De’Von Achane blasted off during his rookie season, showing ankle-breaking speed that made him a wonder in the Miami Dolphins offense.
Coach Mike McDaniel believes Year 2 can be even more fruitful for the blazing running back because Achane can focus his offseason on the offense.
“I think [it is an] important offseason for him because you were just really hanging on by your coattails as a rookie in this league in general,” McDaniel said on Tuesday, via the team’s official transcript. “The way things are kind of structured is there’s so much time devoted to working out and getting your testing numbers right and then the second that you -- and you’re training for kind of these timed measurables. Then you immediately transition once you’re drafted into kind of practicing. You get a little breath of a break and then you’re still on your rookie season.
“Year 2, you kind of let everything settle, understand much more of the whys of everything that you do and for him, the more he can understand within the offense, the more ways he can get the ball. He had outstanding ball production, some of which I know he feels specifically that there’s more out there from the opportunities he had last year.”
In 11 games in 2023, Achane rushed for 800 yards on 103 carries with eight touchdowns. He added 27 catches for 197 yards and three scores. In Weeks 3-5, the back went for a ridiculous 455 rushing yards and seven total touchdowns, but an injury knocked him out four weeks and he only hit the 100-yard mark once the rest of the season.
In his sophomore season, Achane could see an uptick in usage in the passing game, making him an even more dangerous weapon for McDaniel.
“Being able to find different ways to get people the ball whether that’s different types of pass routes, whether that’s different types of run schemes that you can get comfortable with, all those things,” the head coach said. “More ways to be at the point of attack to play within this offense, that’s what this offseason really provides for him. Seeing some strength gains and you can tell by his body he’s put some work into it and then him just understanding everything about our offense so he can be as big a part of it as possible. That’s his goal.”
Raheem Mostert profiles as the lead back in Miami, but Achane should see an uptick in reps if he stays healthy, and rookie Jaylen Wright could be a wild card out of the speedy Dolphins backfield.