Dolphins Hope to Lean on Run Game in December

Dolphins taking a cautious approach with De'Von Achane's return to the lineup, and haven't decided if Chris Brooks will come back from injured reserve yet

The Miami Dolphins own the NFL’s second-ranked rushing attack and have possessed one of the league’s top ground games most of this season.

Miami is averaging 142.5 rushing yards per game, and 5.47 yards per attempt. Only the Baltimore Ravens average more rushing yards (158.6) than the Dolphins, and no team averages more yards per attempt than Miami.

In fact, only seven teams in NFL history — the 1963 Cleveland Browns (5.7), the 1954 San Francisco 49ers (5.7), and the 1963 San Diego Chargers (5.6), the 2020 and 2019 Baltimore Ravens (5.5), 1997 Detroit Lions (5.5) and 2006 Atlanta Falcons (5.5) - have a better yards per carry average than the 2023 Dolphins.

"At the end of the day, if you are operating at the highest of highest of levels, it takes everybody. It takes every little ounce of physicality, of finesse, of speed, of precision. It takes all of it," fullback Alec Ingold said. "You can’t have one without the other. And if you do, you’re going to be middle of the pack."

Dolphins average full rushing yard more than NFL average

The Dolphins average a full 1.26 yards more than the NFL’s average rushing yards per attempt this season, and that’s been achieved without rookie sensation De’Von Achane available for more than half this season because of a knee injury that got him placed on injured reserve, which he aggravated in Miami’s win over the Las Vegas Raiders a little over a week ago.

Achane, who averages 11.8 yards on his 38 carries this season, could have played in Friday’s win over the New York Jets, but coach Mike McDaniel preferred not to chance having him suffer a setback.

“I felt good about what Raheem (Mostert) and Jeff (Wilson Jr.) were bringing to the table," McDaniel said. "So it just didn’t seem as prudent. There will be a lot of guys on short weeks or after short weeks where you’re already putting your body through a blender, so there will be a lot of guys that will be essentially day-to-day and will need all the time to game time."

Dolphins being cautious with Achane

But there’s no guarantee McDaniel will clear Achane to play in Sunday’s game against the Washington Commanders either.

“I’ll probably be in the same process with De’Von because I want to be fair to him. He knows how to play one way,” McDaniel said, referring to Achane’s speed, which has him clocked as the second-fastest player in the NFL this season, behind only Dolphins receiver Tyreek Hill. “He’ll tell me he can play. I already know that. But I’ll just be closely evaluating everything he does and making sure that we have a confident version of him, which is what the people want in general.”

NFL players wear GPS trackers at practice, which provides the coaching staff and trainers a player’s on-field practice speed, and the distances they run each session. McDaniel is big on sports science, so expect him to use that gauge to determine when Achane is ready to return to the tailback rotation.

Jeff Wilson inheriting larger role?

Until then, the Dolphins likely will lean on Mostert, who is 215 rushing yards away from his first 1,000-yard rushing season, and Wilson, who gained 56 yards on 11 carries against the Jets, a week after being a healthy scratch for the Raiders game.

Wilson also caught three passes for 17 yards against the Jets, making it his most productive offensive showing off this season.

“He came out of the gate with intent,” McDaniel said of Wilson, who has gained 85 yards on 18 carries he’s handled in four games this season. “Against a physical team like the New York Jets are, you have to match and exceed if you want to win. I thought he did that and inspired others to do that.”

The Dolphins haven’t committed to bringing rookie tailback Chris Brooks back from injured reserve yet, and it’s understandable considering Miami only has two more designated to return from injured reserve spots left after using six earlier this season.

Brooks, who gained 97 rushing yards on 15 carries before suffering a knee injury in Miami’s 42-21 win over Carolina Panthers, could begin practicing with the team for the next three weeks if Miami did designate him to return, but the Dolphins haven’t committed to that yet.

The prevailing thought is that the franchise will wait till later in the season, possibly till the middle of December, to decide who those designated to return from injured reserve spots get used on. At this time Brooks and receiver Erik Ezukamna are the only injured players who could possibly return to the 53-man roster because Isaiah Wynn’s quadriceps injury was viewed as season-ending.

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