MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. — The Miami Dolphins in general — and electric running back De’Von Achane in particular — will face questions about their ability to play bully ball until they answer them for good.
The lasting impression from the Dolphins’ 2023 season was their late-season slide on offense against the league’s best teams — including the seven-point egg they laid in a Wild Card round loss to the Kansas City Chiefs.
Achane was a nonfactor in that elimination game, managing just nine yards on six carries.
2024 Outlook for Miami Dolphins RB De’Von Achane
The Dolphins were manhandled in the cold, and they’ve spent the last seven months trying to prevent it from happening again.
For Achane, that means adding power to his game, which, as a rookie, was largely predicated on speed. He’s transformed his body after an offseason spent with the team’s strength staff.
“I feel like he’s a little bit bigger; I feel like he’s a little stronger,” Dolphins running backs coach Eric Studesville said Thursday. “Muscular maybe. How’s it gonna help his game? I don’t know, I think he’s a more physical player probably than I thought coming out. Got great balance contact. He’s got great speed.
“So I’m, I’m hoping it’s all positive and I think it will be. Durability-wise maybe is probably the best area where that could potentially help.”
That would certainly be a welcome development. Achane went for 800 yards and eight touchdowns on just 103 carries in a breakout rookie season. But those numbers would have been even higher had he not missed six games due to injury.
Assuming he proves to be more durable in Year 2, expect the Dolphins to use Achane in many ways — as the lone back, in two-back sets, and even split out wide.
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“You can really see the growth of his understanding of the offense, you know, where he fits in just overall in the run game,” Dolphins offensive coordinator Frank Smith said. “Where he’s trying to affect his aiming points, affect the defense, working together with the linemen, how it all fits together.
“And then in the passing game as well, it’s just, you can tell it’s Year 2 for him. He’s really made substantial growth and I think this camp will really be good the next couple of weeks for him to continue to grow on everything he’s done.”
But again, the biggest growth the Dolphins need to make this year is in between the tackles. The offenses that travel are the ones built to win in all conditions, not just the ideal ones.
“I think the toughness of physicality isn’t based on weather,” Studesville said. “That’s based on the game. This game is a physical game that is played by certain people a certain way. We coach everybody on our team that way, particularly the backs, are coached that way to be physical. So I don’t think it’s weather-dependent.”