At 32 years old, Raheem Mostert is officially the old man of the running backs room.
Age is just a number, though, and gives Mostert the advantage of wisdom. Judging by his recent seasons, Mostert can still play. But when he enters 2024, he’ll have more competition after the Miami Dolphins spent a draft pick on a running back for a second straight year.
“Yeah, my reaction at the time, I was just like, ‘Yeah, whatever, it is what it is,’ ” Mostert said, via team transcript, on Tuesday of Miami’s decision to select Tennessee's Jaylen Wright in the fourth round in April. “It’s the same typical thing, the draft drama pretty much all the time regardless of the position. But no, I’m honestly excited to have Jaylen come in. It’s another Jaylen coming in on the mix on the team. Just excited to have him here and try to coach him up, try to help him out within this offense and let’s see what we can do.”
Mostert has already beaten the odds, going from undrafted journeyman to breakout star with San Francisco and, eventually, Miami. With 1,903 yards and 21 rushing touchdowns in two seasons with the Dolphins, Mostert has triumphed over the dreaded 30-year-old mark for running backs.
Despite watching his team draft another player at his position — and thus, increasing competition — Mostert feels good about what Wright will bring to Miami, much like De’Von Achane did a year ago.
“I mean, the more the merrier,” Mostert said. “That’s what I would say. Especially in this offense. We can utilize a lot of different attributes and speed is definitely an attribute that we like to maximize to the most of our abilities. So to be able to have another guy come into the mix and bring his attributes and his contributions into the offense and his speed is definitely going to be very beneficial on our part.
“We can now line up and we could use three backs at one point with a receiver and maybe a tight end as well, so there’s a lot of different things you can do in the offense especially with guys that have a lot of different speeds.”
It’s undoubtedly true that Miami relies and thrives on speed, two leading attributes of an explosive offense that powered it to a second straight postseason berth in 2023. Mostert has to also know, though, that the Dolphins are planning for his eventual exit.
Luckily for Mostert, he signed an adjusted contract that added a year to his existing deal, giving him two more seasons to work with in Miami, starting with 2024. And at 32, he’d be foolish to expect otherwise.
In the meantime, Mostert is all about embracing the present while helping along his younger teammates.
“I’m all about in-person experiences and thus far, regardless of any team that I’ve been apart of, who they drafted, I’ve always embraced the opportunity," Mostert said of getting to work in May. “Not only for myself, but for the people around me and in the room, too. Just super excited to have everybody here. He’s going to be here sometime this weekend with rookie minicamp. It’s going to be fun. It’s going to be exciting. And like I said, I just can’t wait to work with him.”
If it all works, Miami could piece together a dangerous, three-headed backfield led by Mostert, the wisest of the three heads. And if he does his job well, the Dolphins might be set up for years to come.