Fantasy Football Week 14: Lamar Miller on Verge of Big Game

Lamar Miller

Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports

After being pretty high up on the list of breakout candidates for this season, Lamar Miller has been wildly unimpressive in fantasyland. The blame lies more with the Miami Dolphins‘ coaches than it does with him, as he’s inexplicably been stuck in a backfield timeshare with Daniel Thomas despite proving himself to be a superior runner.

Although he hasn’t yet broken out, Miller still possesses game-changing talent. He’s not a complete back, but he has incredible burst through the hole and he’s a legitimate home run threat every time he gets into space. He’s only rushed for 547 yards and two touchdown on 136 carries this season, but part of that has to do with him coming on and off the field all the time, making it difficult for him to get into a rhythm. The Dolphins’ offensive line has also been in shambles for much of the season so the run-blocking hasn’t been anything to write home about either.

It’s hard to imagine a player breaking out this late in the season, but I believe Miller is about to do it. Thomas went down with an ankle injury a couple of weeks ago, leaving Miller to carry the load for Miami in the meantime. He had his first opportunity to do so last week against the New York Jets, getting 22 carries and turning them into 72 yards. 3.3 YPC obviously isn’t a desirable average, but the Jets have been almost impossible to run on this year. They have arguably the best run-defense in the league so the fact that Miller was even able to make it to 72 yards is actually somewhat impressive.

Thomas is again looking very iffy for this week, so Miller appears poised to carry the mail at least one more time. The Dolphins take on the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday and they’ve been pretty poor against the run, so if he gets 20 touches in this game, I think he has a strong chance to come away with a big line. He got stuffed at the goal line several times last week, but I have a feeling he’ll be finding the end zone at least once against the Steelers.

Miller is obviously a risky play until he proves otherwise, but I believe this is the week he’s going to show what he’s capable of. Trot him out as a RB2/flex with high upside and don’t be surprised if he breaks off a few big runs for the highlight reel.

Dan Freeman is a Fantasy football writer for www.RantSports.com. Follow him on Twitter @DanFreeman88.


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