How much better the Miami Dolphins running game in 2023 is amazing!

It has been a few years since the Miami Dolphins have fielded a more-than-respectable ground attack. This season, the current AFC East leaders have complimented quarterback Tua Tagovailoa and wide receivers Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle with the league’s second-ranked running game.

That is not a typo. Only the Baltimore Ravens (158.6) have rushed for more yards per outing than Mike McDaniel’s attack. The Dolphins are churning out 143.3 yards per game on the ground. Those numbers are even more impressive when you consider how this aspect of the offense has been subpar for far too long.

The last time Miami ran for more than 100 yards per game was 2020 at 105.5 yards per outing. This season, that aforementioned average per game comes courtesy of 1,720 yards. That means the Dolphins have already totaled more rushing yards than all of last season (l1,686), it’s the highest total by the team since they accumulated 1,738 yards on the ground in 2018. Of course, that was in 16 games and this year’s club has only played 12 games to date.

Veteran Raheem Mostert (828) and rookie De’Von Achane (534) have combined for 1,362 yards, to go along with 21 rushing touchdowns. The former is 172 yards from becoming the team’s first 1,000-yard runner since Jay Ajayi in 2016.

Meanwhile, there's still a chance that the Dolphins could lead the league in rushing for the first time since the perfect 17-0 Dolphins achieved that feat in 1972. This is a very balanced offense that can obviously beat you a lot of different ways, and keeping defenses on their toes has been invaluable to Tagovailoa and the league’s top-ranked passing attack. In a dozen games, the Dolphins have 22 rushing touchdowns and scored through the air 25 times.

With the playoffs on the horizon, Miami’s ground game figures to play an even bigger role down the stretch as the club looks to secure a second straight postseason invitation.