Frank Gore signs with Dolphins, bringing his long football career full circle

Frank Gore has signed with the Miami Dolphins, as first reported by Sirius XM’s Craig Mish.

It’s a new place for Gore in the NFL, but a return to home. He’s originally from Coral Gables, Fla. and starred as a running back for the Miami Hurricanes. His son, Frank Gore Jr., is a top high school running back in South Beach.

Gore, 34, is fifth on the NFL’s all-time rushing yards list, and has broken 1,000 rushing yards nine times over the course of his career, plus another two with 900-plus.

Gore has definitely slowed down, but he’s still going and still managed to be the lead running back in Indianapolis a season ago. He’s within striking distance of Curtis Martin on the all-time rushing list, and thinks he has at least another season left in him.

The Colts informed Gore well before the start of free agency that they would not be bringing him back for 2018, choosing to get younger at the position with a new head coach in Frank Reich. Gore originally joined the Colts in 2015 after 10 seasons with the San Francisco 49ers, believing — as many did — that Indianapolis was a title contender.

They were not, but it wasn’t the fault of Gore’s.

What to expect out of Gore

Gore has played in all 16 games of the regular season since 2011, despite originally falling in the 2005 NFL Draft due to injury concerns and several missed games over his first six seasons in the league. In that time, Gore has eclipsed 1,000 yards rushing five times and 950 yards twice.

Last season, he carried the ball 261 times for 961 yards for a per-carry average of 3.7 yards. He played on an offense that wasn’t great at any one aspect, but he ran hard and remains a tough player to tackle. He had four rushing touchdowns, and for his career, has a 4.3 yards-per-carry average.

The Dolphins are also getting possibly the best pass-protecting running back in the business. That has always been one of his strengths, and not an area he has regressed. His per-carry average has dropped slightly, but he continues to keep his quarterbacks relatively safe.

Finally, Gore is a high-character player who has been well-loved and respected by his teammates in San Francisco and Indianapolis. He’s a strong mentor and a soft-spoken but authoritative leader in the locker room. Even though Gore has always felt his teams are performing at their best when he’s getting the football, he’s been well-liked by even the backs competing with him.

That’s a plus for the Dolphins who have made an effort to change the locker room culture under Adam Gase.

Look at what the Dolphins are DOING. Let happy-go-lucky Damien Williams walk. Hosted/hosting visits with resolute, serious veteran leaders DeMarco Murray and Frank Gore. #culturechange
— Armando Salguero (@ArmandoSalguero) March 22, 2018

What’s the downside for Miami?

He’s 34 years old, and will turn 35 in May. He’s well past the normal sell-by date for running backs. But he’s always been called “The Inconvenient Truth,” and has continued to defy those expectations. But a sharp decline for running backs isn’t just something that happens, it’s what’s expected in the modern NFL.

Gore will either go at his same rate for another season or two and then retire, or he’ll finally hit that wall. And there isn’t really something that a team can predict — all they can do is watch the film from last season, check him out physically, and hope he can still do what he says he does. There are 3,226 career carries, 14,026 yards, and 196 NFL games-worth of wear and tear on his body.

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