De'Von Achane Camp Update — August 16: Seven Carries and the Only Touchdown
2026 NFL Season · Monday, Aug 17
De'Von Achane took seven carries for thirty-nine yards Friday and scored Miami's only touchdown of the night, finishing the starters' fourteen-play opening march. The June bet was the role and the scheme; both showed up on the first drive.
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De'Von Achane carried seven times for 39 yards in the preseason opener at Washington and scored the Dolphins' only touchdown of the night, capping the 14-play opening march Malik Willis led before the starters sat, per the FOX Sports box score and the commanders.com takeaways. Miami lost the game 20 to seven, but everything after that first possession belonged to the backups.
The June preview's core claim, in football terms: Achane's production is real and repeatable — elite rushing efficiency, +242 rushing yards over expected, fifth among qualified backs, stacked on top of a 67-catch receiving role — and Miami spent the offseason organizing itself around him. The team paid him on a four-year extension, and the new staff under Jeff Hafley and Bobby Slowik is installing a run-first offense. The one thing we flagged as the swing: his ceiling is tied to whether the offense can function at all under Malik Willis, because a speed back on a team that can't stay on schedule is the profile most exposed to bad game script.
This week's evidence was small but pointed the right way. The one drive the real offense played was a seven-minute, on-schedule touchdown march, Achane got the ball seven times on it, and he finished it in the end zone. He sounded like a believer afterward, too, on Willis's legs: "It was also great to see him use his legs and run. It's different when you got a QB that's dual and can make plays," per Mike Florio at Pro Football Talk.
Does the June read hold? CONFIRMED — the role is his, the scheme fed him immediately, and the offense's first live possession worked. One preseason drive says nothing about 17 weeks of game script, but the two things we said to watch, the offense functioning under Willis and Achane's share of the work, both came back positive.
Next week: the carry split with Jaylen Wright, who the beat says has locked down the number two job, and whether the first unit can string together a second functional outing. We'll check next Sunday.
_Data via nflverse._
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