt more like about 5 seconds but, it took close to 2 seconds for Mario to hobble the 4 or so yards to where the RB was patiently waiting. It's hard to find any running plays on youtube since the passing plays were the only ones worth remembering. Still, you would think that Shula should have had some input on mechanics of those hand-offs.

and all those RB's went on to have hall of fame careers once they left Miami right? once they had someone that could hand the ball off to them better...... holy!!! where do you people come up with this stuff?

Miller will be a stud, great vision.

dolphin Wrote:
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> and all those RB's went on to have hall of fame
> careers once they left Miami right? once they had
> someone that could hand the ball off to them
> better...... holy!!! where do you people come up
> with this stuff?

RESPONSE:

I am optimistic about Miller. From all reports he has worked his ass off in the off season. Maybe the light finally came on for him. Maybe he didn't take his job (in college) very seriously which is why he disappeared on 3rd downs and in key situations. He looked like a great fit for this blocking scheme last year. I love how fast he explodeds through the hole. I think with more carries he'll have more big plays. He certainly has the speed and working out with Frank Gore doesn't hurt either. He really was limited last year with 51 attempt in 9 games.

Gore came into the NFL in a similar situation. He fell because of a serious injury but he ended up being better than ALL the RB's drafted ahead of him...Ronnie Brown, Cedrick Benson, Cadillac Williams, JJ Arington and Eric Shelton. He was also a backup (to Kevan Barlow) his first year in the league even though he outperfromed Barlow on fewer carries.

Remember, Miller redshirted in college and then only started one game the following year. He had one full year as a starter in Miami and only 335 total carries in two years. He is young (just turned 22) and has huge upside. He spent all offeason working out at IMG to get more strength in his legs and work on pass protection.

1200 yards and 10 Td's with or without Leach.

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“I'm here" You're welcome!" - Kenny Powers

How many RBs in all of the SB era NFL had anything resembling a Hall of Fame career with their 2nd or 3rd teams?
Out of thousands of RBs, I can think of maybe Marshall Faulk, Curtis Martin, John Riggins. It's a rare occurance.