Commentary: Running game, not QBs, key for Dolphins

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http://www.palmbeachpost.com/dolphins/content/sports/epaper/2008/08/03/0803george.html

Commentary: Running game, not QBs, key for Dolphins

By DAVE GEORGE
Palm Beach Post Staff Columnist

Sunday, August 03, 2008

DAVIE — Call it a quarterback competition or a demolition derby, the point is the same. Our escalating obsession with who will take the snaps for the Miami Dolphins this season is a waste of nervous energy.

Who runs the ball, and how well, and how long, will spell the success of this rapid rehab project far more accurately than who runs the huddle.

"You saw Carolina in 2003 and the way they ran the ball," said Dolphins center Samson Satele. "We've got the same offensive coordinator (Dan Henning). We've got the running backs, too."

Why stop there? Dolphins head coach Tony Sparano coached the offensive line and coordinated the running game in Dallas, and Bill Parcells, the boss above it all, builds every team with the ultimate goal of performing in the slippery confines of a postseason snow globe, where power and persistence matter most.

Worry all you want, then, about Josh McCown, John Beck and rookie Chad Henne and their inability to light up an intrasquad scrimmage. Just remember that none of these guys may be around when the Dolphins finally complete the long trudge back to competitive relevance.

What will last are the raw and dented pilings being driven along the offensive line.

Parcells and General Manager Jeff Ireland spent the first overall pick in the draft on one of them, towering left tackle Jake Long. If the former Michigan star doesn't have a string of Pro Bowl seasons in him, it will be because the NFL makes hurting people a penalty.

Guard Justin Smiley is another part of the Dolphins' long-term muscle plan with his five-year free agent contract. While Jason Taylor was getting all the headlines this spring as lord of the dance, Smiley was anonymously clanging weights around at the training facility in Davie, far more certain than J.T. of a starting role with the new Dolphins regime.

"With Jake and with Smiley, and with us moving Vernon (Carey) back over to the right side, I have a lot of confidence in those guys," running back Ronnie Brown said.

Enough to run the ball on third-and-4 every now and then rather than asking one of these uncertain passers to save the day on a frighteningly regular basis? "Maybe," said Brown, "especially if we get the running game going like we want it to."

There are so many questions to run through first, even in this supposed area of strength for the team. Brown is coming off ACL surgery, his 2007 season cut short at a time he when he was leading the league in total yards from scrimmage.

As for Ricky Williams, former NFL rushing leader, it's always a matter of seeing whether the smoke has finally cleared.

What could it mean, however, if the Dolphins' running-back tandem played up to expectations for an entire season, saving each other on wear and tear in the process.

Look at 2005, Nick Saban's first season with the Dolphins. Ronnie ran for 907 yards and Ricky for 743, with 10 rushing touchdowns between them. Who was the quarterback?

Gus Frerotte, if it matters. Most of the time, it didn't, but the Dolphins went 9-7 just the same.

Another number jumps up, while we're swimming in a more positive stream of thought. Frerotte's quarterback rating was a serviceable 71.9 in 2005.

McCown, the most experienced of the three Miami quarterbacks in camp today and the most likely regular-season starter, has a career rating of 71.6, well within the margin of error for a competent caretaker.

McCown guessed earlier this summer than Miami might pass the ball just 18-21 times per game this season if the team can avoid falling hopelessly behind in games and establish a rhythm of its own.

It was closer to 35 last year with Cleo Lemon, Trent Green and Beck, then a rookie, overseeing a 1-15 disaster.

That won't work, but don't lose sight of the reference to Carolina and 2003 that Satele made at the top of this column. Henning called plays as cautiously as possible that season for the Panthers, who out of necessity went to journeyman quarterback Jake Delhomme, a full-starter for the first time in the NFL.

Sometimes Jake was magical, stealing victories from top teams with crazy scrambles and last-second touchdown passes. More often Stephen Davis dominated the game plan, averaging 103 yards rushing per game. At the finish line, the NFC Championship Game, came a victory that was crushingly simple.

The Panthers won 14-3 at Philadelphia on a nasty afternoon when the windchill was 22 degrees. Eagles star Donovan McNabb threw four interceptions.

Delhomme, meanwhile, attempted just 14 passes and completed nine of them, quietly leading Carolina to a Super Bowl meeting with New England.

Is something so grand up next for Miami? Of course not.

Just don't let the confusion at quarterback convince you that something equally miserable is inevitable.

Parcells will let us know by priorities when it's time to start obsessing over the quarterback position again, when the Dolphins are refortified at every position, when the team is worthy of display in the postseason snow globe of his imagination.