Dolphins Should Unleash De’Von Achane in Week 1

Dolphins Should Unleash De’Von Achane in Week 1

There are many questions surrounding this year’s Dolphins.

How will Jeff Hafley manage a team in his first year at the helm?

What will Malik Willis look like as a full-time starting quarterback?

How will a trio of rookies at wide receiver hold up against secondaries across the NFL?

What should we expect from a young defense?

Even though this year’s team has so many question marks, there is one position where the fanbase should be comfortable.

That is at the running back spot with stalwart and newly extended De’Von Achane.

Achane is one of a few holdovers from the previous staff that is looking to get the Jeff Hafley era off to a rousing start when the team travels to Las Vegas to take on the Raiders in week one.

And, as Hafley noted a few weeks ago, I would expect Miami to feature Achane early and often this Sunday.

The fourth-year running back out of Texas A&M could see as many as 30-40 touches on Sunday, and frankly, Miami will need him to make the most of every touch he gets if they hope to pull an upset.

You can tell how much the franchise expects from him by the way that they not only extended him this off-season, but also by the way they invested in the offensive line.

New General Manager Jon-Eric Sullivan selected Kadyn Proctor with the 12th overall pick, extended All-Pro center Aaron Brewer, and drafted interior offensive lineman D.J. Campbell in the sixth round.

Those investments along the offensive line, coupled with the continued improvements of Patrick Paul and Jonah Savaiinea, plus a healthy Austin Jackson, set Achane up for a big year.

Achane should expect a heavy workload too as free-agent addition Malik Willis assumes the role of a full-time starting quarterback for the first time in his career.

As a side note, expect Willis’ ability as a runner to help keep defenses honest when Miami runs the zone-read with him and Achane in the backfield.

When they invested in the offensive line, Sullivan and Hafley also depleted the receiving core as they moved on from both Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle.

With that being the case and Miami potentially starting three rookies in Week 1, plus having other first-year players prominently featured on offense, such as Will Kaczmarek, it just means Achane should feature heavily as a pass catcher too.

In week one and, frankly, throughout the season, Miami will look to Achane to provide their offense with a spark.

He should be up for the challenge as the group’s now-veteran.