Tag: Devon Achane fantasy football

How to address Miami Dolphins RBs in fantasy football drafts

Here’s how to prioritize this backfield on draft day.

Under head coach Mike McDaniel, the Miami Dolphins offense is predicated on one thing: speed. The club seemingly has track stars at every position, and that includes running back. Last year, it was led by veteran Raheem Mostert and third-round pick De’Von Achane. Despite that tandem combining to miss eight games, the Dolphins still ranked sixth in the NFL in rushing (135.8 yards per game) while finishing first in both yards per carry (5.1) and touchdowns (27; tied).

Even with that success, Miami invested in its backfield during the offseason, selecting RB Jaylen Wright with the 120th overall pick. He adds more depth to a position that also has another steady veteran presence in the form of Jeff Wilson Jr., who has over 2,000 career yards on the ground.

With so many options, it’ll be interesting to see how McDaniel deploys them. Keeping that in mind, let’s look at what fantasy owners might expect from Dolphins running backs this season.

Unsettled situations: Miami Dolphins backfield

Rumors swirling around Miami’s intentions make for a tough prediction.

You have to go back to the 2016 season to find the last time the Miami Dolphins ranked in the upper half of the NFL in rushing. In the six years since, Miami has ranked 29th, 18th, 32nd, 22nd, 30th, and 25th, respectively — last year’s finish represented an average of 99.2 yards per game. Despite limited success in that department under first-year head coach Mike McDaniel, the Dolphins brought back their two leading rushers in running backs Raheem Mostert and Jeff Wilson Jr., both of whom followed McDaniel from the San Francisco 49ers to Miami.

They didn’t play a pat hand, though, using a third-round pick on RB De’Von Achane, a move that likely signaled the end of the line for holdover RBs Salvon Ahmed and/or Myles Gaskin. Even with that, there’s some belief that the Dolphins aren’t done making moves at the running back position, as they’ve been frequently mentioned as a possible destination for free-agent RB Dalvin Cook, who was released by the Minnesota Vikings in June.

For now, however, Cook remains a free agent, so we’re going to look at what Miami has available in their running back room as of today, and what we might expect from them, barring another move.