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Lamar Miller led the Miami Dolphins with 709 rushing yards last season, but his role was inconsistent for a team that fairly inexplicably had the fourth-fewest rushing attempts in the league (349: 21.8 per game). A new offensive coordinator (Bill Lazor) should bring a more balanced and faster paced offense this year, but the Dolphins also signed Knowshon Moreno to create a potential running back by committee that could frustrate fantasy football owners.
Moreno showed up to offseason work out of shape, and he underwent knee surgery in late June that sidelined him for the start of training camp. All indications are Miller has made the most of his opportunity to work with the first-team offense, even though the results through two preseason games have not been great.
Miller did well with more work last season, averaging 4.7 yards per carry over the seven games he had at least 11 carries. Even if Moreno gets back to full strength, and presumably has a fairly prominent role, Miller should see a fair amount of work as at minimum an early-down back.
Miller is worth drafting as a RB3 right now, with an average draft position in the eighth round that reflects that. It’s unclear what his role will be in the passing game or around the goal line, but Miller is likely to lose some touches to Moreno in those two areas if the latter is ready for Week 1 and stays healthy all season. That said, I’m buying into Miller’s overall potential and I think he can push Moreno into a background role fairly quickly if he is given the chance to be a workhorse.
Brad Berreman is a Senior Writer at Rant Sports.com. Follow him on Twitter or connect on Google +.
