Miami Dolphins: Lamar Miller the not-so-secret weapon

By Martin Bater | Oct 23, 2015

Mandatory Credit: Christopher Hanewinckel-USA TODAY Sports

Miami Dolphins quarterback Ryan Tannehill is in the shotgun, first and 10 at his own 20-yard line and as he barks directions at his offensive line, he sees J.J. Watt on one side and Jadeveon Clowney on the other. With Joe Philbin at the helm, he would have dropped back to pass and absorbed a painful Watt-tastic sack. However, times seem to have changed and now he can count on a not-so-secret weapon more than ever: Running back Lamar Miller.

Miller was drafted with the 97^th overall pick in the fourth round of the 2012 draft and quickly became a fixture on Miami’s backfield, but he unfortunately embodied what the Philbin era was all about in Miami up until last month: Great expectations and no actual payoff when it counted.

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His total yards went up along with his carries from 250 yards and 91 carries in 2012 to 177 and 709 and finally a 1099 yard campaign as a byproduct of his 216 carries last year.

270 of those 1099 yards came in his two most productive games in Weeks 16 and 17 of last season against the Minnesota Vikings (92) and New York Jets (178). That Jets game was an astounding performance that included a breathtaking 97-yard touchdown and sustained productivity with 19 carries, the same amount that he had had against the Vikings. Unfortunately for Miami, it was out of the playoff hunt by then.

19 carries, remember that number, because for whatever reason both Philbin and his offensive coordinator were horrified of letting Miller shoulder any kind of significant load when the season had any kind of meaning.

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In 2012, he had only two games with more than nine carries as a rookie, his two most productive ones of that year with 48 yards after ten carries against the Jets in Week 2 and 73 yards after that same workload during a 24-10 win over the Buffalo Bills in Week 16.

Fast forward to 2013 and, again, just five out of 16 games with the ball 15 or more times in his hands. That included a career-high 22 carries for 72 yards in a 23-3 blowout win over the Jets (I’m sensing a theme here).

During 2014, he didn’t have more than 16 times even once that season, but surely those last two outstanding games would change the status of this veteran running back in the eyes of the coaching squad right?

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Sep 13, 2015; Landover, MD, USA; Miami Dolphins quarterback Ryan Tannehill (17) hands the ball off to Dolphins running back Lamar Miller (26) against the Washington Redskins at FedEx Field. Mandatory Credit: Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports

Tannehill was getting lots of praise (including a Sports Illustrated cover this year) for his growth. What did Miller get to start out 2015? 13 carries in the opener against the Washington Redskins, 10 against the Jacksonville Jaguars and then seven each against the Bills and Jets respectively.

That was borderline insulting to Miller, but then Philbin got fired during the bye week, Dan Campbell shook things up and deposited his trust in Miller for his debut as a head coach against the Tennessee Titans last Sunday.

How did Miller respond when assigned that responsibility? In style with, you guessed it, 19 carries for 113 yards, gashing the Titans’ defense left and right while he scored his first touchdown of the season.

So to sum things up here: Miller has had 19 carries in three of his last seven games going back to Week 16 of last season. Those three games netted him a total of 383 yards and an average of 127.6 per game. The other four had netted a total of 131 yards after 37 carries.

The explanation for this is simple. You don’t need to be a football savant to know that running backs need to get in a rhythm to be productive, but you can’t do that if you are virtually shut down for all intents and purposes midway through the third quarter.

To Campbell’s credit, he does not intend to do that as the Dolphins’ interim coach. He wants to be aggressive in all three phases of the game and Miller seems to be his emissary of punishment on offense.

It is reasonable to expect the Titans game to be a showcase of things to come, not just a fluke, as Miami faces a Texans defense that is ranked 22^nd in the league against the run this season. The level of difficulty goes up exponentially after that as they go up against the New England Patriots (14^th) on Thursday nigh and then Buffalo awaits him for a rematch with a Top 10 run defense.

Miller doesn’t seem to be the kind of player who will shrink when presented with this challenge. In fact, it his time to shine.

Houston, you have a problem. Miami, you have a running back. Enjoy.

Next: Do the Dolphins have one of the NFL's most valuable players?

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