What’s the move for Wright at running back for the Miami Dolphins?

Sorry for the pun, but head coach Mike McDaniel faces a good kind of dilemma when it comes to the running back position.

Now that everyone at the position is healthy, the Dolphins are overextended at the position, which creates problems for McDaniel when it comes to splitting snaps and touches.

And the man most responsible for creating this dilemma is rookie fourth-round pick Jaylen Wright, who has thus far proven to be as good as advertised and displays great skill every time he touches the ball.

The latest example came in Sunday’s 28-27 loss against the Arizona Cardinals, when Wright ran for 12 and 6 yards on two rushing attempts in the first quarter.

But Wright didn’t touch the ball again and was able to finish with just three rushing touchdowns as running back duties fell mostly to De’Von Achane and Raheem Mostert.

Achane was quite productive against Arizona with 97 yards rushing and another 50 yards receiving, while Mostert had a tougher time with just 19 yards on nine carries despite scoring two touchdowns.

Wright’s two tries gave him 36 points on the season, and his 190-yard rushing average was a team-best with a 5.3 yard average. Achane is in second place with 4.4, while Mostert is in third place with 3.5; Not counting Jeff Wilson Jr.’s 5.0 average, he has only eight rushing attempts and has been inactive for the last two games.

Unsurprisingly, McDaniel was asked Monday about the idea of ​​giving Wright more work and how to balance his familiarity with Mostert (dating back to their days with the 49ers) with what appears to be a greater upside for Wright.

“It takes 11 people to run a play, and then you try to get at the different tools that each player has and their ability to run each play, not just when they have the ball, but when they’re off the ball as well,” McDaniel began. detailed answer “And you also make this clear: I’m not going to give up on Raheem Mostert’s productivity last year. He was a tremendous tone-setter for us against Indy. And there was one play in particular, I think it was on second-and-11, where he just kind of checked and He got the first goal by going over four defenders and made some really decisive reads at the goal line, his yards per carry won’t be as high because of the short distance, I think those are all factors that play into that.

“But you’ve got to take the information the players are giving you and constantly adjust to that. I think (running backs coach) Eric Studesville has done a great job of getting the running backs in here, starting with De’Von last year and Jaylen this year. They’re doing their part to get more action. I would expect a tough guy to tackle who continues to do it the right way to be leftovers in the flow of the game.

“If you had told me it had two carriers, I would have been surprised. ‘What? What happened?’ I mean, that wasn’t our plan, but there are things that come up in different areas where we like to highlight people, and it becomes a little bit more complicated to have good players, but it’s a good problem for ’25. There is no doubt that Wright can and will help us, and we will make the necessary adjustments so that he can contribute his talents.”

The Dolphins’ situation at running back is such that Wilson doesn’t even make the gameday roster, despite being a solid, experienced veteran.

This depth is why national media outlets are talking about one of the veteran running backs being traded.

Wilson is scheduled to become an unrestricted free agent next spring, while Mostert has one year remaining after signing an extension in the offseason, but the Dolphins could save cap space if they decide to move on next spring and focus on two young running backs.

Exactly how much Wilson or Mostert could get in a trade is debatable, but a sixth-round pick or perhaps a fifth-round pick could be realistic.

This type of trade would certainly make it easier for McDaniel to include Wright further, and the Dolphins have the depth to make a move, especially if they stay 2-6 at the trade deadline, which would be entirely possible. They cleaned up the underdogs in their game in Buffalo on Sunday.

Even though he’s shaken up, McDaniel should get his rookie running back with more touches because he’s shown so far that he’s got the stuff like — another pun coming — Wright.