Miami’s Mark Fletcher Jr. has been as good as advertised and this stat backs it up

Miami’s 2024 offense, with Cam Ward, Xavier Restrepo, and the most explosive passing game in the country, was ostensibly all about the aerial attack. But the bones of a Mario Cristobal-led program were still in place with an elite offensive line and efficient running game. 

Now, in 2025, with Miami at No. 3 in the country heading into a matchup with No. 18 Florida State in Tallahassee, that identity is showing through even more. The Hurricanes dominate in the trenches, and having the running back to take advantage of the running lanes the offensive line creates. 

Mark Fletcher Jr. has stepped into the lion’s share of the carries with Damien Martinez heading off to the NFL, and the 6-foot-2, 225-pound junior has been one of the best call-carriers in the country. PFF agrees, grading Fletcher as the best running back in the ACC this season.

The run game has always been the key to Miami's offense

The Miami offense was a fireworks show every week last season, finishing in the 96th percentile for explosive play rate and 97th for explosive pass rate. This season, with Carson Beck at the controls, they’ve dialed back on the pyrotechnics. In fact, heads into Week 6 with an 11th percentile explosive play rate of 6.5 percent.

Yet, on a down-to-down basis, Beck and Fletcher have kept Miami on track, ranking 4th in the country in offensive success rate and 95th percentile in non-explosive EPA/play. Much of that is a credit for Fletcher’s efficiency, generating 0.26 EPA/rush with a 49 percent success rate, and his physicality, averaging 3.80 yards after contact per carry. 

It’s fair to take PFF grades with a grain of salt, but in this case, the raw statistics back up Fletcher’s grade. It helps to have one of the best offensive lines in the country, but PFF’s grading system looks to strip away those external factors to evaluate a player’s performance beyond the statistics, and again, Fletcher holds up under the scrutiny of that eye test. 

In a limited role behind Martinez, Fletcher was the more efficient back last season. He bested his counterpart in success rate and EPA/carry, while toting the rock 43 fewer times. For many running backs, it’s easier to be efficient as the secondary option in a backfield time share, but Fletcher has hardly seen a drop off after being elevated to the No. 1 role, and has the frame to withstand a heavy workload. 

Miami may find itself in a shootout with Florida State in Week 6, and Fletcher, not Beck, will likely be the key to keeping pace. Last week, in its upset 46-38 win over the Seminoles, Virginia managed 0.41 EPA/rush, a 96th percentile performance.