Lamar Miller: Was He Worth The 8th Pick in Fantasy Football Drafts?
Was Lamar Miller Worth The 8th Pick?
Lamar Miller was typically taken with the 8th pick during 2016 Fantasy Football drafts. Miller was acquired by the Houston Texans from the Miami Dolphins. Miller came into the 2016 season with a ton of hype and was supposed to be a huge part of the Texans offense. How did Miller fare in 2016? Did he reward those who drafted him in the first round?
2015 Season
Lamar Miller was a Miami Dolphin in 2015. The Dolphins elected to go with a combination of Arian Foster and Jay Ayaji in 2016 as Miller went and signed a four-year 26 million dollar contract with the Texans. Miller seemed to show some big play ability in his time with the Dolphins. How was Miller’s 2015 season and what led the Texans to signing him?
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Miller was the 6th ranked RB in terms of fantasy points in 2015. Miller had 185 fantasy points, rushing 194 times for 872 yards. Miller had 8 rushing touchdowns. Miller also caught 47 balls for 397 yards. If Miller had put up those numbers this season he would have been the 12th ranked RB. Miller’s 185 putting him as the 6th best RB in 2015 really shows how pedestrian rushing numbers were that season, this fact has been detailed in many of my articles about this seasons results. Miller had 22 runs of over 10 yards in 2015, ranking him 13th. Miller never seemed to garner every down back status in Miami and was spelled by Jonas Grey, Knowshon Moreno, and Daniel Thomas to name a few.. It looked like Miller would be in a position to succeed leaving the chaotic Miami Dolphins and going to the Houston Texans.
2016 Season
Miller and the Texans went through a tumultuous season. The signing of Brock Osweiler did not lead to positive things offensively. I have already chronicled how it limited DeAndre Hopkins. Houston had the 29th worst offense in the NFL based off WEI. Offense from Football Outsiders.
Miller rushed 268 times, he had 1073 yards, 5 touchdowns. Miller only generated 160 fantasy points on the season. Miller had 1261 all-purpose yards, 8 less than the previous year with Miami, four less touchdowns. Miller had the most rushing attempts of his career but lower performance across most rushing metrics. Miller was the 18th ranked RB as opposed to the 6th the year before. While Miller was the 14th ranked non-QB in 2015, he was the 27th ranked non-QB in 2016. I do not think that Miller is a bad player, I think the Texans had a horrible season offensively.
Outlook
Miller has shown big play ability throughout his career. If the Texans take a step forward on offense he should have a better season than he did in 2016. The Texans were willing to give him reps, unfortunately those reps did not result in a ton of fantasy points. Miller was not worth the 8th pick in fantasy drafts. Miller was the 27th ranked non-QB, that is clearly not deserving of first round territory. I understand why he was drafted, however his play resulted in that of a 3-4th round pick, not first. Miller could have a much improved 2017 if the Texans can make any sort of offensive improvement in a post Brock Osweiler offense.
Next: Was DeAndre Hopkins Worth The 7th Pick?
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