There wasn’t a clear number one running back for the Miami Dolphins before this season began, but after the opening-week win, it looks like Knowshon Moreno, even without being the starter in the game, is winning the role and the job.

The official line from the team is that it’s going to be a mixture of both Moreno and Lamar Miller who picked up the start (a number that doesn’t really matter) in the 33-20 win over the New England Patriots, and usually going with the hotter hand, like they did in the win.

Moreno played 48 snaps compared to Miller’s 27, finishing with a total of 134 yards on 24 carries with a touchdown, while Miller finished with 73 yards from scrimmage which included four receptions, one of them for a touchdown.

According to head coach Joe Philbin, it’s a wide open race between the two guys.

The question about who takes the first snap, now it’s on my mind, but I hadn’t considered it really yet. I expect them both to contribute. There might be days (where) sometimes they may rotate by series and sometimes they may rotate by play if there are particular things they want. 

Sometimes a guy may just need a blow for a moment and, when he comes out because he’s had a couple of plays in a row, we happen to call three straight runs. Some of it is going to be luck of the draw and the flow of the game. If a guy, if it’s his turn to play and he runs for three first downs in a row, he’s going to get to play more. They also get to earn some of it.

Being the starter really doesn’t matter. The most important for the team and player of course is who gets to play more snaps and touch the ball more. In the first game it was Moreno by a landslide and not just because he was doing better, but because at this point, the Dolphins believe he’s the better player overall. From week 2 and onward, it might also translate into being the first man on the field.

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