All Angles of Achane's AFC Honor

There really wasn't any doubt, was there, that Miami Dolphins rookie running back De'Von Achane would be named AFC Offensive Player of the Week on Wednesday?

The formality became official when Achane was recognized for his performance in the Dolphins' 70-20 victory against the Denver Broncos in Week 3 when the other contenders for the award probably were teammates Raheem Mostert, Tyreek Hill and Tua Tagovailoa, who all put up big numbers when Miami set a franchise scoring record.

Achane got the nod after rushing for 203 yards and scoring four touchdowns, the last coming on a 67-yard run in the fourth quarter.

The third-round pick from Texas A&M not only set a Dolphins single-game rookie record with his 203 yards, it also was the highest total ever by any NFL back in his first or second career game.

Achane broke Miami’s single-game rushing record by a rookie with 203 yards on 18 carries (11.3 avg.). The 203 rushing yards were tied for the seventh-most in a game in franchise history. Achane totaled four touchdowns – two rushing and two receiving – tying another team record. He and Mostert became the second pair of teammates in NFL history to each have four touchdowns in a game, joining Kansas City running backs Priest Holmes and Derrick Blaylock, who did so on Oct. 24, 2004 vs. Atlanta.

ACHANE FOLLOWS AJAYI, ABDUL-JABBAR

Achane became the first Dolphins running back to be named AFC Offensive Player of the Week since Jay Ajayi was recognized three times during the 2016 season, which also was the last time the Dolphins had more than one AFC Offensive Player of the Week winner in a season.

Of course, Tua was honored for his performance in Week 1 against the L.A. Chargers.

Achane also is the first Dolphins rookie running back to be named AFC POW since 1996 when Karim Abdul-Jabbar won the award. The last rookie at any position to win the award for the Dolphins had been defensive end Olivier Vernon, who won for special teams in 2012.

For one last statistical note, this marks the first time since 1999 the Dolphins have won an AFC Player of the Week award twice in the first three weeks of a season. That year, QB Dan Marino won on offense for Week 1 and CB Sam Madison won for defense in Week 2.

The last time the Dolphins had two Offensive Player of the Week awards in a three-week span at any point in a season was in 2016 with QB Matt Moore in Week 15 and Ajayi in Week 16.

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