{"id":47953,"date":"2025-05-13T23:12:10","date_gmt":"2025-05-13T23:12:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/47953\/"},"modified":"2025-05-13T23:12:10","modified_gmt":"2025-05-13T23:12:10","slug":"dolphins-ollie-gordon-can-be-physical-in-run-game","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/47953\/","title":{"rendered":"Dolphins’ Ollie Gordon can be physical in run game"},"content":{"rendered":"

MIAMI GARDENS \u2014 Miami Dolphins<\/a> rookie running back Ollie Gordon II appears primed to deliver exactly what the team needs.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m a bruiser,\u201d said Gordon, when the Oklahoma State product was drafted in the sixth round<\/a> on April 26. \u201cI\u2019m going to run through you. I\u2019m going to make you want to not tackle me.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Dolphins lacked physicality<\/a> in the run game in 2024. It led to shortcomings in short-yardage situations and the most run plays that went for negative yardage in the league.<\/p>\n

A combination of adding hefty veteran rusher Alexander Mattison in free agency and selecting Gordon (6 foot 2, 225 pounds) in the draft could change the narrative.<\/p>\n

\u201cHonestly, my mindset is me versus you, and I\u2019m banking on me every time,\u201d Gordon said. \u201cI can\u2019t sit here and lie to you; I\u2019m banking on me every time when I\u2019m in there on 1-on-1s. So that\u2019s my mindset \u2014 it\u2019s either you\u2019re going to get out of my way, or I\u2019m going to run through you.\u201d<\/p>\n

The pick of Gordon marked the third consecutive draft the Dolphins chose a running back. Jaylen Wright, a fourth-round selection in 2024, can also present a physical rushing style, along with some speed, to complement the explosive blazer De\u2019Von Achane, picked in the third round in 2023.<\/p>\n

The two youngsters and Mattison can also take some of the workload off Achane, whose small frame is not meant to take on the 281 touches he had last year.<\/p>\n

Gordon looks forward to learning from the rest of the Dolphins\u2019 running back room to pick up what he can on coach Mike McDaniel\u2019s wide-zone scheme. That process started for him by getting into team facilities at rookie minicamp<\/a> over the past weekend.<\/p>\n

\u201cReally just taking some pointers from them,\u201d Gordon said. All of them, they all play different and just to learn from them and see how they do it, I feel like it will be huge.\u201d<\/p>\n

Gordon led the Football Bowl Subdivision with 1,732 rushing yards as a sophomore in 2023 and led the Big 12 with 21 rushing touchdowns that season.<\/p>\n

His production was just about cut in half his final college season in 2024, though, going for just 880 rushing yards and 13 touchdowns.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn 2023, teams didn\u2019t really know who we were. They didn\u2019t really know what was coming,\u201d Gordon explained as to the difference. \u201cBut as we got through 2023, we figured out who we were, got stuff done. I feel like (in) 2024, teams went in and realized that they had to stop the run, because, you know, Oklahoma State \u2014 we love to run first.<\/p>\n

\u201cOnce teams figured that out and stopped the run, that made us change our mind up and throw the ball.\u201d<\/p>\n

Nonetheless, being just 21 and given the short shelf-life of tailbacks in the NFL, he chose to go pro after his junior season. If the 2023 version of Gordon surfaces for the Dolphins, he could be looked back on as the steal of the draft, a notion he shrugged off at rookie camp.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ll let the people decide that one. I\u2019m just here to play ball,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

The Dolphins had Gordon in on a visit before the draft, and McDaniel came away convinced he was ready to rebound from a down 2024.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019re hoping that it burns a fire inside, and I think it was pretty evident when we visited with him that he was eager to prove himself,\u201d McDaniel said after the draft. \u201cI think the \u201923 tape was very impressive and, based upon our interactions with him, we feel optimistic that is the version that we\u2019re going to improve upon moving forward, which will be up to him and what he does with this opportunity.\u201d<\/p>\n

Part of the reason he slipped in the draft, along with the drop-off in production, could be that he was arrested for suspicion of DUI in July 2024 before last season.<\/p>\n

Listening to his enthusiasm when he speaks could ease any off-the-field concerns, though. Gordon carries himself with an infectious personality.<\/p>\n

\u201cI feel like I\u2019m going to walk around the locker room, talk to everybody, make sure everyone\u2019s having a good day, type of guy in the locker room,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Originally Published: May 13, 2025 at 2:17 PM EDT<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"MIAMI GARDENS \u2014 Miami Dolphins rookie running back Ollie Gordon II appears primed to deliver exactly what the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":47954,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2049],"tags":[217,7,216,251,2087,6,3238],"class_list":{"0":"post-47953","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-miami-dolphins","8":"tag-dolphins","9":"tag-football","10":"tag-miami","11":"tag-miami-dolphins","12":"tag-miamidolphins","13":"tag-nfl","14":"tag-ollie-gordon"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47953","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=47953"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47953\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/47954"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=47953"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=47953"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=47953"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}