Steven Bisig-USA TODAY Sports
Fantasy football owners may have completely forgotten about Seattle Seahawks tight end Zach Miller this year until his 60-yard catch-and-run against the New Orleans Saints Monday night, and he finished the drive with his fourth touchdown catch of the season. He finished the game with five catches for 86 yards and that touchdown, and over his last two games Miller has nine receptions for 155 yards and a touchdown while being targeted 13 times in that span.
He is clearly not an elite fantasy tight end, but Miller is trending somewhat the right direction with at least three receptions and 40 yards in four of his last six games. Is he now a viable waiver wire option for fantasy owners?
Miller had two catches for 22 yards back in Week 2 against Seattle’s Week 14 opponent, the San Francisco 49ers, who enter this week allowing the second-fewest fantasy points to opposing tight ends (4.8 per game, ESPN scoring). Week 13′s matchup against the Saints was similarly difficult, since even after Miller’s productive outing they are still tied for 10th-best in the league against opposing tight ends (6.3 fantasy points per game).
After that things get much easier in Week 15 and Week 16, as the New York Giants (8.3 fantasy points per game; tied for ninth-most in the league) and Arizona Cardinals (14.8 fantasy points per game; most in the league) both have been very generous to opposing tight ends. Miller has been able to take advantage of favorable matchups this season, with three of his touchdowns and his three most productive games in terms of fantasy points before Monday night coming against teams that are currently in the bottom 10 of the league against tight ends (ESPN scoring).
Miller is bench material in Week 14 for owners that have anything resembling a better option, but after that he could be a serviceable low-end TE1 in deep leagues for Week 15 and Week 16. For owners that did well enough to have a playoff bye in Week 14, Miller has some appeal as a roster stash this week with an eye toward him being usable when it matters the most.
Brad Berreman is a contributing writer at Rant Sports.com. Follow him on Twitter @bradberreman24.
