Lamar Miller - Week 1 vs. Washington
Lamar Miller heads into 2015 with a lot of promise. He had his first career 1,000-yard season in 2014, and reports from training camp so far make it sound like he's ready to do it again.
He'll face a Washington team in Week 1 that didn't allow many points to running backs a year ago. Don't worry too much about it though, considering they still gave up an average of 107.6 rush yards per game. Miller should be viewed as a low RB1 option this week.
Fantasy Upside
Lamar Miller is coming off of an amazing season where he ran for a career-high 1,099 yards and had nine total touchdowns. He also averaged 5.1 yards per carry, which was second-best amongst running backs. Miller comes into the 2015 season as the sole starting running back, unlike last year when he started sharing carries with Knowshon Moreno. The passing game in Miami improved as well, which should help take some pressure off of Miller.
Fantasy Downside
While last season was nice, Miller was never used too heavily. In the 16 games he played in, he never had 20 rushing attempts in a single game. That's partly good because it prevents him from getting hurt, but he'll never be a top five option without getting a lot of attempts.
Bottom Line
Miller is an exciting running back this season considering what he did last year. He's young, productive and in a great situation. He finished in the top 10 amongst his position a year ago, and is likely to do it again. Miller should be viewed as a low-end RB1 heading into 2015.
Lamar Miller - Week 17 vs. New York Jets
The Dolphins finally gave Lamar Miller the ball and he ended up having his best game of the season. I've pointed out multiple times how Miller never had a game with more than 20 touches, but last week he finally surpassed that milestone. He finished with 24 touches for 150 yards and a touchdown.
Expect Miller's numbers to drop a bit this week. He'll face a Jets defense that's been tough, especially lately, against running backs. The Jets have allowed 80 rushing yards or fewer to backs in 11 games this season, including the last four.
Miller should be used as a RB2 this week.
Lamar Miller - Week 16 vs. Minnesota
Lamar Miller had a disappointing effort last week against New England. He carried the ball 16 times for just 47 yards (2.9 YPR) and caught one pass for 10 yards. It's yet another game where Miller finished with fewer than 20 touches.
This week he faces a Vikings defense that allows a lot of yards to backs, but not a lot of touchdowns. Minnesota has only allowed one rushing touchdown to a back in the last five games.
Miller is the type of player who won't score a lot, but he won't disappoint you with a goose egg. He should be viewed as a high-end RB2 in a favorable matchup.
Lamar Miller - Week 15 vs. New England Patriots
Lamar Miller had a decent game against Baltimore last week. He totaled 89 yards, his most since Week 11. But he's being withheld in Miami's offense. I've brought this up before, but it's worth mentioning again. Miller hasn't had more than 20 touches in any game this season. It's difficult to put up a lot of yards when you aren't constantly getting the ball.
Miller's still a good option in fantasy because of his consistency. He's only had one letdown game this season and that's because he was injured and didn't play much.
He doesn't get a great matchup this week against New England. The Patriots have only allowed one rushing score to a back in the last six games. They have also held backs to an average of about 50 rushing yards in the last five games.
With Miller you know what you're going to get. He's a RB2 option and a safe bet to not give you a total stinker.
Lamar Miller - Week 14 vs. Baltimore Ravens
Another week another average game from Lamar Miller. In his last nine games Miller has only surpassed 80 yards once. On the plus side, he's only rushed below 50 yards once during that span (technically twice, but he was injured and didn't play much in Week 10). In short, Miller has a low ceiling, but a high floor. He's reliable.
He'll put that reliability to the test this week in a brutal matchup against the Ravens. Baltimore hasn't allowed any team's backs to rush for more than 80 yards in any of the last six games.
Since Miller gets the majority of the touches in Miami, he's still worth a start. But in a tough matchup he should best be used as a RB2.
Lamar Miller - Week 13 vs. New york Jets
Lamar Miller has played well this season, but the Miami Dolphins appear to be limiting his touches. The most touches he's had in a game this season is 20 and he's only reached that milestone once. He's not likely to have a monster game (just one 100-yard rushing performance this season).
He could struggle this week against the Jets. New York has been fairly tough against backs this season. They've allowed the fourth-fewest rushing yards in the league and the third-fewest rushing touchdowns.
Miller should be able to contribute, but don't expect a big performance. He's more of a RB2 option now that all teams are back from BYEs.
Lamar Miller - Week 12 vs. Denver Broncos
Lamar Miller got back to touching the football in Week 11. He was limited in Week 10 when he finished with just five touches. Last week he had 17 touches for a total of 98 yards. Not a bad outing against one of the tougher defenses in the NFL.
This week he gets somewhat of a tough matchup against the Broncos. Teams typically end up passing the ball against Denver, leading to low rushing totals. Tre Mason found success last week, but that's because St. Louis led most of the game. Denver hasn't allowed a rushing touchdown to a back in six straight weeks.
Miller is still a decent RB2 option because he'll get the majority of the carries for Miami, but don't expect huge numbers.
Lamar Miller - Week 11 vs. Buffalo Bills
Lamar Miller didn't play a whole lot last week against Detroit. He was playing with a shoulder injury and was very limited. The team says he didn't suffer a setback. Maybe so, but his five touches for six total yards left fantasy owners frustrated.
It may be more of the same this week. He's still nursing an injury and he'll face an even tougher matchup. Miller goes up against the Bills who have allowed the third fewest fantasy points to opposing backs this season. Backs (as a team) have only gone over 100 yards twice against Buffalo all season.
When Miller is healthy and getting touches he's a borderline RB1. But with his injury and his tough matchup he's a low RB3 option. Only use if desperate.
Lamar Miller - Week 10 vs. Detroit
Lamar Miller is officially listed as questionable this week with a shoulder injury. He should be ready to play against Detroit, but he was forced to miss some of Week 9's game against San Diego. Before he left, he was able to run 11 times for 49 yards and a touchdown while catching one pass for eight yards.
He gets a difficult matchup this week against the Lions. Detroit hasn't allowed 75 rushing yards to backs in four consecutive games. Backs have also only scored one rushing touchdown during that span. In fact, the Lions are allowing the second fewest rush yards per game and the second fewest yards per attempt.
Miller should get enough touches to keep him relevant, but he's more of a RB2 than a RB1 this week in a difficult matchup.
