All the talk about the Miami Dolphins has centered around wide receiver Tyreek Hill and his efforts to become the first player in NFL history to surpass 2,000 receiving yards.
While Hill sat out Sunday with an ankle injury, Dolphins running back Raheem Mostert proceeded to enhance his profile as one of Hill’s primary competitors for the NFL’s Offensive Player of the Year award.
Raheem Mostert ran for two first-half touchdowns against the New York Jets to give him a league-leading 20 for the season, breaking the Dolphins’ single-season record for touchdowns, previously held by Mark Clayton (1984). He also has 18 rushing touchdowns, eclipsing Ricky Williams’ franchise record of 16 set in 2002.
Raheem Mostert’s 18 rushing touchdowns also tie LeGarrette Blount (2016) for the third-most by an undrafted player in the common draft era, trailing only Priest Holmes (27 in 2003 and 21 in 2002).
Overall, he’s scored three more touchdowns in 2023 than the next closest competitor, the 49ers’ Christian McCaffrey. He entered Sunday’s game with a career-best 924 rushing yards and trails only McCaffrey in that category.
No one would question Hill’s status as the most explosive player in the NFL, but Raheem Mostert is pretty close. According the NFL’s NextGen stats, the 31-year-old former track sprinter has posted one of the top 10 fastest runs of the season, with a 43-yard TD run in Week 2 in which he traveled 21.62 mph.
With Hill’s pursuit of 2,000 on hold Sunday, Mostert continues to put up numbers and prove his value to the Dolphins’ offense. He’s also one of the NFL’s most unlikely success stories.
Raheem Mostert came out of nowhere
Raheem Mostert, who played college football at Purdue, went undrafted in 2015, but he was signed initially as a kick returner and assigned to the Philadelphia Eagles’ practice squad.
Mostert then bounced around from one practice squad to another, going from Miami to Baltimore to Cleveland to Chicago to finally the San Francisco 49ers, who gave Mostert his first real opportunity as a running back in 2017.
He became the 49ers’ featured back from 2018-20, and had his best season in 2019, with 772 yards and eight touchdowns. But he struggled with injuries and was on and off the injured reserve list for much of 2020. Then, in the 2021 season opener against Detroit, he suffered a knee injury that kept him out for the rest of the season.
After former 49ers offensive coordinator Mike McDaniel got the head coaching job in Miami, Mostert joined the Dolphins on a one-year deal. Playing in nearly every game, he finished the 2022 season with a career-high 891 yards and five total touchdowns before suffering a broken thumb that kept him out of the Dolphins’ playoff game against Buffalo.
Since signing a two-year, $5.6 million contract extension in the offseason, Mostert has been better than ever and is well on his way to surpassing the 1,000-yard rushing mark for the first time in his career.
Even though Hill is the favorite for the NFL’s Offensive Player of the Year award, Mostert will likely finish second or third, depending on how voters compare his and McCaffrey’s seasons. Either way, it’ll be hard to ignore someone with 20-plus touchdowns.
,