Report: Mike McDaniel would love for Miami Dolphins to trade up and select Jahmyr Gibbs

Miami Dolphins head coach Mike McDaniel would love for the team to trade up and select running back Jahmyr Gibbs in the 2023 NFL Draft, according to ProFootballTalk’s Peter King.

“The Dolphins don’t pick till 51st overall, but if there was some way to climb into the twenties to nab explosive back Jahmyr Gibbs, coach Mike McDaniel would love to do it,” King wrote.

Miami has just four draft picks in the 2023 NFL Draft, so it may be hard for the team to move up without giving up future draft capital in the process. The Dolphins lost a first-round selection for tampering, leaving them with picks No. 51 (second round), No. 84 (third round), No. 197 (sixth round) and No. 238 (seventh round).

Gibbs, who is projected to be picked in the first or second round by NFL.com, would be a great addition to Miami’s backfield. The Dolphins currently have Raheem Mostert, Jeff Wilson, Myles Gaskin and Salvon Ahmed at the running back position.

The team brought back all four of those running backs in free agency this offseason.

The 21-year-old Gibbs can really stretch the field with his speed and is a mismatch for many defenders in the passing game. At the 2023 NFL Scouting Combine, Gibbs ran a 4.36 40-yard dash, which ranked second among all running backs.

“While Gibbs might not be the engine of an NFL running game, he’s more than capable of adding juice to the offense,” NFL.com’s Lance Zierlein wrote. “He’s a slasher who can stretch defenses wide, and he has the wiggle to elude tacklers in space. However, he could see his effectiveness diminished inside. Gibbs might be better off with a more measured carry count as an RB2, but his versatility and pass-catching prowess will give creative play-callers an opportunity to exploit certain personnel groupings and find mismatches in space.”

With Miami’s depth at the running back position already, Gibbs likely wouldn’t be asked to handle the entire load if he were drafted by the Dolphins. Adding his speed and playmaking abilities to an offense that already has Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle would make Miami scarier.

McDaniel clearly wants all the weapons he can get for quarterback Tua Tagovailoa on offense. Adding one of the best running backs in the draft would only give Tagovailoa a better chance to succeed again in 2023.

Gibbs began his collegiate career at the Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech) before transferring to the University of Alabama.

In 12 games for the Crimson Tide last season, Gibbs carried the ball 151 times for 926 yards (6.1 yards per carry) and seven touchdowns. He also added 44 receptions for an additional 444 yards and three scores.

“Whenever Alabama’s offense would hit a wall, they would get Gibbs involved in the passing game and he could bridge the gap for them,” a personnel executive for an NFC team said. “I thought he was very valuable in that way.”

It will be interesting to see if the Dolphins make a move to trade up for Gibbs if he starts falling during this week’s draft.