Mostert on Miami’s selection of another running back. And Dolphins personnel nuggets

Even before the NFL Draft, the Dolphins’ running back room was already deep with Raheem Mostert, DeVon Achane, Jeff Wilson Jr., Salvon Ahmed and Chris Brooks.

So what did Mostert think when the Dolphins traded a 2025 third-round pick to Philadelphia in order to select Tennessee running back Jaylen Wright in the fourth round on April 27?

“My reaction at the time was, ‘Yeah, whatever. It is what it is,’” Mostert said on Tuesday in a Zoom session with Dolphins writers. “Same typical thing, draft drama, pretty much all the time regardless of position.”

But Mostert made clear that he embraces the new addition.

“I’m excited to have Jaylen come in, another Jaylen. [I’ll] try to coach him up in this offense. I’m all about in-person experiences, people around me and in the room. He’s going to be here sometime this weekend.

“The more [backs], the merrier. Speed is something we like to maximize. To have another guy come in the mix and bring his attributes and speed is something beneficial to our offense.”

Mostert spoke of the intriguing possibilities of having three running backs with elite speed in himself, Achane and Wright.

“We can use three backs out there with a receiver and a tight end as well,” Mostert said. “Lot of things we can do in our offense with guys that have a lot of different speed.”

Wright will be in uniform for the first time as a Dolphin at the team’s rookie minicamp on Friday and Saturday. (It’s closed to the public.)

“What I love about him is he hits his head on the goalposts after he’s finished 50-, 60-yard runs,” NFL Network lead draft analyst Daniel Jeremiah said. “This has to be the fastest running back room in the NFL and the fastest wide receiver room in the NFL. That is a track squad.”

NFL Network and CBS analyst Charles Davis said Wright is “skinny in traffic, which means when you’re trying to tackle him, he’s tough to get to and once he gets going, he can roll. You know what I love most about him? Not a lot of tread off the tires. Not a lot of touches during his time at Tennessee.”

Wright ran the ball 368 times over three seasons at Tennessee and averaged 6.2 per carry.

THIS AND THAT

▪ One of the positives of the Dolphins’ drafting developmental left tackle Patrick Paul is that he can be mentored by Terron Armstead, who takes immense pride in helping young offensive linemen develop.

Armstead invites them to the Dolphins facility every Tuesday during the season for on-field and off-field work. It’s a role he relishes.

“Terron’s fantastic dealing with it,” general manager Chris Grier said. “We felt strong that we didn’t need to communicate with him on this [picking Paul in the second round] because he knows.. ‘He’s always like ‘take an offensive lineman.’

“The cool thing about him is he loves to mentor these guys. He spends a lot of time and likes to pass it on to the younger guys. He will be very enthused to work with him, and we’re excited that Patrick is the right kind of person to come in and work with our group.”

McDaniel cracked: “Terron’s not worried about someone outplaying him. Just like how he came out from a small school and had people invest in him, he loves paying it forward. He’ll be the most excited. He might already have a jersey of his.”

▪ It seems obvious to everyone that speed has been prioritized in this regime. But McDaniel adds an important caveat to that:

“Yes, we like the fast guys, but it starts as football players. There’s a lot of football players we like and when we have opportunities at different areas of the draft, our starting point isn’t speed, but covering space in a limited amount of time, how fast you play on the field.”

▪ Here’s the full extent of what McDaniel and Grier said recently about free agent center Connor Williams:

Grier: “He’s working on his rehab, taking care of himself and getting himself healthy. So that’s the only update we have. We’ve heard he’s doing well. I know a couple of our guys saw him recently. He’s doing well, but he’s focused on his rehab right now.”

When McDaniel: “When I talk to him, it’s more about being healthy and deciding that when he feels good, but it’s more just about spending time with his family and getting his body right. So he’s in great spirits.”

There’s a possibility that Williams could sit out the 2024 season because of the severity of his knee injury sustained in the Monday night game against Tennessee last December. Miami has moved ahead with Aaron Brewer as its center.

▪ If you missed this, here’s how sixth-round pick Patrick McMorris, the Cal safety, described hanging up on the Dolphins when they called to inform him that they had drafted him:

“It was a weird thing. I’ve been getting spam calls, and I thought this was just another one because I picked up and nothing went through for a couple seconds so I hung up. Then they called back again and then someone picked up. It was definitely kind of a little weird experience right there. The whole phone call, it’s just so surreal.

“You watch it on TV, you watch these guys get picked year-in and year-out seeing those videos of them getting the call. Now you’re being in that moment, it’s definitely a crazy experience. It was a dream of mine to get drafted and be able to play in the NFL.”

Here’s his self-scouting report: “I’m a discipline player. I’m aggressive. I’m able to play inside the box as well as outside, play in Cover 2 high safety look.”

Grier said of McMorris: “He’s a smart player, he’s competitive and plays hard. I think we feel good about where he is in his development coming in here and competing for a spot.”