De’Von Achane Flounders in Dolphins’ Season-Opening Loss

De’Von Achane Flounders in Dolphins’ Season-Opening Loss

With a ground-and-pound approach expected to be the Miami Dolphins’ bread and butter on offense this season, all eyes were on running back De’Von Achane to perform on Sunday. The star running back is fresh off a stellar 2025 season as well as a massive contract extension from the Dolphins, but he unfortunately didn’t play at the top of his game against the Las Vegas Raiders — far from it, actually.

By the time the game clock struck zero, Achane had merely 36 rushing yards on 11 carries to his name. That’s barely over three yards per rushing attempt, and this is a guy who averaged a league-high 5.7 rushing yards a season ago.

Plus, to put how poorly he fared into perspective, he finished with fewer than 36 rushing yards in only two games all of last season. It was statistically speaking one of his worst games in a long time, and it’s not like he made up for it all that much in the air, either, as he finished with just 30 receiving yards.

Should Dolphins Fans Be Concerned About Achane?

For Dolphins fans who were expecting Achane to come out of the gate guns blazing, yesterday’s performance was very disappointing. But at the end of the day, it’s just one game, and as one of the NFL’s fastest players, fans should be confident that he will soon bounce back against the San Francisco 49ers. The Dolphins and 49ers will do battle next Sunday, Sept. 20, and San Francisco is 1-0 on the season.

Expect Achane to return to form against San Francisco and look more like the player who ran for more than 1,300 yards in 2025. Frankly, folks should be surprised if he doesn’t end up with at least 100 rushing yards on the game, and rest assured the Dolphins will turn to him early and often as he looks to get back in a rhythm.