Houtz Special: From the depths of the chart, our Laird has risen

With Kalen Ballage on IR, it is now time for Dolphins’ rookie running back Patrick Laird to become the savior we have long hoped for.

 The Miami Dolphins have been exceptionally bad at running the football in 2019. So bad, that the team is currently ranked dead last in the NFL—averaging 62.8 yards per game. Now, a lot of that can be accredited to the offensive line. However, a large portion of the blame can also be placed on second-year RB Kalen Ballage. After all, with Ballage now headed to IR, he finishes the season in the NFL record books, but not in a good way.

That’s right, folks. Ballage is the FIRST player in NFL history to finish the season with 60+ carries and an average of fewer than 2 yards per carry.

Ballage officially becomes the first player in NFL history to finish a season with 60+ attempts (he's at 74) and a yards per carry average under 2.0 (1.8).https://t.co/9UENvL0aiZ

— JJ Zachariason (@LateRoundQB) December 3, 2019

So, where do the Dolphins go from here?

Well, for starters the team just signed veteran RB Zach Zenner. They’ve also been very vocal about their plan to get rookie Myles Gaskin more involved. But the real talent in the Dolphins backfield and the player most fans are excited to see forge a role in O’Shea’s offense is The Intern, Patrick Laird. After all, his skill-set fits the mold of a New England-style RB. Laird is good at pass pro and can be a valuable asset in the passing game. He works hard every day and does all the little things right. He is a football player and one the Dolphins look forward to getting involved early and often vs New York.

In 2019, Laird has played only 89 offensive snaps and only touched the football 28 times this season. However, last week vs Philadelphia, Laird saw an uptick in production and scored his first career NFL touchdown. He then followed it up with a successful two-point conversion, the perfect scenario for a guy that many teams were scared to draft. His 14 touches and 42 offensive snaps (59%) indicate that he should get another chance to shine for the Jets this weekend.

Patrick Laird’s first career TD

patrick laird with his first NFL TD pic.twitter.com/f40yv3QIZB

— josh houtz (@houtz) December 1, 2019

Maybe, we’re getting a bit carried away about Laird. After all, he was an undrafted rookie from California. But then again, maybe we’re not. Laird once caught 48 consecutive targets at California. He’s an upgrade over the RBs Miami continued to trot out for much of the 2019 season. Best of all, he’s young and hungry. He also got quite a sense of humor. Earlier this week, he appeared on a Daily Fantasy podcast to discuss his growing success among fantasy owners.

The link to this podcast can be found HERE.

He also reflected on how he got his nickname, The Intern when he met with South Florida media yesterday afternoon.

 “So the story is I walked into the cafeteria that we have. I sit down with one of the operations guys and with him are some operations interns that were here during training camp. So I’m just talking and asking these guys questions. They’re all still in college and they’re undergrads, so I’m asking them what they like to do, what brought them here, how their time is going here, and then one of them goes: ‘So what do you do here?’

Oh, I’m on the team.’ And he was really apologetic. I didn’t take it – I wasn’t offended in any way. I thought it was funny, so I told that story to the team when I got called up one time, because they have the rookies come up during training camp just to entertain the team. So I told that story and people thought it was funny. Then the offensive coaches have been calling me that just for fun. They know I don’t take offense to it, so I think it’s funny. Then ‘Fitz’ (Ryan Fitzpatrick) mentioned that to the color commentator or the TV guys at some point. So they got a hold of it.”

No one knows how the reps will be divided in the Dolphins’ backfield moving forward. But Laird deserves a bulk of the opportunities. Sure, he may not be a three-down RB but he has done enough to be one of Miami’s RBs in 2020 and beyond. Remember Danny Woodhead? That is who I believe Laird best resembles, a faster, stronger Danny Woodhead. And for those that are old enough to remember, Woodhead was one of the league’s better pass-catching RBs for a short period of time.

Some may call Laird The Intern but the Dolphins defense has a much more fitting nickname for the rookie RB.

“Well the defensive side of the ball, I think they have a better nickname for me. They call me – the defensive guys – ‘White Lightning.’ Walt Aikens started that one.

We will see what White Lightning can do this week vs the New York Jets. Now if only the Dolphins can find their thunder because it appears they already have their lightning.

This article was written by Josh Houtz (@houtz) he believes in our Laird and Savior and has since the beginning of camp. Amen.