Earlier this week, Dolphins coach Jeff Hafley talked about the workload he has planned for running back De'Von Achane. And Hafley included a number that was eye-popping.
“I just gave Achane a heads-up this morning and I told him you better be in good shape,” Hafley told Rich Eisen. “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. 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.’ 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.'"
After Friday's preseason opener, Hafley made it clear that he was exaggerating.
"I hope everybody realized and listened to the tone in my voice when I said Achane was going to get 40-plus carries," Hafley told reporters. "I guess I just have to be more careful, but sometimes I like to joke around a little bit, too. Some people really believe that, they can believe that."
Whether Achane ever gets to 40 touches in a game (Derrick Henry was the last player to get to 40, with 41 in 2021(, it's clear that Achane will be a major cog in the Miami offense. Against the Commanders, Achane had seven carries in only one drive. He gained 39 yards, an average of 5.6 yards per carry, and he capped a 14-play effort with a one-yard touchdown run.
"Seven carries is a really good job, I was proud of him and I was proud of the O-Line for the way that they blocked," Hafley said of Achane's performance.
While Achane's workload in a single drive in a preseason game may not be indicative of a normal drive in a regular-season games, the touches will add up quickly if he's getting 5-7 touches in any given drive.
In 2003, Dolphins running back Ricky Williams led the league with 27.6 touches per game, for a total of 442. Since then, only Chiefs running back Larry Johnson (457 in 2006) and Cowboys running back DeMarco Murray (449 in 2014) have had more. After the season expanded to 17 games, only 49ers running back Christian McCaffrey (413 in 2025) has had more than 400 in a single year.
That's 24.29 per game for McCaffrey last year. An average of 27 touches per game would break Larry Johnson's single-season record from 20 years ago.
So even if Achane never hits 40 in a single game, he could be on track to have the most touches in one season that any NFL player has ever had.
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