The running back position felt like a liability more than an asset at times last year, so why did Miami opt to resign their entire backfield? In a series of moves that caught many by surprise, Miami brought back all four of their free-agent running backs from last year, Raheem Mostert, Jeff Wilson Jr., Salvon Ahmed, and Myles Gaskin. Mostert and Wilson each broke 1,000 total yards on the season (although only 559 of Wilson’s yards came during his eight games with Miami), but still, the Dolphins ended up ranking just 25th in rushing yards last year.

There is reason to believe the run game will improve even without switching things up at running back this offseason. In the first half of the year, Miami averaged only 88 yards per game and a measly 3.9 yards per attempt. But after the trade deadline moves for Jeff Wilson, the Dolphins improved to 109 yards per game and 4.6 yards per carry. The Dolphins have already upgraded at running back by sending Chase Edmonds to the Broncos and replacing him with Wilson from the 49ers. As a result of that move, they were immediately becoming a much more capable rushing team by the end of the year due to these midseason moves, and giving Mostert and Wilson a full year as teammates may end up being enough on their own to turn around the ground game.

Another big reason to expect different results comes from giving Head Coach Mike McDaniel another year to mature and improve his own scheme. While in San Francisco, McDaniel helped oversee one of the most complete running games in all football. He has already stated that he needed to call more run plays at times last year. McDaniel now has the full offseason to work on strategizing the run around the talented tandem of Mostert and Wilson, and Dolphins fans should be excited about that.