That was a pretty remarkable season put together by Raheem Mostert. At age 31, he came up with 21 touchdowns. But I don’t think I’ll have much interest in even thinking about selecting him before the late rounds in drafts next summer.
I’m not sure he’ll be on my draft board at all. Let’s see who else the Dolphins have at the position heading into next year, of course. Certainly DeVon Achane. And probably Jeff Wilson, who signed a contract slightly larger than Mostert’s last spring. Salvon Ahmed (who looked improved early last year) might be back, and others could be obtained through the draft or free agency.
Miami’s running game tailed off in the second half of the season, and all along Mostert’s success was more about the structure of the offense rather than his own ability.
Nonetheless, Mostert finished with the 5th-best overall numbers among running backs using PPR scoring. Since the merger in 1970, only 10 other running backs have had their first top-10 season in their 30s.
30-YEAR-OLD RUNNING BACKS WITH TOP-10 NUMBERS | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Year | Player | Rushing | Receiving | PPR | Rk |
1973 | Donny Anderson, St.L. | 167-679-10 | 41-409-3 | 227.8 | 4 |
1973 | Floyd Little, Den. | 256-979-12 | 41-423-1 | 259.2 | 2 |
1975 | Pete Banaszak, Oak. | 187-672-16 | 10-64-0 | 179.6 | 10 |
1983 | John Riggins, Was. | 375-1347-24 | 5-29-0 | 286.6 | 6 |
1990 | Albert Bentley, Ind. | 137-556-4 | 71-664-2 | 229.0 | 5 |
2002 | Charlie Garner, Oak. | 182-962-7 | 91-941-4 | 347.3 | 4 |
2008 | Thomas Jones, NYJ | 290-1312-13 | 36-207-2 | 277.9 | 5 |
2015 | Danny Woodhead, S.D. | 98-336-3 | 80-755-6 | 243.1 | 3 |
2016 | LeGarrette Blount, N.E. | 299-1161-18 | 7-38-0 | 234.9 | 9 |
2021 | Cordarrelle Patterson, Atl. | 153-618-6 | 52-548-5 | 234.6 | 10 |
2023 | Raheem Mostert, Mia. | 209-1012-18 | 25-175-3 | 269.7 | 5 |
Past performance, of course, doesn’t guaranteed future success, and change comes quick at the running back position. Of those previous 10 running backs, and only two finished with top-25 numbers in their next season.
30-YEAR-OLD BACKS WITH TOP-10 NUMBERS (the next year) | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Year | Player | Rushing | Receiving | PPR | Rk |
1974 | Donny Anderson, St.L. | 90-316-3 | 15-116-3 | 94.2 | 46 |
1974 | Floyd Little, Den. | 117-312-1 | 29-344-0 | 100.6 | 39 |
1976 | Pete Banaszak, Oak. | 114-370-5 | 15-74-0 | 89.4 | 54 |
1984 | • John Riggins, Was. | 327-1239-14 | 7-43-0 | 219.2 | 14 |
1991 | Albert Bentley, Ind. | 0-0-0 | 7-42-0 | 11.2 | 115 |
2003 | Charlie Garner, Oak. | 120-553-3 | 48-386-1 | 165.9 | 26 |
2009 | • Thomas Jones, NYJ | 331-1402-14 | 10-58-0 | 240.0 | 9 |
2016 | Danny Woodhead, S.D. | 19-116-0 | 6-35-1 | 27.1 | 97 |
2017 | LeGarrette Blount, Phil. | 173-766-2 | 8-50-1 | 109.6 | 45 |
2022 | Cordarrelle Patterson, Atl. | 144-695-8 | 21-122-0 | 156.7 | 31 |
2024 | Raheem Mostert, Mia. | ? | ? | ? | ? |
—Ian Allan