There are few running backs in the NFL who can match Raheem Mostert’s speed.
There were no running backs in the NFL last year who matched his touchdown tally.
Still, the Miami Dolphins back believes he’ll always be running the race to recognition, despite coming off a season in which he earned his first Pro Bowl and NFL Top 100 accolades.
“I’m always going to be underrated, no matter what,” Mostert said Friday, via team transcript. “I’m an underrated, under-the-radar type of guy, that’s fine with me.”
Playing in his second season with the Dolphins, Mostert had the best year of his nine-season, five-team career. The speedster scored a franchise-record 18 rushing touchdowns, led the league with 21 scrimmage TDs and rushed for 1,012 yards. It was his first career 1,000-yard season and the first for the Fins since 2016.
Much like Jay Ajayi in 2016, Mostert also earned his first Pro Bowl recognition. Still, despite all that, the speedy 32-year-old believes he’s flying past foes under the radar.
It’s the naysayers more than the praise he garners that fuels Mostert more, anyhow.
“When I do the things that I do and compete and show people that I’m worth something, I’m worth a damn, then that’s when all the haters, they’re usually quiet,” he said. “I like that, I feed off of that type of stuff and I don’t listen to what everybody else has to say. I’m just going to go out here, help this team win and I’m going to do what I have to do.”
In many ways, Mostert has always flashed brilliance but hasn’t been able to sustain it.
It wasn’t until his fifth NFL season and fifth NFL team that he truly broke out. That came in 2019 with the 49ers, when he posted a then-career-high 772 yards and eight scores for the NFC champions. Following his dynamic regular-season showing, Mostert produced a playoff showing for the ages that is most certainly underrated.
Mostert propelled the 49ers past the Green Bay Packers in the NFL Championship Game, running for a championship game record 220 rushing yards to go along with four touchdowns.
Perhaps surprisingly, he wasn’t recognized by his NFL brethren, as this marks the first time he’s ever been voted to the NFL Top 100, which is based solely on player voting.
Mostert debuted at No. 60.
Unsurprisingly, Mostert wasn’t seeing puppies and rainbows when it came to his ranking.
“I was pretty high,” Mostert said. “I was a little distraught because I thought I was going to be a little lower, but honestly it just gives me more motivation to work even harder. I did what I did last year, but now it’s time to move on. It’s year 2024 and I got bigger and better things that I want to get accomplished, and also, I want to help this team as much as I possibly can because it’s going to be nice to have a championship down here in South Florida.”
In his eyes, Mostert’s always underrated, but so far he’s not come close to slowing down and he’s certainly not lacking fuel to produce another monster season in Miami.