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<p>Big fan of Miami football? Then check out this list of Miami Dolphins running backs with photos and seasons as starters.&nbsp;It includes every starting running back from throughout <a class="edS-cl" href="https://www.ranker.com/list/best-miami-dolphins-of-all-time/ranker-nfl?ref=internalCrossLinking_keyword">Miami Dolphins history</a>, including current running backs and past ones. Featuring 2018-2019 Miami Dolphins&nbsp;and some of the greatest NFL&nbsp;running backs&nbsp;of all time, the best Dolphins RBs include&nbsp;Reggie Bush, Ronnie Brown, and Tony Nathan.&nbsp;</p>

<p>Who are the best running backs in Miami Dolphins history? Here is every player who has ever held the position of Miami Dolphins&nbsp;starting running back. Vote below, then head over and check out the <a href="https://www.ranker.com/list/best-miami-dolphins-kickers-ever/ranker-nfl" target="_blank">top Dolphins kickers ever</a> and <a href="https://www.ranker.com/list/every-miami-dolphins-tight-end-ranked/ranker-nfl" target="_blank">best Dolphins tight ends</a>.</p>


The 15+ Best Miami Dolphins Running Backs, Ranked

The Best Miami Dolphins Running Backs of All Time

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FREEFORM

Ricky Williams

Errick Lynne "Ricky" Williams Jr. (born May 21, 1977) is an American former football running back who played 12 seasons in the National Football League (NFL) and one season in the Canadian Football League (CFL). He played college football for the University of Texas, where he was a two-time All-America and won the Heisman Trophy. Williams was drafted by the New Orleans Saints fifth overall in the 1999 NFL Draft and spent three seasons with the team before he was traded to the Miami Dolphins in 2002. He played for the Dolphins for two seasons, and retired for the first time from football in 2004. Due to his suspension from the NFL in 2006, he played for the Toronto Argonauts that year. Williams re-joined the Dolphins in 2007 and played with them until 2010, and spent the 2011 season with the Baltimore Ravens. He was formerly an assistant football coach at the University of the Incarnate Word and is currently a football analyst for ESPN's Longhorn Network.  In 2015, Williams was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame.

Mercury Morris

Eugene Edward "Mercury" Morris (born January 5, 1947) is a former American football running back and kick returner. He played for seven years, primarily for the Miami Dolphins in the American Football League (AFL), then in the American Football Conference following the 1969 merger with the National Football League (NFL).
Morris played in 3 Super Bowls, winning 2, and was selected to three Pro Bowls.
In 1982, Morris was convicted of felony drug trafficking charges. After three and a half years in prison, he was released after a plea agreement in which he pleaded no contest to cocaine conspiracy charges.

Jim Kiick

James Forrest Kiick (born August 9, 1946) is a former professional American football player, a running back for the Miami Dolphins in the American Football League (AFL) from 1968 to 1969 and in the National Football League (NFL) from 1970 through 1977, except for 1975 when he played in the World Football League.
He was a member of the undefeated 1972 team, and was an integral part of the ball-control running game which characterized the Dolphins under head coach Don Shula in the early 1970s.  Kiick played in three Super Bowls and is the Dolphins' fourth all-time leading rusher.  He and fullback Larry Csonka were known as "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid," in 1973 co-wrote a book, Always on the Run. They shocked the sports world in 1974 when they signed with the newly formed World Football League.

Tony Nathan

Tony Curtis Nathan (born December 14, 1956) is a former American football running back. Nathan played college football at the University of Alabama and was selected in the third round (61st overall) of the 1979 NFL Draft by the Miami Dolphins, with whom he played from 1979 to 1987.

Ronnie Brown

Ronnie G. Brown Jr. (born December 12, 1981) is a former American football running back. After graduating from Cartersville High School in Georgia, Brown attended Auburn University to play college football for the Auburn Tigers. He and Cadillac Williams shared carries at running back, while he had 1,008 yards and 13 touchdowns in 2002, 446 yards and five touchdowns in 2003, and 913 yards and eight touchdowns in 2004.  Brown finished seventh in school history with 2,707 rushing yards and fifth with 28 rushing touchdowns.  He twice earned second-team All-Southeastern Conference honors in 2002 and 2004.
Brown was drafted second overall by the Miami Dolphins in the 2005 NFL Draft. Brown started at running back for the Dolphins for the first four weeks of the season while Ricky Williams served a suspension, and shared carries with him when he returned in week five. Brown became the feature back in 2006 due to Williams' full year suspension. Brown sat out three games due to a broken hand suffered on Thanksgiving Day in a game against the Detroit Lions, returning in week 16. He played in the first seven games of the 2007 season before suffering a knee injury which knocked him out for the remainder of the season. Williams started over Brown in the first two games of the 2008 season, but shared carries with him after week two. Brown had 916 yards and ten touchdowns in 2008, which led to his first Pro Bowl selection following the season. He was placed on injured reserve for the second straight season after suffering a foot injury in week nine of the 2009 season. Brown rushed for 734 yards and five touchdowns in 2010, as he started in all 16 games. He played for the Philadelphia Eagles in 2011 following a six-year career with the Dolphins.

Lamar Miller

Lamar N. Miller (born April 25, 1991) is an American football running back for the Houston Texans of the National Football League (NFL). Miller played college football at the University of Miami and was drafted by the Miami Dolphins in the fourth round of the 2012 NFL Draft. Miller attended Miami Killian Senior High School in Miami, Florida. While there, he played high school football for the Cougars. As a senior, he was a Parade All-American after rushing for 1,749 yards on 217 carries with 22 touchdowns. Miller decided to play for University of Miami rather than University of Florida (near his mother's hometown) to stay close to home, and to follow the footsteps of other former Hurricanes running backs. After he was redshirted in 2009, Miller saw his first game action in 2010. Miller was drafted by the Miami Dolphins in the fourth round of the 2012 NFL Draft, 97th overall on April 28, 2012.

Jay Ajayi

Jay Ajayi is a British American football running back for the Philadelphia Eagles of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Boise State and was drafted by the Miami Dolphins in the fifth round of the 2015 NFL Draft. In his first year with the Eagles, he won Super Bowl LII. Ajayi was born in London, England, on June 15, 1993, to Nigerian parents and moved to Maryland in the United States when he was seven years old in 2000. He eventually moved to Texas, where he attended Frisco Liberty High School. As a senior on the football team, he rushed for 2,240 yards and had 35 touchdowns. He also earned one varsity letter in track & field as a member of the 4x400-meter (3:21.75), 4 × 200 m (1:29.44), and 4 × 100 m (42.86) district championship teams. Considered a three-star recruit by Rivals.com, he was ranked as the 41st best running back prospect of his class.

Reggie Bush

Reginald Alfred Bush Jr. (born March 2, 1985) is a former American football running back. He played college football at USC, where he earned consensus All-American honors twice and won the Heisman Trophy (later forfeited) as the most outstanding player in the nation. He was drafted by the New Orleans Saints second overall in the 2006 NFL Draft. While with the Saints, Bush was named an All-Pro in 2008 and won Super Bowl XLIV in 2010 over the Indianapolis Colts. He also played for the Buffalo Bills, Miami Dolphins, Detroit Lions, and San Francisco 49ers.
Bush also won the 2005 Doak Walker and Walter Camp awards. However, allegations that
he received improper benefits were central to an NCAA investigation of the USC football program that led to severe NCAA sanctions against USC, including a two-year postseason ban and the vacating of the 2004 national championship. As a result, Bush voluntarily forfeited his Heisman Trophy.

Bernie Parmalee

Bernard "Bernie" Parmalee (born September 16, 1967 in Jersey City, New Jersey) is the current assistant special teams Coach and offensive assistant for the Atlanta Falcons of the National Football League.

Karim Abdul-Jabbar

Abdul-Karim al-Jabbar

Abdul-Karim al-Jabbar, previously Karim Abdul-Jabbar (born Sharmon Shah on June 28, 1974), is a former American football running back. He was drafted in the 3rd round (80th overall) of the 1996 NFL Draft by the Miami Dolphins. He played in college at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). He also played for the Cleveland Browns and Indianapolis Colts.

Kenyan Drake

Kenyan Drake (born January 26, 1994) is an American football running back and kick returner for the Oakland Raiders of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Alabama. Drake was drafted by the Dolphins in the third round of the 2016 NFL Draft. Drake attended Hillgrove High School in Powder Springs, Georgia. He played football at Hillgrove. As a senior, he rushed for 1,610 yards with 18 touchdowns and was named the Gatorade Football Player of the Year for Georgia. He was rated as a four-star recruit by Rivals.com. He received offers from Alabama, Georgia, and Georgia Tech. He committed to the University of Alabama to play college football.

Delvin Williams

Delvin Williams (born April 17, 1951 in Houston, Texas), is a former professional American football player who was selected by the San Francisco 49ers in the 2nd round of the 1974 NFL Draft. A 6'0", 197-lb. running back from the University of Kansas, Williams played for the 49ers, Miami Dolphins, and Green Bay Packers in eight NFL seasons from 1974 to 1981. A two-time Pro Bowl selection in 1976 and 1978, Williams rushed for over 1,200 yards in both those seasons.

Lamar Smith

Lamar Hunter Smith (born November 29, 1970, in Fort Wayne, Indiana) is a retired professional American football running back. He played in the NFL for the Seattle Seahawks, Miami Dolphins, New Orleans Saints, and Carolina Panthers from 1994 to 2003. On December 30, 2000, Smith carried the ball a then NFL record 40 times for the Dolphins in a wildcard playoff game against the Indianapolis Colts. He finished with 209 yards rushing, including a 17-yard touchdown run in overtime to give the Dolphins a 23-17 victory, Miami's most recent playoff victory as of the 2018 season.

Mark Higgs

Mark Deyon Higgs (born April 11, 1966 in Owensboro, Kentucky) is a former American football running back in the National Football League for the Dallas Cowboys, Miami Dolphins, Philadelphia Eagles and Arizona Cardinals. He was drafted in the 8th round of the 1988 NFL Draft by the Dallas Cowboys. He played college football at the University of Kentucky.

Benny Malone

Benjamin Malone, Jr. (born February 3, 1952) is a former professional American football running back in the National Football League for the Miami Dolphins and Washington Redskins.

Lorenzo Hampton

Lorenzo Timothy Hampton (born March 12, 1962) is an American former college and professional football player who was a running back in the National Football League (NFL) for five seasons during the 1980s.  Hampton played college football for the University of Florida, and thereafter, he played professionally for the Miami Dolphins of the NFL.

Sammy Morris

Samuel Morris III (born March 23, 1977) is a former American football running back. He played college football at Texas Tech and was drafted by the Buffalo Bills of the in the National Football League (NFL) in the fifth round of the 2000 NFL Draft. He also played for the Miami Dolphins, New England Patriots and Dallas Cowboys.
In 2013, he joined Attleboro High School football as an assistant coach.  Simultaneously, for the past several seasons, he has been a member of the staff for the New England Patriots as well.

Sammie Smith

Sammie Lee Smith (born May 16, 1967 in Orlando, Florida), is a former American football player who was selected by the Miami Dolphins in the 1st round (9th overall) of the 1989 NFL Draft.  A 6'2", 226-lb. running back from Florida State University, Smith played in four NFL seasons from 1989 to 1992 for the Dolphins and Denver Broncos.Smith has had numerous legal problems since leaving professional football. In 1996, he was convicted of two counts of possession and distribution of cocaine, and spent seven years in prison as a result. He won restoration of his civil rights from the State of Florida in June 2010.

Cecil Collins

Cecil J. P. Collins (born November 19, 1976) is a former American football running back for the Miami Dolphins of the National Football League (NFL).

Big fan of Miami football? Then check out this list of Miami Dolphins running backs with photos and seasons as starters.&nbsp;It includes every starting ...