Don’t expect the Miami Dolphins’ running game to remain a weakness in 2022.

After ranking among the bottom four NFL teams in rushing yards per attempt each of the past three seasons, new coach Mike McDaniel is here to change that.

McDaniel comes from the San Francisco 49ers where, between his one season as offensive coordinator and his previous stint as run-game coordinator, his rushing offenses ranked in the top half of the league the past four seasons. In 2019, when the 49ers were NFC champions, they had the No. 2 ground game.

The Dolphins targeted Chase Edmonds and Raheem Mostert in free agency to create a dynamic, explosive tandem of running backs.

Neither is likely to put up top-tier numbers on his own. You’re not finding your fantasy RB1 or RB2 in the Dolphins’ backfield with the way they — and returning tailback Myles Gaskin — will split touches. Together, however, they can form one of the league’s most productive units, and that’s largely how the 49ers did it the past several years.

Edmonds is versatile, able to be a first- or second-down ball carrier while also catching the ball out of the backfield and providing a key third-down tool. Between his last two seasons with the Arizona Cardinals combined, he ran for more than 1,000 yards and caught 96 passes for another 713 yards.

“I think he’s going to be a real star down there,” Cardinals coach Kliff Kingsbury told the South Florida Sun Sentinel at NFL meetings. “He’s got it all. Great worker, great teammate. … More than anything, his competitive nature. He’s really hard on himself, practices his butt off each and every day, and he’ll lift up his teammates. If they’re not practicing like he thinks they should, he’s not afraid to show, ‘Hey, it’s time to get it going.’ ”

McDaniel is familiar with Edmonds from facing him in the NFC West, and he’s even more familiar with Mostert from working directly with him on the 49ers. Possibly the fastest running back in the NFL, even as he gets set to turn 30 on Saturday and is coming off a torn ACL, Mostert has a career 5.7 yards-per-carry average, first emerging for the 2018 team in San Francisco and finding his peak on the 2019 Super Bowl team.

That’s not even mentioning how McDaniel can use speedy wide receivers Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle in the running game, the way he creatively utilized Deebo Samuel in San Francisco. Or find innovative ways to involve free-agent receiver Cedrick Wilson Jr., who can also throw the ball.

Everything that the playmakers do begins with the blocking up front, though. In that regard, Miami picked up prized free-agent left tackle Terron Armstead to anchor the offensive line and be the downhill bulldozer that can pave the way in the ground game. The Dolphins also acquired guard Connor Williams in free agency, and Robert Hunt is a valuable blocker returning from last season’s unit that will need one or two of its other youngsters to step up this fall.

Bringing in Edmonds and Mostert signaled to renewed importance placed on the running back position. The Dolphins started last season with a seventh-rounder in Gaskin and undrafted players in Salvon Ahmed and Malcolm Brown as the tailback trio. Then, midseason pickups of Duke Johnson to the practice squad and Phillip Lindsay off waivers became top rushers for the team by season’s end.

McDaniel also hired a staff that falls in line with a vision of improving the running game.

McDaniel’s offensive coordinator in Miami is Frank Smith, who was just offensive line coach and run-game coordinator with the Los Angeles Chargers. He retained Eric Studesville as running backs coach, a role in which he has 25 years of experience after also contributing as co-offensive coordinator for the Dolphins in 2021 under the previous coaching staff. McDaniel hired Matt Applebaum from Boston College to be his new offensive line coach while bringing tight ends coach Jon Embree and receivers coach Wes Welker over from the 49ers, where they can instill the same importance on blocking from those positions that was present in San Francisco.

And, of course, there’s the fullback. A lost position in the NFL, the Dolphins will be one of the few teams to feature a lead blocker out of the backfield after bringing in Alec Ingold and John Lovett at the position. McDaniel got the most out of perennial Pro Bowl fullback Kyle Juszczyk with the 49ers.

Previously addressed

Dolphins giving Tua Tagovailoa tools to succeed heading into Year 3

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