Dolphins running back coach Jeff Nixon, on the road meeting with and scouting running backs, conducted a private workout with Towson's Terrance West last Wednesday.

"The Dolphins running backs coach [Nixon] likes me a lot. He told me I was high on his board of college running backs," West wrote in his draft diary for the Baltimore Sun.



"We did board work and met and talked and went over some different plays. It was a good background meeting and we got to know each other.""

And that leads me to this:

Despite the fact the Dolphins just signed Knowshon Moreno, despite the fact they like Lamar Miller, I'm told the personnel department would still like to add one more running back -- likely somewhere between the fourth-fifth rounds -- to add juice and get more talent in the backfield.

That player, from what is considered a deep running back class in this draft, must have one of the following abilities:

He needs to make defenders miss.

Or he needs to be able to break tackles (run through tackles) when the running is hard -- such as in the fourth quarter protecting a lead.

The Dolphins want a clock killer. Sure, they'd take a dynamic, big-play runner. But just as valuable later in the draft is a back who can go in with the team up a field goal with four minutes to play and run the ball against a defense that knows the Dolphins are going to run the ball ... and still gain yardage.

(Peanut gallery: But Mando, the Dolphins already have that guy. His name is Daniel Thomas. He's young, he's 235 pounds. He's relatively fast.)

Welcome back, gallery. No, the Dolphins don't already have that guy. Thomas has done little to prove he's that guy the last three seasons. He hasn't been a bull in short-yardage. He hasn't been a good pass protector. He hasn't been a break-away back on early downs.

Thomas has been Jeff Ireland's guy since the former GM traded up in the second round of the 2011 draft to pick him. Ireland is gone now. Thomas is going to have an interesting time making the team in training camp with his primary advocate gone.

Why?

Well, Thomas is a 3.6 yards per carry guy in his three seasons. And the Dolphins still have hopes for Lamar Miller. And they just added Knowshon Moreno. And if things go according to plan, they plan to select yet another back in the draft.

The numbers don't add up for Thomas.