When we noted last week that Dolphins running back De’Von Achane was averaging 11.4 yards per carry, it may have seemed like the kind of quirky early-season statistic that existed only because of a small sample size. But a funny thing happened on Sunday: Achane had another monster game and saw his yards per carry average go up.
After carrying 11 times for 151 yards in Sunday’s win over the Giants, Achane now has 38 carries for 460 yards this season, an absurd average of 12.1 yards per carry.
In each of his last three games, Achane has gained more than 100 rushing yards while averaging more than 10 yards per carry. That’s something that Barry Sanders, perhaps the greatest big-play threat ever to play the running back position, never did even once in his entire NFL career.
Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa is leading the NFL with an average of 9.7 yards per pass. That’s great — and it’s two and a half yards per play less than what Achane is averaging per run. (League-wide, passes typically gain about three more yards than runs; the league average yardage per pass is 7.0 and the league average yardage per run is 4.2.)
At some point, Achane’s average simply has to go down, but what the Dolphins’ offense has done with Achane over the last three weeks defies what should be possible in the NFL. It’s been a stunning start to a career.
