2 Dolphins first-stringers in danger of losing starting jobs ahead of 2024 NFL season

The Miami Dolphins added to their identity in 2023 — for both good and bad. Miami emerged as one of the most unique offenses in the NFL. Their scheme is unlike anyone else’s and is tailored to their personnel in very inventive ways. The Dolphins boast one of the best rushing attacks in the league and have speed, speed, speed that is hard for opposing defenses to deal with.

However, they also developed a reputation for being soft in cold-weather games — particularly their Wild Ward playoff game against the Kansas City Chiefs.

That by itself is plenty of motivation for the Dolphins to surprise the national media later in the season. Thankfully, the Dolphins have made a ton of additions to the roster that give them a better chance to succeed in January.

However, not everyone from 2023’s Miami Dolphins will continue to have the same role in 2024. This is especially true with a handful of starters who could lose their jobs at some point in the 2024 season.

Let’s explore two Dolphins first-stringers who could lose their places in the starting lineup sooner than you might expect.

De’Von Achane is primed to take over Miami’s backfield from Raheem Mostert

Veteran Raheem Mostert has been the lead back in Miami for a couple of years now. However, rookie De’Von Achane seriously ate into Mostert’s production in 2023.

The pair of running backs exploded in production in 2023. Mostert ran for 1,012 yards and 18 touchdowns while Achane added 800 yards and eight touchdowns. Those volume stats are great in and of themselves, but it becomes even more impressive when you look at basic efficiency stats.

Mostert averaged 4.8 yards per carry and Achane had a whopping 7.8 yards per carry. That is an absurd average, especially for a rookie running back who had 103 carries. He maintained that efficiency in a large sample size. This suggests that a change could soon be coming to Miami’s backfield.

Mostert is now 32 years old, which is quite old by modern NFL standards — especially for a running back. Conventional wisdom would suggest that now is the right time to phase Mostert out of the starting lineup in favor of Achane.

Mostert’s contract situation could also influence this decision. He is under contract for this season and has a potential out on the final year of his contract in 2025.

Rookie Jaylen Wright should figure into this decision as well. Wright and Achane appear to be the future of Miami’s backfield whereas Mostert and (to a lesser extent) Jeff Wilson Jr. are the past.

The Dolphins operate a running-back-by-committee approach, so Achane winning the starting job would not mean that Mostert is completely done. Instead, he would probably become the RB2 and steal some snaps from Achane — similar to 2023 but with their carry totals swapped.

Either way, the Dolphins should repeat as one of the league’s best rushing offenses in 2024.

When will Patrick Paul take over for Terron Armstead? 

This next one also has to do with one player on an age cliff. Terron Armstead is still an incredible left tackle in the NFL. However, he is a 33-year-old with a massive contract and a history that is riddled with injuries.

Armstead’s contract, mixed with his age and injury history, suggest that the end could soon come for him. His contract only features a $10.5 million cap hit in 2024, which jumps up to roughly $22 million in 2025 and 2026.

His dead cap number does fall each year but not enough to make it painless to move on from Armstead. Meanwhile, Armstead will continue to get older and become one injury away from his NFL career coming into serious question.

All of that leads us to Patrick Paul. The Dolphins drafted Patrick Paul in the second round of the 2024 NFL Draft. It appears that the goal for this pick is to get someone in the building who can learn behind Terron Armstead and eventually step in as his successor. The question then becomes — when does it happen?

Miami seems to be clearly telling us that they don’t want to have Paul step in right away during his rookie season. Armstead’s contract tells us that much. However, they may not be given much choice.

Any injury to Armstead — be it in a preseason game, practice, or regular-season game — could thrust Patrick Paul into action immediately.