Mostert Miffed at All-Pro Snub; Achane on All-Rookie Team
Raheem Mostert accomplished a goal when he was named to the AFC Pro Bowl roster a few weeks back, but he came up just short of the additional goal of being named an AP All-Pro.
And the Miami Dolphins running back isn't shy about expressing his disappointment about not making the cut.
The AP All-Pro selections feature one running back on the first team and one on the second team based on the voting results of 50 voters, who ranked their top two choices.
Christian McCaffrey of the San Francisco 49ers was the unanimous first-team selection with all 50 first-place votes, and Kyren Williams of the L.A. Rams beat out Mostert for second-team honors with a 26-21 advantage in second-place votes. Breece Hall of the New York Jets got two votes and Derrick Henry of the Tennessee Titans got one.
Mostert addressed what he perceived as an All-Pro snub on his podcast, Relentlessly Motivated with Raheem Mostert, first showing the phrase All-Pro on his phone.
"That's what I wanted to do," he said. "I wanted to be an All-Pro. That was important to me and unfortunately I didn't get that. I don't understand why I didn't. I didn't even get second-team All-Pro, which is mind-boggling because I had 21 touchdowns and over 1,000 yards rushing. I was a little frustrated when I found out that I didn't even make second team. Kudos to Kyren Williams. I know that he's a stud. I've seen him play not in person but from afar. He's goo, as advertised. I felt like I was an All-Pro in regards to the running back position."
DOES MOSTERT HAVE A LEGITIMATE ALL-PRO GRIPE?
Mostert did have reason to think his performance deserved All-Pro recognition considering he tied McCaffrey for the NFL lead with 21 overall touchdowns, to go along with his 1,012 rushing yards and 1,187 yards from scrimmage.
Williams rushed for 1,144 yards, had 1,350 yards from scrimmage and 14 total touchdowns.
Where Williams has the advantage is that he compiled his stats iin 12 games, while Mostert played 15 games. And one also could argue that Williams was more important to the Rams running game after accounting for 55.9 percent of the team's rushing yardage (2045) compared to 43.8 percent for Mostert.
The truth is both players were deserving and Mostert certainly has every right to be disappointed, but we'd stop short of saying the selection of Williams over him was mind-boggling.
ACHANE AND THE ALL-ROOKIE TEAMS
Mostert's Dolphins backfield partner, De'Von Achane, also dealt with some disappointment when he was bypassed on the Pro Football Writers of America All-Rookie team despite being a worthy candidate.
The two running backs on the All-Rookie team were Jahmyr Gibbs of the Detroit Lions and Bijan Robinson of the Atlanta Falcons, who were the two running backs selected in the first round of the 2023 NFL draft.
Achane, who the Dolphins took in the third round, set an NFL record with his 7.8-yard rushing average while finishing with 800 yards. Achane ended up with 997 yards from scrimmage with 11 touchdowns; Robinson had 1,463 total yards and eight TDs; Gibbs had 1,261 total yards and 11 TDs.
Achane did get All-Rookie recognition from The Athletic, earning a spot at running back alongside Gibbs.
