Week 4 vs. Tennessee
In the shutout loss at New England last Thursday, Lamar Miller again led the team’s ground game with 80 yards on 21 carries. He also caught four passes for 27 yards, making him the only Texan to have a decent fantasy performance. In the first three games in a Houston uniform, Lamar has averaged 28 touches and 107 total yards per game, but has yet to score. Keep him in your starting lineup against a Tennessee defense that’s allowing 108 rushing yards per outing.
Week 3 at New England
In the win over the Chiefs last Sunday, Lamar Miller had 25 of the Texans 34 rushing attempts. He finished with 83 yards on the ground and also caught two passes for 14 yards. Even through Lamar only averaged 3.3 yards per carry, with a long rush of eight yards, he is the clear No. 1 RB and will receive plenty of touches. New England's defense let the Dolphins back in the game last week, but stymied the Cardinals offense for much of the game in Week 1. However, Miller should remain part of your starting lineup.
Week 2 vs. Kansas City
Making his regular season debut with Houston, Lamar Miller plowed through the Bears defense for 106 yards on 28 rushes. He is definitely the team’s main weapon out of the backfield, as three other RBs combined for just three carries. The Chiefs allowed Melvin Gordon and the Chargers ground game 155 yards and two running scores, so keep on riding Miller.
Week 1 vs. Chicago
Lamar Miller should get off to a great start in ’16 at home versus a Chicago defense that was spotty last season. Miller had a good preseason and looks to carry that momentum into Week 1. The Texans plan to use a run-first offense, which definitely features their top RB. Be sure Lamar is in your starting lineup.
Fantasy Upside
Lamar Miller is slotted to replace Arian Foster as Houston's workhorse tailback and he's not lacking in confidence. "The Texans are getting a home-run hitter, a guy who can make a play anywhere on the field and a guy who can protect the quarterback," Miller said. The Texans saw that home-run hitter in person last year, when Houston's D couldn't corral Miller in a Week 7 loss. The running back went off for 175 yards on 14 carries, including an 85-yard touchdown run. In addition, Miller, who piled up a combined total of 1,971 rushing yards at a healthy 4.8 yards per clip despite the lighter-than-hoped workload over the past two seasons, enters his fifth year with plenty of tread left on the tires. It's also worth noting this from Profootballfocus.com: Miller had the fifth-highest breakaway percentage (yards from runs over 15 yards) at 35.8 percent. He has also improved his receiving numbers in each of his first four seasons and racked up 397 yards and two touchdowns last season.
Fantasy Downside
The biggest question for Miller is whether he can handle a heavy workload.
2016 Bottom Line
Entering free agency, the soon-to-be 25-year-old tailback insisted he wanted a chance to be a 20 per game game runner. Multiple coaching staffs in Miami deemed Miller's frame too slight for that kind of role, but he'll get every opportunity in Houston to prove those coaches wrong. If he does, Miller will certainly produce at a top-10 level.
Week 17 vs. New England
Lamar Miller finally got some touches last week, but he didn't do much with them. He carried the ball 15 times for 31 yards, although he had some success receiving, finish with 36 yards on five catches.
Miller will face a Patriots defense he struggled against earlier in the season. The Dolphins back had 15 yards on nine carries, although he did score a touchdown. Miller has scored 10 times this season, and has been his saving grace most weeks. He'll be an RB2 play in a decent matchup against the Patriots.
Week 16 vs. Indianapolis
Lamar Miller had his eighth game of the season last week with 10 carries or less. He had nine rushing attempts and finished with just 12 yards. He also added 12 yards on two receptions.
Miller is good when he gets touches, which is almost never. Maybe he'll get some this week in a favorable matchup against the Colts. Indianapolis has given up over 100 yards to backs in each of the last four games, including an average of 141 in the last three. Assuming Miller gets the ball, he should be viewed as a low-end RB1 play this week.
Week 15 vs. San Diego
Lamar Miller had yet another solid performance last week, going for 89 yards and two scores on 12 carries. It'd be nice to see him get more than 12 touches consideration his production, but that's been an issue all season.
He should be able to go off this week in a favorable matchup against San Diego. The Chargers have allowed over 100 yards to backs in every game but three this season. Miller should be viewed as a RB1 this week.
Week 14 vs. New York Giants
Hey, look what happens when you give Lamar Miller the ball! After a Week 12 game where the Dolphins rusher had just five carries, he was given the ball 20 times on the ground and he turned it into 113 yards.
His 20 carries set a new season high for him, and it came after Miami fired its offensive coordinator. He should get plenty of touches of again this week in a favorable matchup against the Giants. New York has allowed over 100 rushing yards to backs in six of its last eight games. Miller should be viewed as an RB1 heading into this matchup.
Lamar Miller - Week 13 vs. Baltimore
Lamar Miller had just eight touches last week, which led to very low production. He's now had six games out of 11 where he's had 10 carries or less this season. Hopefully with offensive coordinator Bill Lazor fired that will change.
Miller can make things happen when he gets the ball, although he could struggle this week. The Ravens defense hasn't allowed many fantasy points to running backs, holding them to under 75 rushing yards in eight games this season.
This week, Miller should be viewed as a strong RB2.
