Dolphins RB Raheem Mostert confident two years after knee injury
It's been no secret that the Miami Dolphins have had their eyes on adding to the running back room this offseason. The team drafted speedy RB De'Von Achane out of Texas A&M in the third round of the 2023 draft. Achane earned first-team All-SEC honors with 1102 rushing yards and 8 rushing touchdowns in 2022 […]
It's been no secret that the Miami Dolphins have had their eyes on adding to the running back room this offseason.
The team drafted speedy RB De'Von Achane out of Texas A&M in the third round of the 2023 draft. Achane earned first-team All-SEC honors with 1102 rushing yards and 8 rushing touchdowns in 2022 for the Aggies. He also served as a sprinter the Aggies' track & field team.
The Dolphins have also reportedly provided an offer to free agent Dalvin Cook, although it seems that possibility is becoming more remote by the day.
Perhaps the hesitation to make a hefty offer to player like Cook could be because of who they have on their roster as camp begins. And there's one particular player who could be lining up for a big season.
Raheem Mostert came to Miami in 2022 after suffering cartilage damage to his knee in early 2021 that kept him out for the entire season. According to Mostert this week, recovery from that injury wasn't just physical, but also mental.
When you come back from an injury, the first couple of months is, you know, it's almost a mental game. And that was the case for me, I was in a little bit of a slump, because I didn't know if I was going to reinjure it, if the game was going to be a different pace than I'm anticipating or you know, normal to, but once you start getting that groove and feeling yourself, I mean, you see, towards the end of the year, I was starting to gain gained more confidence.
Even Coach Stoops even mentioned that too. So a lot of errors I was making early on, and now I started honing in on my craft a little bit more, feeling more comfortable. And then it was it was time to go.
But, like you said, coming into year two is definitely a little bit easier. Especially the fact that I'm not thinking about the knee. My focus now is solely on improving my game, and how can I be elite at the top, upper echelon of the running back game. So that's my main focus now. – Raheem Mostert via Miami Dolphins' YouTube channel
Mostert's recent injury history is hard to completely disregard. He missed half of 2020 and basically all of 2021 in San Francisco with ankle and knee issues. Injuries are as much about bad luck as anything, but some players seem to be more prone to injuries than others, for whatever reason.
However, let's not forget that when Mostert was healthy in 2020, he was one of the fastest players in the NFL. Entering the 2022 season, he and fellow Dolphin Tyreek Hill were the only two players in the NFL to break 23 mph with the ball in their hands over the previous six years. His speed is simply undeniable.
Mostert didn't even have a bad season in 2022. He led the Dolphins in rushing with 891 yards on 181 carries, good for a healthy 4.9 yards per carry average. And he did it, it seems, with a mind towards his knee that he injured in 2021. And he did it with an offensive line that struggled over various parts of the season. And he did it with a head coach and play caller who, far too often, abandoned the run too early.
Now, back again with the Dolphins on a one-year deal, Mostert will look to prove his words to be true. That his knee issue is indeed behind him and that he's ready to prove again that he's one of the fastest players in the league.
If Mike McDaniel's commitment to the ground game is there, and Mostert can stay on the field, then he could become Miami's first 1000-yard rusher since 2016, when Jay Ajayi went for 1272 yards.
And Miami could find itself in position to progress well beyond merely making the playoffs.
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When judging a team’s season, it’s often pretty cut and dry. Either a team won enough to be labeled as a success or it fell shy of its preseason expectations. However, when assessing the Miami Dolphins’ 2022 campaign, it requires a bit of nuance. Sure, the Dolphins lost six of its last seven games, including […]
Featured image via Jasen Vinlove-USA TODAY Sports
