Tony Sparano said Monday that Reggie Bush is the Miami Dolphins’ No. 1 running back, though he went on to explain that the situation with Bush and rookie tailback Daniel Thomas is an “A and a B” deal.
“There’s things that Reggie does different than Daniel (Thomas), that’s why we wanted an A and a B,” the head coach told the media Monday.” I don’t know if that makes sense. Maybe it makes sense now, it didn’t make sense then I’m sure to you guys. But there is an A and a B back.”
So assuming Sparano means 1A and 1B, Bush really isn’t the true No. 1. There’s nothing wrong with that, but it’s another indication that Bush just isn’t ever going to be the every-down back he says he’s capable of being.
Then, there are the numbers. In Miami's 17-16 loss Sunday to the Browns, Thomas gained 95 yards rushing on 23 carries and scored a touchdown on one of his three receptions. Bush had 10 rushing attempts for 13 yards and one catch for 12 yards. Bush also had two fumbles.
“The things that Reggie does well for us from a matchup standpoint help us get the ball to the Brandon Marshalls or to the (Brian) Hartlines or those people too,” Sparano said. “Putting Daniel (Thomas) out there in that kind of space doesn’t really help us in that way sometimes but Daniel in between the tackles, obviously you’ve seen why we thought what we thought of this guy in the draft right now. I mean, he really ran the ball hard yesterday and he ran the ball efficiently and that’s the way we’re going to use those guys right now because I need both those guys to be on the field.”
At this point, it looks like Thomas is the workhorse and Bush is more of a decoy.
Seniority is the only thing giving Bush that No. 1 label.
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