Ollie Gordon II is not new to success.
In 2023, the then-Oklahoma State sophomore received the Doak Walker Award that honors the best running back in collegiate football after rushing for an FBS-leading 1,732 yards and 21 touchdowns.
So after three games as the Miami Dolphins’ lead running back following a season-ending knee injury to De’Von Achane, it’s no surprise that Gordon feels like he’s back in Stillwater, Oklahoma.
“Yeah, yeah,” Gordon told the Miami Herald. “The more and more you see, the more it slows down, the more it’s easygoing and the more you’re able to figure out what’s going on.”
Although not a single player could fill Achane’s shoes, Gordon has done an admirable job. He has rushed for 229 yards and three touchdowns on 44 carries since his backfield mate’s devastating injury. Gordon’s 5 yards per carriy ranks eighth among running backs, beating out elite guys such as the Detroit Lions’ Jahmyr Gibbs (4.8) and the San Francisco 49ers’ Christian McCaffrey (4.7).
In fact, Gordon has played so well that it wouldn’t be a surprise if he forced the hand of coach Jeff Hafley to abandon his running back-by-committee approach.
“I am extremely proud of how Ollie has played, how hard he’s run, and the job that he’s done, and I think he’s taken a big step in his career,” Hafley said after Gordon rushed for 88 yards and a touchdown against the Cincinnati Bengals. “We’re going to need him to continue to do that.”
Gordon’s performance has come as no surprise to second-year safety Dante Trader Jr. The two are close and could always be seen joking around in the locker room as rookies. This year, however, both have taken a different tone with their increased playing time.
“He doesn’t change,” Trader said of Gordon. “He’s consistent. When you don’t change outside of football, you’re not going to change in football. His process, whatever he does, from off the field to on the field is going to stay. He’s a gamer, man. Like, he shows up on game days when his number is called with the little reps or the most reps he has. Every game you see him, whatever he tries to do, he just tries to maximize opportunity.”
And while Gordon has had some impressive rushes, his best moment came on the sidelines in the third quarter of the 31-24 loss to the Bengals. Gordon had just run for 13 yards to get the Dolphins to the 1-yard line.
Then Miami proceeded to lose 10 yards and had to settle for a field goal.
Subsequent video footage would capture Gordon seemingly yelling at his teammates, expressing his displeasure with their failure to score a touchdown. The moment, as the second-year running back described, was nothing more than a passionate plea for his guys to be better.
“I feel like it’s huge because when we get into that situation, we got to find the end zone,” Gordon said. “I know how good this team is, how good we are and how good we can be. I got to be more of leader in that situation. Seven is better than three so we need to work together and figure out how we can be better.”
With Hafley unwavering in his desire to be a run-first offense, Gordon’s contributions will be even more necessary during the next 12 games. The offensive line certainly deserves a lot of credit — the Dolphins did rush for 217 yards as a team vs. the Bengals, their best total under Hafley — and the interior of the offensive line, led by center Aaron Brewer, should only get better as the season continues. That would help Gordon tremendously down the stretch.
“The more reps you get, the more comfortable you get,” Brewer said. “You see a lot of his runs are coming downhill. He hits it and is going right now. So with Ollie, he’s that type of back. He’s a power back and he’s explosive at the same time. So when he hits the hole, he creates that separation, makes that explosive play and can run through arm tackles and make good plays.”
Miami Herald
C. Isaiah Smalls II is a sports and culture writer who covers the Miami Dolphins. In his previous capacity at the Miami Herald, he was the race and culture reporter who created The 44 Percent, a newsletter dedicated to the Black men who voted to incorporate the city of Miami. A graduate of both Morehouse College and Columbia Graduate School of Journalism, Smalls previously worked for ESPN’s Andscape.