Patriots: Eagles stopped Dolphins from further bolstering backfield
The Miami Dolphins have continued to upgrade this offseason in an effort to make more noise in the AFC East. And they almost made another shrewd under-the-radar move.
But thankfully, the Philadelphia Eagles stopped them.
With Tua Tagovailoa clearly limited as a passer (or at least he was in Chan Gailey’s rinky dink offense), Miami has made sure to maintain a viable rushing attack (though it still needs improvement).
Myles Gaskin has emerged as a valuable dual-threat back. They added former Los Angeles Rams bruiser Malcolm Brown in free agency. They drafted Cincinnati’s Gerrid Doaks. Salvon Ahmed is still there after battling injuries in 2020.
And the Dolphins came this close to adding former Lions second-round pick Kerryon Johnson.
A leftover note: if RB Kerryon Johnson had not been claimed by the Eagles, he would have become a Dolphin. Miami was the other team to put in a claim on him off of waivers.
— Field Yates (@FieldYates) May 12, 2021
Miami has built some backfield depth and almost added more.
The New England Patriots were helped when the Eagles spoiled the Dolphins’ plans.
Though the Patriots‘ season-opener last year against the Dolphins went well (New England held Miami to 87 yards on the ground and just 3.2 yards per carry), the Week 15 loss wasn’t so kind.
Bill Belichick’s defense surrendered 250 rushing yards (6.0 yards per carry!) and was gashed by Ahmed and Matt Breida.
Though the Patriots upgraded their defense in a big way this offseason and have a number of key players returning from injury/opt outs, the Dolphins adding a guy like Johnson, who has proven to be a solid runner (4.3 YPC for his career) and receiver out of the backfield (8.6 yards per reception) despite being hampered by knee injuries for much of his career, would’ve given them an even better rotation behind Tagovailoa.
A snapshot of the Eagles’ backfield:
— Field Yates (@FieldYates) May 7, 2021
Miles Sanders, Kerryon Johnson, Boston Scott, Jordan Howard and Kenneth Gainwell.
Really good depth for Philly.
Just look at how different and more dangerous the Eagles’ backfield looks after they claimed Johnson. He obviously cannot carry the load due to his limitations due to injuries, but the former Auburn star can really do damage with fewer carries and in short spurts.
The Lions, of course, couldn’t utilize Johnson effectively with their inept coaching staff (and offense as a whole) when he was bumped down the depth chart in 2020 after they drafted D’Andre Swift.
The Dolphins proved last year they can rotate their guys in a way that throws opposing defenses off. The Pats potentially dodged a bullet here — or, at the very least, their lives are a bit easier — thanks to the Eagles. We never thought we’d be saying that.
