Top 25 Miami Dolphins players countdown: No. 22 is Raheem Mostert
This is The Palm Beach Post's Top 25 countdown of Dolphins players entering the 2022 season. We'll reveal multiple players each week throughout the summer, as ranked by our reporters using a simple criterion: Who's the better player right now?
In the past 50 years, no NFL running back with a minimum of 200 carries has averaged more yards per carry than Raheem Mostert of the Dolphins.
No. NFL. Running back.
Mostert, averaging 5.67 yards on 284 career carries, is incredibly effective when he's healthy and lining up in an NFL backfield.
"Speed kills," says Dolphins first-year offensive tackle Terron Armstead.
And Mostert, when available, is as fast as any running back.
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In 2020, for example, Mostert, playing for the 49ers, hit 23.09 miles per hour on an 80-yard touchdown run. That was the fastest touchdown run among all NFL players, according to NFL's Next Gen Stats.
Mostert also posted the NFL's second-fastest play, on a 76-yard reception.
If you're curious about some of the other players who have averaged 5.2 or more yards per carry since 1971, the list includes Bo Jackson, Jamaal Charles and Jonathan Taylor.
Why we ranked Raheem Mostert 22nd
Mostert flourished playing in San Francisco, where current Dolphins coach Mike McDaniel was a top assistant.
Mostert, 29, has been highly effective in the wide zone scheme Miami plans to use. In 2019, Mostert had his best season, with 772 rushing yards and eight touchdowns, helping the 49ers reach the Super Bowl at Hard Rock Stadium.
"As most people know, my affinity for Raheem is real," McDaniel says. "We’ve had journeys together where, in a related way, we both have been counted out at some point and pretty much earned everything we got."
Mostert, a native of New Smyrna Beach who played at Purdue, began his career as an undrafted player. He even played one game with the Dolphins in 2015, as a rookie.
“It’s just crazy how full circle it can be,” Mostert said. “I always believed in myself."
Where we see Raheem Mostert headed
Mostert played only one game last season due to a knee injury, but he’s on track to play in 2022 and says his recovery from surgery is ahead of schedule.
Mostert has played 59 games in seven NFL seasons, which is an average of only 8.4 games per season. That's why he didn't command a higher salary as a free agent.
In 2019 and '20, when he was San Francisco's top option, Mostert was graded extremely high by Pro Football Focus. In fact, in 2019, Mostert was ranked the fifth-best running back in the NFL.
That is how good he can be.
If fully healthy, Mostert — who ran for 220 yards in an NFL Championship game defeat of San Francisco in January 2020 — is capable of leading Miami in rushing yards. Dolphins coaches cite his intelligence and decisiveness.
At worst, Mostert should be an excellent complement to an improved running back room that also includes proven veterans Chase Edmonds and Sony Michel.
Joe Schad is a journalist at The Palm Beach Post, part of the USA Today Florida Network. You can reach him at jschad@pbpost.com. Help support our journalism. Subscribe today.
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Miami Dolphins Top 25 players summer countdown includes Tua Tagovailoa
