The Dolphins May Have a Jaylen Wright Problem

The Dolphins May Have a Jaylen Wright Problem

Coming out of the University of Tennessee, Jaylen Wright looked to have all of the tools necessary to be successful in the NFL.

Speed, power, hard worker, and athletic.

His rookie season didn’t go as planned, though.

In April 2024, Miami traded a future 3rd round pick to get a pick in Round 4 to select Wright.

He entered the season on the depth chart behind Raheem Mostert and De’Von Achane. Quickly, though, Mostert fell out of favor with his fumbling problem and sank on the depth chart.

But Wright didn’t get many opportunities. Only 68 carries for 249 rushing yards.

Many felt he wasn’t utilized enough; now looking back in hindsight, maybe the Dolphins knew something the fans didn’t.

It’s 2025 now, training camp is about 4 weeks old, and Wright has yet to stand out, whether in practices or in preseason games.

The reports from the training camp practices indicate that he is a non-factor, not making any plays.

In the first preseason game against the Chicago Bears, on the opening series with the starters in, he was stuffed three plays in a row at the goalline and was unable to punch it in the endzone.

This past Saturday vs the Lions, he had four carries for three yards and a fumble (which Miami did recover).

Needless to say, that’s not good.

You don’t want to read too much into preseason games, but that is what we have to judge these players on before the regular season, and the results so far aren’t great.

And it’s more than just the stats or the training camp reports. Just watch the two preseason games, and it seems there is just a lack of sizzle, so to speak, when the ball is in Wright’s hands.

You don’t see a burst, nor any explosiveness. He looks like a JAG (just a guy).

On the flip side, Dolphins rookie running back Ollie Gordon is all sizzle.

He is all burst.

He has shown explosiveness in his running of the football over the past two preseason games.

The polar opposite of Jaylen Wright.

And, the constant here is that both running backs are running behind the same poor backup offensive linemen.

Butch Barry, the Dolphins’ offensive line coach, along with Mike McDaniel, has played the starters very little, and Miami’s lack of depth on the offensive line isn’t great. So neither back has outstanding blocking in front of them.

On paper, Jaylen Wright should be hitting his stride in year two and taking on a larger role in this offense.

Especially with the news that De’Von Achane will be sidelined for a few days or weeks with a soft tissue injury of some sort.

But it’s not happening, and if anything, Ollie Gordon may be passing him on the depth chart really soon.

Again, it’s training camp and the preseason, so you don’t want to read too much into things, but right now, if Jaylen Wright were a stock, you would be selling it.

Hopefully, he is able to find his game and turn things around, because he is a great kid and has all of the physical talent you want in a player.