Miami Dolphins Lamar Miller Quietly Getting The Job Done

You won’t find the Miami Dolphins Lamar Miller on any top ten fantasy lists. You won’t find him on any top ten workhorse running backs list either. You will find him quietly doing whatever it takes to keep the Dolphins competing each week. And he does it quietly.

Currently Miller is listed as the 14th ranked running back in yards but consider he has only 81 carries compared to 19 other running backs in the league. In other words, Miller makes the most of his opportunities. When looking at yards per carry there is no question that Miller has done a great job. Miller averages 4.8 yards per carry which is better than eight other runners ahead of him yards. Miller has 391. Miller also has four runs of 20 plus yards on the season which is the 5th highest in the league.

Miller has also contributed in the passing game receiving 17 balls for 117 yards and one touchdown.

Last weekend Miller scored twice but had his second touchdown wiped off the board by a holding penalty. Of all the NFL running backs Miller is one of the most underrated. He is running much stronger with far better vision and he no longer dances in the back-field awaiting holes to open up.

The ideal situation for Miami would have been to see Miller and Knowshon Moreno trade out series keeping both fresh but Moreno’s season ending injury has put Miller front and center and it seems as though he has learned a thing or two from the elder veteran. Like Moreno Miller seems far more adept to attacking the holes and the defenders than he has in previous years. Throughout this season Miller has become much harder to take down on first contact, in fact Miller has been avoiding going down on second contact as well.

For the Dolphins it couldn’t be better. Ryan Tannehill is running more and the threat of Miller has allowed that to happen, conversely the threat of Tannehill taking off should also help Miller on those read options as well. The Dolphins are looking at a tough schedule ahead of them despite the fact that they face the one win Jacksonville Jaguars on Sunday. The team can ill afford many hiccups along the way so having Miller playing at a high level will serve the team well provided Joe Philbin doesn’t go into a conservative mode that will drive his yardage down.

Regardless as a Miami Dolphins fan it’s refreshing to see the turnaround.