MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. – The NFL announced that Miami Dolphins running back De’Von Achane has been named AFC Offensive Player of the Week for his performance in Sunday’s win vs. Denver.
It’s Achane’s first AFC Offensive Player of the Week honor and he becomes the first Dolphins running back to win the award since Jay Ajayi did so three times during the 2016 season.
Achane had a record-setting performance in Miami’s historic victory over Denver. The running back 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. It was the most yards by an NFL player in his first or second career game since the AFL-NFL merger in 1970. Achane totaled four touchdowns – two rushing and two receiving – tying another team record. He and running back Raheem 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 was part of an offense that set team records for points (70), total yards (726) and rushing yards (350) in the win. Miami’s 70 points were the most by an NFL team since 1966 and the 726 total yards were the second-most in league history.
Achane is the first Dolphins rookie since Olivier Vernon in 2012 to win an AFC Player of the Week award. Vernon earned AFC Special Teams Player of the Week honors in Week 8 of the 2012 season at the N.Y. Jets. The last Dolphins rookie to win an AFC Offensive Player of the Week award was Karim Abdul-Jabbar, who was named AFC Offensive Player of the Week after his first career game in Week 1 of the 1996 season vs. New England.
This is the second AFC Offensive Player of the Week award for the Dolphins this season after quarterback Tua Tagovailoa earned the honor in Week 1 at the L.A. Chargers. The last time the Dolphins won two AFC Offensive Player of the Week Awards in a three-week span was in 2016, when quarterback Matt Moore earned the honor in Week 15 at the N.Y. Jets and Ajayi won the award in Week 16 at Buffalo.
