Fantasy Football Breakdown of Dolphins Running Back Room: De'Von Achane, Raheem Mostert, Jaylen Wright and Chris Brooks
The Dolphins have one of the most confusing and valuable backfields in fantasy football. We're going to break it down for you.
The Miami Dolphins have one of the most polarizing and valuable backfields in fantasy football. Fantasy owners are both excited by the talent and opportunity of the Dolphins' running backs and afraid of their uncertainty and fragility. While it's always tough when you have a two-back field, this may end up being a four-back system in Miami. We'll break down each back for you.
De'Von Achane - ADP: 22
Achane is perhaps the most explosive and dynamic running back in the NFL. As a rookie, he smashed efficiency metrics and piled up fantasy points in bunches despite limited opportunities and injury issues. However, those opportunity and injury concerns remain, which is why he's only being drafted as the RB10 off the board.
In 2023, he averaged a ridiculous 7.8 yards per carry, rushing for 800 yards and eight TDs on just 103 carries while adding on 27 receptions for 197 yards and three TDs in just 11 games.
While it feels like he's a slam dunk pick, his 5'9 188-pound frame complicates things. We don't know how large of a workload the team is going to give him and it's hard not to worry about injury when he already missed six games as a rookie despite limited touches.
There is a strong argument that Achane could potentially have the highest upside in all of fantasy football, but he's one of the riskiest selections as well. Drafting him in the second round is not for the faint of heart, nevertheless, it could lead to you holding up a trophy at the end of the year.
Raheem Mostert - ADP: 73.7
Mostert is being criminally undervalued by the fantasy community being drafted in the seventh round. Last season, he was tied for the NFL lead with Christian McCaffrey with 21 TDs, finishing as the RB2 overall despite missing two games.
This is a back who just got an extension from Miami and is likely to still lead the backfield in carries or at worst be in an even split this year. For him to be available in the seventh round is insane.
Achane isn't what fantasy owners should be concerned about though. The duo proved that they can both produce at an unreasonably high level when both are healthy and playing. Injuries are the biggest worry when it comes to Mostert.
He had a career year in 2023 at the age of 31 but was relatively healthy, missing just two games. We say relatively healthy because he's only played one full season in the NFL and that was back in 2019. He has played nine NFL seasons and has been one of the most injury-riddled players in the league during that time.
Through nine seasons he has played in 80 games and missed 57 games. With that said, we saw his upside last season and it's elite fantasy production, so he's more than worth the risk at his current price. Similarly to Achane, his efficiency is on another level being that his career 5.2 yards per carry is top three all-time. It wouldn't be fair to expect him to repeat what he did last season, but even if he scores half the TDs he scored last season, he'd far outperform his ADP and be a valuable piece for your fantasy team.
Jaylen Wright - ADP: 155
The explosive rookie is cut from the same cloth as most of the Dolphins' offensive players possessing elite-level speed. While he's currently a distant third in this backfield, he was a high-end running back prospect in this year's draft and has already turned heads this preseason.
There is no guarantee when it comes to touches for Wright, but he could be a league winner if either Achane or Mostert were to go down with an injury. This is a player worth taking a flier on if your roster is large enough, however, you shouldn't bank on starting him early in the season and there is a chance he doesn't get on the field this much at all. Dynasty players should be doing whatever they can to get him on their rosters though. He's going to be special.
Chris Brooks - ADP: Undrafted
This may not be who you expected. Jeff Wilson is generally viewed as the RB4 in Miami. While most people agree, I'm projecting Brooks to make the active roster and take that job.
More importantly, Brooks is a bigger threat to the fantasy value of Mostert and Achane than Wright is. Wright has star potential but has a similar skill set to the two stars. Brooks however is a bigger back who could end up stealing touchdowns from the Dolphins dynamic duo.
It's unlikely he sees enough touches to be a valuable fantasy asset this year, nevertheless, he could be a much larger factor in this offense than fantasy owners are anticipating.
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