Booker gives Dolphins explosive options

By Joe Mayes  |   Wednesday, April 02, 2008  |  Comments( 0 )

Miami Dolphins
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During Tuesday’s media breakfast, Miami head coach Tony Sparano gave a position-by-position breakdown of how he sees the Dolphins shaping up. Having come from Dallas where the Cowboys effectively employed Marion Barber and Julius Jones as their running back tandem, it wasn’t surprising to hear Sparano talk about Ronnie Brown and Ricky Williams sharing carries in 2008. If nothing else, it’s the sort of thing you’d expect a coach to say in April of his first year with a new team.

But Sparano’s comments about second year running back Lorenzo Booker were more than just coach-speak; he seemed genuinely impressed -- and even a little surprised -- with what he’s seen of Booker on film.

“Lorenzo a guy that when you watch, he jumps off the film a little bit. He's interesting in that he's a guy that you've got to get touches for. You've got to find a way to get Lorenzo the ball…he's going to be out there.”

Booker didn’t see much action for the Dolphins last year, not playing until the final five games of the season. But apparently, in the film of those games, Sparano saw some of the flashes Booker showed during four years at Florida State.

At FSU, Booker averaged 4.8 yards per carry, rushing 497 times for 2,389 yards and 15 rushing touchdowns. Additionally, he caught 114 passes for 995 yards (8.7 yards per catch) and 2 touchdowns. He went 302 carries without a fumble but his rushing average dropped every year in Tallahassee, from 5.4 yards per carry as a freshman to 5.1 as a sophomore, 4.6 during his junior year, finishing up at 4.3 ypc during his 2006 senior year.

So when the Dolphins selected Booker in the third round of last year’s NFL draft, they weren’t sure exactly what they were going to get. He had demonstrated his potential but the knock against him was that he was inconsistent.

In his rookie campaign, he didn’t play until week 10 and didn’t touch the ball until the 12th game of the year, against the Jets. But over the Dolphins last five games, Booker gave a glimpse of what Dolphin fans can expect in the future.

Over the last five games, Booker had averaged 5.6 carries and 5.6 catches per game, averaging 72.4 yards per game of total offense (25 yards rushing, 4.5 yards per carry and 47.4 receiving, 8.5 yards per catch). His performance gave notice that he can be a stick-mover in the NFL, a guy the offense can depend on to keep advancing the ball downfield.

In Booker, Sparano may have discovered a weapon like the division rival New England Patriots have in Kevin Faulk, a guy who always seems to make the run or catch the team has to have to sustain a drive or win a game. Or to put it in terms that Miami’s football capo di tutti capi Bill Parcells will appreciate, Booker can be a player like Dave Meggett from Parcells’ Super Bowl winning Giants team.

With an apparently rejuvenated Ricky Williams and a healthy Ronnie Brown ready for 2008, the Dolphins have a solid tandem to share the load in 2008. Their receiving corps is still questionable, however, and that is why Sparano is most excited about finding ways to get Booker the ball in space. He can run and catch and gives the Dolphins a threat the defense will have to account for every time Booker is on the field.
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About Joe Mayes

Joe Mayes is an award-winning writer with credits ranging from national sports columns to local newspapers and commercial and technical writing. Joe is the host of "The Morning Wrap," a morning drive-time sports talk radio show on WTKE-FM in Northwest Florida.
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