2015 Dolphins grades: Lamar Miller

Miami Dolphins running back Lamar Miller entered 2015 as the workhorse runner but the Dolphins abandoned the run throughout the season and Miller’s stats suffered. His frustrations will likely lead him to a new team in 2016.

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Lamar Miller – Running back

2016 salary – impending free agent

Lamar Miller, despite being misused all season, still graded out well in 2015. In fact ProFootballFocus.com ranked running back as the number four back in the entire league with an 85.6 overall grade. Miller was superb in the passing game, an area that he has improved upon in his time with the Dolphins. Another area that say a lot of improvement was in his pass blocking.

Overall, Miller was far more involved in the passing game in 2015 taking 398 snaps compared to just 249 running plays. Miller rushed for just under 900 yards on 194 snaps for a very solid 4.5 yard per carry average. It’s that YPC that will get Miller a lot of looks as a free agent. His eight touchdowns could have been higher but the Dolphins shifted away from Miller in the red-zone.

While Miller doesn’t have elite speed, he doesn’t need to. He is a very well rounded running back with good vision who is both physical at the point of contact and elusive. He is neither great at either but is good at both and that is what will drive his stock up this off-season.

There is no reason to believe that he will re-sign with the Dolphins as Miami has a lot of needs in other areas and Miller is more of a luxury given the recent NFL change in paying running backs. Miller will hit the free agent market as one of the top two runners in the free agent period.

2015 grade: A

Why an “A”?

When Miller was given the ball he was effective even with a poor blocking offensive line. The lack of touches was not his fault and the use of Miller throughout the game was extremely questionable. Again, not any fault of his own. Miller is a running back that gets much better as the game progresses but the Dolphins inability to maintain consistent balance between the run and the pass made Miller far less valuable this past season. Based on his performance in all areas of the offense, Miller played as well if not a little better than the previous season when he rushed for over 1,000 yards.