The Dolphins have not decided on a starting running back for their regular-season opener in less than three weeks, and anyone doubting that merely has to monitor what the team is doing as well as saying. Ask coach Joe Philbin if the starting job is open, and he interrupts the query before it reaches the question mark.
“Absolutely,” Philbin said Tuesday.
That answer came only minutes after the Dolphins finished their first regular-season-style practice in preparation for Saturday night’s dress rehearsal game in which starters will play into the second half against Tampa Bay at Sun Life Stadium.
And in this important practice leading up to this important exhibition game, running backs Lamar Miller and Daniel Thomas shared first-team snaps in 11-on-11 drills.
Miller has started every exhibition game and until Tuesday was taking a majority of the first-team snaps. But he had that fumble in the preseason opener and last Saturday against Houston dropped a pass on third down that caught Philbin’s attention.
This is discouraging news for Miller owners who thought they had drafted a clear starter, but the team is putting a lot of emphasis on a botched handoff and a dropped 3rd down pass. Senior Editor John Paulsen watched most of Miller's carries from 2012 and came away impressed, so Miller is still a player to target in the 4th or 5th round, if he were to slip that far after this news. We believe Miller is the more talented back, and talent should win out in the end.
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