Why the Dolphins should move De’Von Achane to wide receiver in 2025

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  • De’Von Achane is far from a one-trick pony: The speedster led all running backs in several route concepts last year, including gos, slants, posts and digs.
  • The move makes sense on several fronts: From Achane’s pass-blocking woes to Jaylen Wright’s potential out of the backfield, the Dolphins and Achane would benefit from his switch to wide receiver.

Estimated Reading Time: 11 minutes

Thanks to an innovative head coach in Mike McDaniel and a roster filled with game-breaking speed, the Miami Dolphins have built one of the most explosive offenses in the NFL. In 2023, the Dolphins led the league with 128 explosive passing plays (15-plus yards) and ranked in the top five with 69 explosive running plays (10-plus yards).

The offense wasn’t quite the same in 2024, largely because of starting quarterback Tua Tagovailoa‘s absence for six games. Opposing defenses also did a better job of limiting big plays, as the team took a more conservative approach to moving the ball week to week. 

Today’s ever-evolving NFL has made it more important than ever for teams to maximize roster talent, particularly with versatile/hybrid talents. That is what separates the good teams from the great ones. The days of bell-cow running backs handling 30-plus touches a game are long gone, and teams are forced to strategically pick and choose their spots more often.

In De’Von Achane, the Dolphins have one of those rare dynamic playmakers, capable of busting a game wide open anytime he touches the ball. He took the league by storm as a rookie in 2023, setting an NFL record for a non-quarterback by averaging 7.8 yards per carry. Despite that, it would be wise for Miami to strongly consider moving Achane from a running back to a wide receiver in 2025, a move that would benefit both the team and the player in the short and long term.

De’Von Achane: Career PFF Grades
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Achane on the Ground

Achane’s outstanding rookie campaign goes well beyond his NFL-record 7.8 yards per carry. He averaged 4.94 yards after contact per attempt, more than a full yard better than the next closest running back that season. He was also among the best at making defenders miss, ranking third in the league with 0.27 missed tackles forced per attempt.

Last season, Achane’s rushing attempts nearly doubled (108 to 203) and his production notably declined. His yards after contact per attempt dropped to 2.91 (28th among running backs) and missed tackles forced per attempt fell to 0.16, just cracking the top 40.

These trends are not forgiving, which isn’t a surprise when considering his season-long usage. Achane carried the ball 10-plus times in all but two games, one of which he left early due to injury. Before Week 16, he had just one carry all season that went for more than 30 yards. He finished with more attempts that went for 15-plus yards in 2023 (13) than in 2024 (10), despite carrying the ball 95 fewer times. Simply put, the explosiveness wasn’t the same.

Achane Through the Air

Statistically, De’Von Achane was the best receiving running back in the NFL last season. Whereas Bengals’ wide receiver Ja’Marr Chase won the receiving triple crown (leading the league in receptions, yards and touchdowns), Achane led all three categories (78 receptions, 592 yards and six touchdowns) among running backs. Chase (797) and Achane (661) were also Nos. 1 and 2 in yards after the catch.

Dating back to his final season at Texas A&M in 2022, Achane has dropped just one pass over his past 33 games. In that span, he has caught 126 of 148 passes (85.1%) thrown his way and shown that he has some of the best hands in the NFL, regardless of position.

Alignment and Route Tree

Last season, Achane ran more pass routes from the slot (120) than any other running back in the NFL. For comparison, Saints running back Alvin Kamara ranked third on the list with 60. Achane also led all running backs with 58 routes from an outside wide receiver alignment. 

In terms of routes run, Achane certainly isn’t a one-trick pony. He led all running backs in various route concepts:

Route # of Routes Rank Among RBs
Screen 52 1st
Go 39 1st
Slant 13 1st
Post 6 1st
Wheel 4 1st
Dig 3 1st

When considering the number of pass routes and the complexity of the routes, it’s clear Achane has the skill set to take on a more prominent role as a wide receiver moving forward. Other factors (both on and off the field) also suggest the move to wide receiver would be smart.

Liability in Pass Protection

For all the great things that Achane can do, pass blocking is not one. The Dolphins have led the league the past two years in plays with motion and plays with an empty formation, making a deliberate attempt to avoid backfield blocking responsibilities for their players, most notably Achane. 

Since he entered the NFL in 2023, Achane has been asked to pass block just 20 times, 19 of which came last season. The results weren’t encouraging, as he allowed six pressures (one sack) while also committing a penalty. In 2022 (Achane’s last year at Texas A&M), he earned a 27.7 PFF pass-blocking grade, allowing 10 pressures.

It’s not a surprise, given his size (5-foot-8, 188 pounds), that Achane would struggle in pass protection. At the same time, he’s an elite receiving back, so he is extremely valuable in third-down passing situations. Where the Dolphins get into trouble is when they line up Achane in the backfield on these key downs because the defense knows he won’t be staying in to block. Simply sending him out wide from the start would benefit the offense.

The Jaylen Wright Effect

The Dolphins traded a 2025 third-round pick to move up and select Tennessee running back Jaylen Wright at 120th overall in the 2024 NFL Draft. The move made sense: Raheem Mostert was coming off a career year but was on the wrong side of 30, and Achane was not viewed as a workhorse type of player in the backfield.

At the time, the move looked like it would pay immediate dividends, but for one reason or another, Wright played 171 snaps all season, including just 29 over the final six games. He did have his bright spots early in the year, particularly in Week 5 at New England.

Wright stepped in for an injured Achane and turned 13 carries into 86 yards, 60 of which came after contact. He forced four missed tackles and accounted for four explosive runs (10-plus yards) on the ground. His 87.9 PFF overall grade in the game trailed only Terron Armstead (88.2) for the team lead.

Although the sample size was small, Wright ranked among the top 20 backs in yards after contact per attempt (3.25) and missed tackles forced per attempt (0.24) among running backs with 50-plus carries. 

The Dolphins released Mostert on Feb. 14, saving the team roughly $2.9 million in cap space and paving the way for Wright to step into a bigger role in 2025. Wright is not only the best pass-blocking back on the roster, but he is also capable of grinding out tough yards in between the tackles, something Miami was incapable of last season. 

The Dolphins ran the ball just 41.3% of the time on third or fourth down with 1-2 yards to go, the lowest rate in the NFL (for comparison, the Ravens were at 80.0%). Not surprisingly, no team picked up fewer first downs on the ground in these situations than Miami.

With Achane taking on a bigger role as a wide receiver, the Dolphins would be able to get Wright and Achane on the field together more, adding a new dimension to an already electric offense in 2025.

Player Comps

In terms of usage, the most obvious player comparison that comes to mind for Achane is Deebo Samuel. Head coach Mike McDaniel was the 49ers’ offensive coordinator back in 2021, by far Samuel’s best season as a pro, as he went on to earn first-team All-Pro honors that year and an elite 90.2 PFF overall grade.

Samuel’s hybrid wide receiver/running back role caused frequent problems for defenses. He lined up in the backfield 116 times, the slot 239 times and out wide 591 times that season. While Samuel plays with more physicality, Achane’s speed is on another level and his impact, if he is used correctly, would be like Samuel’s at the peak of his career.

The Dolphins can look at Darren Sproles as a comparison when it comes to size. Sproles (5-foot-6, 190 pounds) was a smaller back but carved out a 15-year career, largely because of how he was utilized. Including the playoffs, Sproles never carried the ball more than 100 times in a season. From 2008-2016, he averaged 61.4 receptions per season while also playing a significant role on special teams.

Going back more than a decade, current teammate Tyreek Hill also has some interesting similarities. In 2014, Hill played primarily running back in his only season at Oklahoma State, carrying the ball 101 times. He lined up in the backfield 235 times that season, 72 in the slot and 35 out wide; he was, in essence, what Achane was for the Dolphins in 2024. Hill ultimately transitioned to wide receiver once he made it to the NFL, so it is interesting to consider other players who have found success switching positions early on in their careers, especially those as successful as Hill, a future Hall of Famer.

Final Thoughts

Like the previously mentioned Sproles, Achane can be a player who plays 10-plus years in the NFL despite his size, but only if the team puts him in a position to stay fresh week to week and season to season. Handling 200 carries in a year (like he had in 2024) is not sustainable.

From Achane’s perspective, a position switch to wide receiver certainly has its benefits, as well. Wide receivers (on average) not only have a longer shelf life in the NFL, but they also make more money. When his contract is up in 2027, Achane will be in a better position to cash in and make the most of his NFL career. Essentially, it’s a win-win for both sides, as the team gets a longer-term investment in a star player.

Achane has been putting in the work for a potential position change dating back to last year. Beat writer David Furones of the Sun Sentinel pointed out that Achane was working with wide receivers in the spring, picking up route-running tips and learning the ins and outs of what it takes to succeed at the position:

As we saw, the work Achane put in paid off in a big way in just his second NFL season. Still just 23 years old, the former third-round pick out of Texas A&M has sky-high potential. A switch to wide receiver is a move that can unleash Achane beyond what we’ve seen from him in his first two seasons, which is a scary thought for opposing defenses. 



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Sports Update: De’von achane’s receiving ranks among running backs in 2024:– 78 receptions (1st)– 592 yards (1st)– 6 touchdowns (t-1st)* second in the nfl in yards after the catch behind ja’marr chase #gofins pic.twitter.com/ql9bbpyk9l— ryan smith (@pff_ryansmith) march 6, 2025 dating back to his final season at texas a&m in 2022, achane has dropped just one pass over his past 33 games Stay tuned for more updates on Why the Dolphins should move De’Von Achane to wide receiver in 2025 and other trending sports news!

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