There’s no doubt that DeVon Achane will be the top dog in the Miami Dolphins’ 2025 running back room.
The tailback followed up a record-setting rookie year with nearly 1,500 yards from scrimmage to go along with 12 total touchdowns. His most impressive feat came in the passing game as he snagged 78 receptions, good enough for third on the team.
What remains a bit unclear, however, is how the rest of the depth chart plays out. Raheem Mostert might have left in free agency but the Dolphins added Alexander Mattison and Ollie Gordon II to a room that already included 2023 fourth-round pick Jaylen Wright. Running backs coach Eric Studesville, however, made it clear that nothing is set in stone.
“I think there’s two ways to kind of look at that,” Studesville said Wednesday. “One, I think each guy makes his own role on the team. I don’t think we predetermined that. I think you gotta expose them to everything and see what they can do and let them develop into the role that they clearly take and establish on their own through what they do.”
Added Studesville: “The other part of that is — and I think probably even more important — that all the backs in my room, we coach and talk and work as though they’re the starter, they’re the guy that’s gonna be on every play. Whether it’s first and second down, third down, short yardage, backed up, four minute, whatever that situation is. They’re all coached to be ready for those opportunities.”
With Mattison, the Dolphins have a bulldozing, north-south runner who could help change their failures in short-yardage situations.
“Downhill, fast and physical,” Mattison said when asked to describe his running style in late March. He later added that Dolphins coach Mike McDaniel liked his “physicality and me being a bigger bruiser type of back.” Mattison expected to “be in a role of using my pads and using my physicality and bringing that little spark to the offense.”
Studesville had great things to say about Mattison, 26.
“He’s certainly a professional, a vet in how he approaches everything,” Studesville said, praising Mattison’s “passion.” He’s “really, really smart. Really on top of all the adjustments and things as he’s learning a whole new offense again, because remember he was in Minnesota those years, Vegas for one. So now this is his third offense in three years. So there’s a little gymnastics that go along with that too. So he’s done a fantastic job.”
Then there’s the second-year Wright. After an impressive two-game stretch early in the season, the then-rookie seemingly disappeared down the stretch in 2024. Still, Wright’s 4.38 speed could be an asset this upcoming season.
“I feel like he’s doing great,” Achane said in mid-May. “He knows his stuff, and he’s very comfortable now. I feel like he can go out there and do the same things I can do. He can go run routes, he can catch the ball. Him just adding that to his bag, I feel he’s going to be a great player.”
Perhaps the most intriguing prospect is Gordon. A 2023 Doak Award-winner, Gordon rushed for 1,732 yards and 21 touchdowns as a sophomore. A dismal 2024 – 880 yards and 13 touchdowns on the ground – combined with a high running style led him to slip to the sixth round. Studesville, however, isn’t worried.
“Changing his running style, I think that’s always difficult, right?” Studesville said, later adding “I think what you do is you talk to him and you give him options. The reality is this, he’s a 6-foot-2-inch, 226-pound back. There’s very few DBs in this league that are gonna tackle him high. So he’s gotta be aware of that. So when he gets into certain situations, we’re gonna work and teach. He’s gotta lower his pads, get behind his pads, run over tacklers. But he’s also gotta be aware of a lot of his tackles are gonna be below the knees. And so how do we then help him with that, right?”
After the Dolphins were the sixth-best rushing team in 2023, they fell to 21st in 2024 due to injuries along the offensive line. With a reworked offensive line and a shot of youth in the running back room, there’s no reason why the Dolphins should repeat their 2024 shortcomings in the running game.
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C. Isaiah Smalls II is a sports and culture writer who covers the Miami Dolphins. In his previous capacity at the Miami Herald, he was the race and culture reporter who created The 44 Percent, a newsletter dedicated to the Black men who voted to incorporate the city of Miami. A graduate of both Morehouse College and Columbia Graduate School of Journalism, Smalls previously worked for ESPN’s Andscape.