DeVon Achane is the hardest running back in the top 10 to grade. (Or 2nd-hardest, I suppose, for those including Christian McCaffrey.) With both backs, they could be very good, but it could all fall apart in a hurry.
With Achane, he’s not a top-10 back in a standard scoring league, but he looks like he might be right up there at the top in a PPR format. They use him a ton in the passing game. Every one of those little flips counts for a point before the yards and touchdowns are even brought into the conversation.
It’s a role, however, that looks a little flimsy, particularly with Miami being maybe the worst team in its division – a team that probably will be blowing things up at the end of the season. Can they be counted on to stick with that style of offense all year?
And Achane is tiny; can he be counted on to stay healthy? Derrick Henry, as one example, looks very durable and stable. It could make sense to choose him before Achane. You know what you’re getting; it’s not going to fizzle away.
Those who select Achane will have to take on not only his durability but also that of his quarterback. Tua Tagovailoa carries more injury risk than any quarterback in the league; he seems to be more prone than most to concussions.
And if Tua gets hurt, Achane should turn into an afterthought. In their 11 games together last year, Achane was solid gold, averaging 57 rushing and 48 receiving yards, with 11 touchdowns. He averaged 6 catches in those games.
But Achane in his other six games last year turned into a not-so-much back. He averaged 48 rushing yards in those games, but with only 1.8 catches for 10 yards as a receiver. And just 1 TD in those six weeks.
I like Achane. I just don’t know that it’s sustainable for 18 weeks.
Below see Achane’s game logs from the 2024 season. They’re ordered not chronologically but by level of production. His six no-Tua games are in bold.
| DEVON ACHANE GAME LOGS | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wk | Opp | Score | Att | Run | No | Rec | Tot | TD | PPR |
| 9 | @BUF | L, 27-30 | 12 | 63 | 8 | 58 | 121 | 2 | 32.1 |
| 16 | SF | W, 29-17 | 17 | 120 | 6 | 70 | 190 | 1 | 31.0 |
| 2 | BUF | L, 10-31 | 22 | 96 | 7 | 69 | 165 | 1 | 29.5 |
| 8 | ARI | L, 27-28 | 10 | 97 | 6 | 50 | 147 | 1 | 26.7 |
| 1 | JAX | W, 20-17 | 10 | 24 | 7 | 76 | 100 | 1 | 23.0 |
| 13 | @GB | L, 17-30 | 7 | 14 | 8 | 56 | 70 | 1 | 21.0 |
| 12 | NE | W, 34-15 | 10 | 32 | 3 | 24 | 56 | 2 | 20.6 |
| 11 | LVR | W, 34-19 | 17 | 73 | 4 | 32 | 105 | 1 | 20.5 |
| 14 | NYJ | W, 32-26 | 14 | 24 | 6 | 45 | 69 | 1 | 18.9 |
| 18 | @NYJ | L, 20-32 | 11 | 121 | 0 | 0 | 121 | 1 | 18.1 |
| 15 | @HOU | L, 12-20 | 12 | 41 | 7 | 35 | 76 | 0 | 14.6 |
| 7 | @IND | L, 10-16 | 15 | 77 | 2 | 8 | 85 | 0 | 10.5 |
| 10 | @LAR | W, 23-15 | 12 | 37 | 5 | 15 | 52 | 0 | 10.2 |
| 3 | @SEA | L, 3-24 | 11 | 30 | 3 | 28 | 58 | 0 | 8.8 |
| 4 | TEN | L, 12-31 | 10 | 15 | 3 | 14 | 29 | 0 | 5.9 |
| 17 | @CLE | W, 20-3 | 10 | 25 | 2 | 13 | 38 | 0 | 5.8 |
| 5 | @NE | W, 15-10 | 3 | 18 | 1 | -1 | 17 | 0 | 2.7 |
—Ian Allan