Dolphins’ selection of running back Achane draws rave reviews. What analysts are saying
Feedback on the Dolphins’ selection of Texas A&M running back Devon Achane with the 84th pick in the NFL Draft:
▪ ESPN’s Mel Kiper: “They got the 64th best player at 84. I love Devon Achane. You talk about a kid who is a game-breaker for this Miami Dolphins offense loaded with talent for Tua. Stay healthy, Tua. You’ve got the weapons. Achane, another like Tyreek Hill, a guy who can put the ball in the end zone at any time. This kid is phenomenal. I love the kid. He’s change of pace.
“Great cut back ability. [Makes] multiple cuts from the same run. Will get his nose dirty. Kick return ability. Carried the ball 38 times for 215 yards against LSU. How the heck is a running back this good still available at the end of the third round? That’s why you don’t take a running back in the first round.”
▪ NFL Network’s Daniel Jeremiah: “This shouldn’t be a surprise. Big time track speed going to Miami, if they aren’t fast enough already, they just got even faster. He ran a 4.32 [in the 40] in Indianapolis. Has kick return value. You are going to get some home runs on screens and draws. That’s where he’s absolutely at his best. I don’t think he will be a high volume guy. But to me, he’s going to hit home runs.”
▪ ESPN’s Booger McFarland: “You think about what they want to do, Mike McDaniel and his zone scheme, how they want to run the football. He can run it between the tackles. Don’t let his size fool you. He can be a one-cut downhill runner. Rare acceleration, tremendous vision to find the hole in that zone scheme down in Miami.”
▪ ESPN’s Louis Riddick: “The kind of speed they have in Miami now with Achane, who pound for pound is as tough as anybody in this draft. It’s his lower half. He bounces off tackles at 188 pounds like he’s 215 pounds. Keep your quarterback healthy because you are going to give defenses fits.”
▪ ESPN’s Todd McShay: “And he can catch the football: 65 receptions the past three years. Here’s the bottom line with Achane: If you can run for 5.6 yards per carry behind that paper mache of an offensive line last year, you have got a chance in the NFL. The one thing people don’t understand is he runs big.”
▪ NFL Network’s Joel Klatt, who is Fox’s lead college football analyst: “He probably doesn’t have the size to be a high volume guy. But he was the only Power 5 player this last year to score a touchdown as a running back, receiver and return man. He has the versatility and the speed is undeniable.”
▪ NFL.com’s Lance Zierlien: “Finding a player comparison for [the 5-8, 188 pound] Achane is challenging because he has blazing speed and is fearless as an inside runner, but is very small by NFL standards.
“He has the creativity and burst to create chunk plays but durability concerns will likely limit the amount of carries a team is willing to give him. Achane can be a complementary slasher with the ability to mismatch coverage out of the backfield or from the slot. However, he’s simply too talented and explosive as a runner to be confined to gadget duty. History does not favor backs his size, but his playmaking potential could be too tough to pass up on Day 2 of the draft.”
▪ ESPN’s Desmond Howard “Achane can flat out fly. He’s dynamic, he’s explosive. Great job by Chris Grier.”
Achane took a ‘30 visit” to the Dolphins two weeks ago. If you missed this in my piece this week:
Achane, 5-9 and 188 pounds, averaged 7.0 yards per carry on 130 rushing attempts in 2021 and 5.6 on 196 carries last season. As a receiver, he has caught 65 passes for 554 yards in three seasons.
I found this interesting in comparing Achane and Alabama’s Jahmyr Gibbs, who went 12th to Detroit: Achane averaged more yards after contact, per carry, than Gibbs (3.6 to 3.3) last season and had more runs of 15 yards or more last season (36 to 23). Pro Football Focus also gave Achane a higher “elusive rate” than Gibbs.
And here’s my piece about what the Dolphins did contractually to give themselves the chance to add another running back without financial consequence.
This story was originally published April 28, 2023 at 10:42 PM.
