- De’Von Achane shined with Tua Tagovailoa: Achane averaged a ridiculous 22.5 fantasy points per game with Tagovailoa last season, thanks to a 25.4% target rate when Tagovailoa was at quarterback.
- The offensive line is a concern: Miami Dolphins running backs were stuffed in the backfield at the highest rate for any team in the last five seasons and lost their best offensive linemen this offseason.
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Estimated Reading Time: 5 minutes
PFF’s Fantasy Football Player Profile series delivers the most in-depth fantasy football analysis available for the 2025 season.
Using PFF’s exclusive data, we evaluate player performance, competition for touches and how teammates and coaching staffs will impact each player’s fantasy football outlook.
Last updated: 7:15 a.m. Saturday, May 10
Player performance
Achane was drafted by the Miami Dolphins in the third round of the 2023 draft. He is one of the smallest running backs in the NFL, as his height, weight, arm length and hand size are all in the bottom-20th percentile among running backs. However, his 40-yard dash, 20-yard dash and 10-yard split were all among the 97th percentile or better.
He started the 2023 season buried on the depth chart, but injuries allowed him to be the backup in Week 3, when he ran 18 times for 203 yards and two touchdowns and caught another two touchdowns. He ran 8 times for 101 yards and two touchdowns in Week 4, and 11 times for 151 yards and a touchdown in Week 5. He proceeded to miss most of the following six games due to injury. He returned to his backup role in Week 13 but still scored the 11th-most fantasy points over the last six weeks.
Achane remained a backup to begin 2024 but started from Week 2 until the end of the season. He averaged 62% of Miami’s offensive snaps over the rest of the season. This only led to a slight uptick in rushing attempts, where he received 10-12 attempts most weeks, finishing with four games of 15 or more carries and two games with single-digit carries. He also wasn’t nearly as effective as a runner.
However, his receiving work was elevated to another level. His pass routes per game increased, while his target rate remained the same. He not only received more targets but was more effective when targeted. He finished the season with 10 more receptions than any other running back. He led the league in receiving yards by nearly 50 yards and tied for the league lead in receiving touchdowns by a back (six).
His splits with and without Tua Tagovailoa were remarkable. He averaged 22.5 fantasy points per game when Tagovailoa played last season and 8.7 when he was out. This was a combination of the offense playing better with Tagovailoa, scoring 24 points per game with him and 13 without him. This meant more opportunities with Tagovailoa and more chances to score. Tagovailoa was much more willing to throw to Achane than other quarterbacks. Achane was thrown to on 25.4% of his routes with Tagovailoa, and 10.4% of his routes without him.
Projected role
Achane received a notably larger role on early downs and in short-yardage situations last year. Ironically, his third-down snap rate only increased slightly, despite being the league’s top receiving back.
Raheem Mostert was the Dolphins’ starter in 2023 and primary backup in 2024. He was getting phased out of the offense as the season progressed, and he is now a backup with the Las Vegas Raiders. Jaylen Wright was drafted in 2024 and will likely be Achane’s primary backup. The team also added Alexander Mattison and Ollie Gordon II.
It’s possible that Mattison or Gordon could win the third-down job this year, if the team wants to limit Achane’s playing time. Mattison was the Raiders’ primary third-down back last season when healthy.
It’s also possible someone takes over for Achane in short-yardage situations. Achane ran the ball five times when the Dolphins needed one yard to score. He lost three yards on those runs and only scored once. To be fair, he had -7 yards before contact and four yards after, so this wasn’t all on Achane. He had 14 runs within five yards of scoring, and only scored three times. On yards with one yard to go for a first down, he converted nine of 17 runs, again earning negative yards before contact. The league average for running back runs was a 69% conversion rate, but most of those backs also had more help from their lines.
Gordon is in the 88th percentile or higher for height, weight, arm length and hand size. Mattison is also on the larger side for a running back. It would be understandable if the Dolphins switch to a bigger back in these situations, although it could be detrimental to Achane’s fantasy ceiling.
Impact of teammates
Achane will continue having Mike McDaniel as his head coach. In recent years, the offense has become more dependent on Achane, which has been excellent for his fantasy value. As Tyreek Hill gets older and potentially gets traded, that will make the offense even more dependent on Achane.
The big question is how well the offensive line performs. The Dolphins had the sixth-lowest team run-blocking grade last season. The Dolphins running backs combined for 1.1 yards before contact per attempt, which was tied for the fifth lowest. Most notably, they were stuffed in the backfield on 27.2% of their carries, over 4% more than any other team. They are the only team above 25% in the past five years.
The team lost their best run blocker, Terron Armstead, to retirement. The team added James Daniels in free agency, who should be an upgrade for one guard spot. They also added Jonah Savaiinaea in the draft, who was a better pass protector than run blocker. Unfortunately, Patrick Paul struggled during his three starts and multiple games with significant playing time as a backup.
Bottom line
Achane’s speed and agility give him the potential to be the top overall running back, but the offensive line put a ceiling on Achane last season. It could struggle even more this season without Terron Armstead.
Footnotes
- Statistics in tables and charts were chosen based on their ability to predict future fantasy performance on a per-game or per-opportunity basis or to describe the player relative to others at the same position.
- “Opportunities” are defined as passing dropbacks, rushing attempts and routes run as a receiver.
- Numbers are provided either by season or based on the past three years. For rookies, only college statistics are included. For non-rookies, only NFL statistics are considered, regardless of whether they played in college within the previous three years.
- As college competition is easier than NFL competition, most rookies are likely to see a decline from their historical numbers.
- Only FBS data is considered for college players and comparisons.
- Kneel-downs are removed from rushing data to provide cleaner quarterback rushing rate statistics.
- The table colors in this article range from blue (indicating good/high) to red (indicating bad/low).
- All percentiles and color codings compare the given player to others with a high sample of opportunities. Generally, the cutoff is one-third of the possible opportunities in the sample. If a player does not meet the threshold, they are still included in the comparison, though their results may appear better or worse than expected due to the smaller, less predictive sample size.
- Information on utilization classifications and their importance can be found here for running backs, wide receivers and tight ends.
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