De'Von Achane is lining up for a workload that sounds almost unreal in today’s NFL, and the Dolphins are making no secret about it. Miami’s offense has been torn down and rebuilt around a new quarterback, Malik Willis, and a wave of young pass-catchers, which leaves Achane as the clearest returning weapon in the room.
That matters because the Dolphins may not be trying to hide what they want to do. New coach Jeff Hafley spent a Monday appearance with Rich Eisen painting a picture of a back who could be asked to carry the offense in a very literal sense.
"I just gave Achane a heads-up this morning and I told him, 'You better be in good shape,'" Hafley said. "I told him there might be some games when I have to pick him up and carry him back to the locker room because he's going to be so tired."
Hafley doubled down when talking about how often he wants his star back involved.
"I told him I don't ever want to see one of these head taps all year, and he looked me right in the eye and he said, 'You'll never get that head tap from me,'" Hafley said. "I said, 'Don't worry buddy. After you touch the ball 40-45 times, I might have to pick you up and carry you back into the locker room.'"
That kind of usage would put Achane in rare company. In the last 10 years, only four players have reached at least 40 touches in a game: Le'Veon Bell with 42 in 2016, David Johnson with 41 in 2016, Ezekiel Elliott with 40 in 2018, and Derrick Henry with 41 in 2021. With the league leaning so heavily toward committee backfields, that number has become almost mythical.
Hafley clearly believes Achane can handle it.
"He's really a smart football player and it's fun to go back and forth with him and he's got this fun energy about him," Hafley said. "I think he's a stud."
The bigger picture is even more striking. If Achane were to average 29 touches per game, he’d finish with 493, which would break the NFL’s single-season record for touches, a mark that has stood since 1984.
James Wilder owns that standard with 492 for the Buccaneers that year. The only other players to reach 450 touches in a season are Larry Johnson, Eddie George, LaDainian Tomlinson and Edgerrin James.
Achane has already shown he can handle a heavy load. In 2025, he had eight games with at least 20 touches, and his most touches in a game came in 2024, when he reached 29. Even a smaller jump would put him in rare territory; at 27 touches per game, he’d vault to No. 2 on the all-time season list behind Wilder.
The Dolphins’ coaching setup also hints at where this is headed. Hafley came to Miami from Green Bay, where the Packers were one of five teams last season to run the ball more than they threw it. New offensive coordinator Bobby Slowik brings his own ideas, but it would be a surprise if the plan doesn’t keep funneling touches toward Achane.
Miami’s belief in him has already been backed up with money. The Dolphins gave Achane a four-year, $64 million extension in May, and new general manager Jon-Eric Sullivan made the team’s view plain earlier this offseason.
"Achane is a very, very, very important piece of what we're going to do moving forward," Sullivan said earlier this offseason. "He's a building block for us."
For now, the setup is simple: a rebuilt Dolphins offense, a back with elite speed, and a coaching staff that sounds eager to keep handing him the ball. That’s the kind of recipe that could make Achane one of the most heavily used players in the league - and maybe put a 1984 record in play.
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