Mostert dishes on Dolphins offense that is ‘going to wreak havoc.’ And Baker on Fangio

When a reflective Mike McDaniel said recently that he “just didn’t call enough runs” last season, that wasn’t a message that he shared merely with reporters.

The Dolphins coach also made that admission to Raheem Mostert, the team’s leading rusher last season.

“I had a talk with him during exit interviews at the end of the season,” Mostert said in a Zoom session with reporters on Tuesday, as the team continued its offseason team activities.

“One thing he was very apologetic about was we didn’t run enough, and he was going to do his best to change that in coming years. Talk like that gets me fired up even more.”

Only Tampa Bay ran less than Miami last season.

Even though the Dolphins’ 4.3 average yards per carry was slightly below average (18th in the league), Mostert and Jeff Wilson Jr. tied for 11th among all qualifying backs in per-carry average at 4.9, factoring in Wilson’s carries with the 49ers before his midseason trade to Miami.

Mostert averaged 3.52 yards after contact, sixth best among all NFL running backs.

“We didn’t run the ball well not because they didn’t run the ball well,” McDaniel, who called the offensive plays in his first season as coach, said earlier this offseason. “We didn’t run the ball well in games that we were overly injured, or some games I just didn’t call enough runs.”

The Dolphins’ 2023 running back room — which features all four of their 2022 backs (Mostert, Wilson, Salvon Ahmed and Myles Gaskin) — became more crowded Friday when the Dolphins selected Texas A&M speedster Davon Achane 84th overall.

Mostert said McDaniel did not tell him the Dolphins might draft a running back and hasn’t mentioned anything about it since the draft. But Mostert seemed unbothered by it. Instead, he cheerfully embraced the idea of mentoring the rookie.

“It’s going to be fun playing with him,” Mostert said. “Getting a young guy in there to help out in this offense and teach him… what it’s like to be a pro and utilize [him to] help us win games, that’s the ultimate goal. He needs some guidance and I’m willing… to do it.”

Asked to explain his giving spirit and willingness to help a player competing with him and others for playing time, Mostert said: “I didn’t have much guidance in college, didn’t have a role model I could look up to.” He said Darren Sproles became that mentor type for him in the NFL.

Achane reached a top speed of 24.42 mph on his 40-yard dash at the NFL Combine, which was second-fastest among 208 players in Indianapolis. His addition makes the league’s fastest offense even speedier.

Mostert said this Dolphins offense is “going to wreak havoc throughout the whole NFL. It’s pretty much a 4-by-1 [relay] team.”

Mostert missed the playoff game in Buffalo because of a broken thumb sustained in the regular season finale. He revealed Monday that he could not have played even if the Dolphins had advanced to the AFC semifinals.

“I talked to five different doctors; all said my season was over,” he said, noting that the injury has fully healed.

He said re-signing with Miami was appealing partly because “I planted my roots here. One of the biggest things for me is family. [And] it’s a great time to be a Dolphin.”

Though Mostert and Wilson have no guaranteed money in the second year of their new two-year contracts, Mostert said getting a two-year deal “definitely pleased me.”

Mostert was pleased that the Dolphins also re-signed Wilson, his former teammate in San Francisco. “That’s the most exciting thing,” Mostert said.

Nobody on the Dolphins knows McDaniel better than Mostert, who spent five seasons with him in San Francisco and the past year in Miami.

He said McDaniel, in his second year as a head coach, is “going to start making some moves that will shock the world. It is not going to be shocking to me because I know what he can do.”

Mostert, who has a sterling 5.4 rushing average on 465 career carries, took a moment to reflect on a career that didn’t take off until he joined his fifth team (the 49ers):

“I’m going into year nine,” he said. “There are not many guys who can say they’re going into year nine. I want to be a gold jacket [Pro Football Hall of Fame] member. I know it’s a long shot.”

DEFENSIVE DIFFERENCES

Linebacker Jerome Baker indicated there’s a significant difference between new defensive coordinator Vic Fangio’s system and the Dolphins scheme used the past four years by former Patriots assistants Brian Flores and then Josh Boyer, who was dismissed after this past season.

Fangio’s defense “gives us a chance to disguise and make plays,” Baker said. “There were a lot of rules [in the Flores/Boyer defense]: ‘This is what it has to be. This matchup has to be this matchup.’ There was no talking with the guys [to change plays].

“This defense is players figure it out. There are no set rules on how far to drop. There’s a lot more freedom. It gives me some freedom to go out there and play ball.”

He said Fangio is “not going to sugarcoat” what he expects from players.

After playing primarily alongside Elandon Roberts the past three seasons, Baker now has a new inside linebacker partner in former Tennessee Titan David Long.

“He’s very similar to me with body type and how he plays the game,” Baker said.

▪ The Dolphins added a 21st undrafted rookie, agreeing to terms with Cincinnati left tackle James Tunstall. The team hasn’t announced its undrafted rookie signings. The 21 players signed and several others on “auditions” will participate in the team’s rookie minicamp beginning May 12.