Running Back Battle One To Watch As Dolphins Kick Off OTAs
MIAMI (CBSMiami) – There was some news ahead of the first day of OTAs for the Miami Dolphins.
In addition to holding joint practices with the Tampa Bay Bucs in the preseason, they will also hold practices with the Philadelphia Eagles ahead of that preseason game as well.
But before we get to all that: baby steps.
Offseason training activities began with a new wrinkle under head coach Mike McDaniel. The top practice performer from the day before gets to rock an orange jersey and pick the music. On Tuesday, it was linebacker Jaelan Phillips.
"I think Jaelan Phillips picked the playlist today. How would you grade his?" CBS4's Mike Cugno asked Jerome Baker.
"Terrible," the fellow linebacker joked. "Nah, I think what happened was like they kept skipping some parts, so we didn't really see his whole playlist. But the parts I heard they were decent. But they were just decent to have your, you know, the first guy to have it, you come up with some fires and work on it."
"What have you seen his growth so far from last year to this year?" Cugno followed up
"He's always been a smart guy. He always went hard. I think now he's starting to understand like where he can make plays, where he can do what he can do and he's gonna make plays for it just like he did last year," Baker responded.
QB Tua Tagovailoa looked sharp. And competition was noticeably high with the defense talking plenty of trash after big plays.
But when it comes to competition at specific positions, it'll likely be highest at running back with the additions of Raheem Mostert, Chase Edmonds and Sony Michel.
"I know these guys' skillset. They all great running backs, they all great runners. To your point, they all started," said Michel. "I think it benefits this team if we all compete to our best and eventually we'll be our best.
Michel comes home but finds himself in a loaded backfield.
Cugno asked him about all the talent in the running back room. He said to be one of the best runners you must beat some of the best runners. So, look for a healthy competition there from the Dolphin running backs throughout training camp.