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2026 Fantasy Outlook

De'Von Achane

RB · Dolphins

Dolphins

RB12 ADP

RB12

ADP (18 ovr)

217.9

Proj Half-PPR

212

Proj Carries

55 / 424

Proj Rec / Yds

De'Von Achane is the paid centerpiece of a Miami offense rebuilding around the run. He signed a four-year, $64M extension in May 2026, third-highest AAV at the position, and the rushing production backs the price: 238 carries at a league-best 5.7 yards a pop, +14.0 rushing EPA (4th among backs), and +1.03 rushing yards over expected per attempt behind a line that graded 22nd in run-block. He played 80% of the snaps across 16 games and added 67 catches, so the three-down workload is already in place.

The open question is the passing game. Achane's receiving value fell from first among running backs in EPA in 2024 to 118th in 2025 on nearly identical target volume, and the swing tracked his quarterback: 25.4% of routes targeted with Tua on the field, 10.4% without. The 2026 checkdown source is Malik Willis, who has six career starts, a low RB-target rate, and the league's highest scramble rate. With Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle gone, those targets could funnel to the backfield or disappear into Willis's habit of running rather than dumping off.

Backfield

Jaylen Wright

Won the RB2 job late in 2025; 4.38 speed, cleaner outside-zone fit.

HANDCUFF
Wright took 96 snaps to Ollie Gordon's 69 over the final six weeks and ran 4.1 YPC to Gordon's 2.8. He is the outside-zone fit behind Achane and the one whose value spikes on an injury. No threat to the lead role while Achane is healthy.

Ollie Gordon II

Short-yardage and goal-line back; 238-lb power profile.

GOAL-LINE
Gordon scored three times on 70 carries but ran 2.8 YPC and lost the RB2 race to Wright. His path narrows to short-yardage and the goal line in Slowik's zone scheme.

Run Blocking

The interior was the 2025 weak point and the offseason's project. Center Aaron Brewer is the anchor and the scheme match, an 87.4 PFF overall and a 91.5 run-block grade that was the best by any center since 2021, plus Second-Team All-Pro. The guards were the drag: Jonah Savaiinaea graded as the lowest guard among 79 qualifiers. Miami spent the 12th overall pick on Kadyn Proctor and is sliding him to left guard, with OL coach Zach Yenser bringing a 49ers zone background. The raw output ran ahead of the grades, with 2,044 team rushing yards and the league's best rushing yards per game from Week 10 on.

Playcall

OC Bobby Slowik, promoted in February, runs the offense while Jeff Hafley handles the defense. Slowik comes off the Shanahan tree: outside-zone base, heavier 12-personnel, play-action off the run. He is on record as run-first, and his Houston offense used Joe Mixon as a true workhorse, the template most likely to land on Achane. The read-option layer with Willis is designed-run capital, and it is the one place Achane's carries could get split.

Pass Game

How much Miami feeds the back through the air now rests on Willis, whose career RB-target rate is low and who scrambles instead of checking down. The 2024 version of this offense made Achane the top receiving back in football; the 2025 version, without Tua for stretches, made him the 118th. The route volume is there if the quarterback uses it.

Scheme Fit

Outside-zone burst fit5.7 YPC and +1.03 RYOE per attempt in a Shanahan-tree scheme that runs outside zone as its base.
Brewer anchors the frontCenter Aaron Brewer posted a 91.5 run-block grade, the best by a center since 2021, and made Second-Team All-Pro.
Slowik wants volumeRun-first OC who fed Joe Mixon a workhorse load in Houston; on record wanting a high run rate.
Guards graded poorlyJonah Savaiinaea was the lowest-graded guard among 79 qualifiers in 2025.
Willis suppresses RB targetsLow career RB-target rate and the league's highest scramble rate point to fewer checkdowns.
Read-option splits carriesWillis averages 6.9 yards per designed run, best among QBs; every keeper is a carry Achane does not get.

Key Variables

  • Does Malik Willis feed the backfield or scramble past it? Achane's receiving EPA swung from 1st to 118th on quarterback context alone.
  • Does the read-option add explosive-play equity, or just split the rushing volume between Achane and Willis?
  • Do defenses stack the box against a run-first offense led by a six-start QB, or does Willis's deep ball keep safeties honest?
  • Can the reworked interior, with Proctor to left guard and Savaiinaea to natural right guard, lift a line that graded 22nd in team rush EPA?

Fantasy Range

Bull

RB1

Receiving role returns near 2024 form, Willis's deep ball thins boxes, and Slowik pushes him past 300 touches.

Base

RB6

Strong rushing production with a muted passing-game role; roughly 250 carries and 50-ish targets.

Bear

RB11

Willis suppresses the checkdowns, defenses load the box, and the receiving line stays near 2025's -10.2 EPA.

Health

An MCL sprain cost six games as a rookie in 2023. He was healthy in 2024, then played 16 of 17 in 2025 before a season-finale shoulder injury that needed offseason surgery. Hafley cleared him for training camp with no restrictions on July 28, so the June minicamp absence is resolved. The standing question is the 781 career touches on a 188-pound frame, and it sharpens if Slowik pushes the workload toward 300.

He has slid from RB6 in July to RB12 at pick 18; take the August camp read on Willis's checkdown usage as the tell, since steady RB targets in preseason make the rushing floor a bargain here while a scramble-heavy Willis leaves him a fairly-priced rushing-only RB1.

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