I like hearing about how Lazor may use Miller. We always focus on the speed of the O and what he can do for Tanne, but it's a good point about what he could possibly do for Miller, especially given Moreno's injury, such as splitting him out wide, etc. Miller just needs some room, a little crease and he can be effective. We still need some thunder back there, but I really like like to hear about how he may use Miller.
I have no faith in Lamar miller until he shows he can do more with the football that get the edge with his speed, which quite frankly is the easiest play in the book when you have speed.. Thus far in his two years he's been a below average open field runner..bad angles, tripping, phantom reactions, it's been brutal.
I don't think that we've gameplanned a pass to a RB since Ronnie blew out his knee in 2007. Wasn't Sparano quoted several times as being opposed to the idea of a pass to the RB as anything other than a last option? Good to think we might actually use the talents of the players on our roster!
Ronnie and Ricky caught about 30 balls a year between 2008 and 2009. Sparano loved having his RB pass though.
Miller has the physical ability to become a good back, especially in Lazor's (allegedly fast) system. I just think the guy has rocks between his ears. Now, running back isn't the toughest position to play from a mental perspective. I think it's much more physical and instinctive than mental. However, over his short career so far, Miller has simply hesitated way too much to be an effective back, and I think it's because he isn't all that bright. I don't have a lot of confidence that the guy is going to get it. It's way early, but, right now... I'd say RB might just be our #1 priority in next year's draft. I hope I'm wrong, and Miller breaks out.
He has been particularly good when running out of the shotgun, which is something Philadelphia did plenty of last year. Hopefully that carries over. As it stands though, I have more hope for Miller than any other running back currently on the roster.
With his youth - just 23, the age of a lot of rookies, lack of wear and tear, and the depressed market for RBs, I think it would be best if Miller took the starting job this season with Moreno getting about 1/3 of the carries. With a better OL and OC, maybe he'll look as good as we hoped he would at this point last season. If not, then yeah, RB has to be a focus.
As the article clearly points out, the major caveat for the Dolphins going into this season is the offensive line and how it will function with five new starters beginning the season. If they don't develop quickly as a unit, it won't matter who is the starting RB on this team. My view of Miller has always been that he is better suited to be a change of pace back and not a starting RB in the NFL. He doesn't break tackles and he isn't real effective as a receiver out of the backfield or as a blocker when a pass play is called. I thought Moreno would be able to come in and be a solid starter for at least the 2014 season, but his knee problems could mean that he just isn't up to contributing what is required from a starting RB in the NFL. I think the RB position must now be seen as a weakness on this team and it will have to be resolved in the 2015 draft. If Moreno can't get back to what he was with the Broncos last year. I don't see much more production from the RB position this coming season than we saw from it in 2013. The strength of the offense appears to be the receiving corp and hopefully Tannehill. The OL and the RB's continue to be huge question marks heading into the season.
There will most likely be two or three blue-chip running backs in next year's draft, so that might be a good time to add one.
I'm thinking (maybe hoping) people will be pleasantly surprised by Miller this year. There was major hype last year because of what he showed in 2012 with limited carries. I'm not expecting Lesean/Jamaal levels here. But I think he'll be pretty damn good.
If Pouncey can come back healthy in Q2 of the season, I'll feel much better about Miller. I'm worried now that the middle of our line will be a sieve.
Micheal Fabiano seems to think so - His article about Moreno losing FF value turned into an article about Miller finally coming through on the fantasy hype this year. We'll see i guess, would be nice. Moreno's value sinking fast
As long as we have a solid run game, and stick with it, it's good enough. Marshawn wasn't blowing anyone away with his 4.2 ypc and it's amazing to think Miller got 4.0 behind that line. I looked at his 2012 highlights (just highlights not all runs) and got excited again. I'll temper the expectations for now.
Hard to send the backs out for passes when you're throwing in 2.4 seconds and/or leaving extra guys in to protect b/ your OL needs help.
Cool... Miller is pretty excited about everything he has in store. Here's a video of him talking about all the plays Lazor has for him. [video=youtube;09KL2HUXE6Q]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=09KL2HUXE6Q[/video]
I mean I disagree with what you saw in his play. I don't think Miller struggled. I saw a line no back could possibly have ran behind.
I'm sure it had a negative effect on his overall style. But Your generalizing my response when I was responding to another poster about a specific trait that he was talking about. A poster was talking about a crease, space,things like that, I was stating that when he has had space he was below average in his attempts to break the run wide open..so I will reiterate, Lamar has shown below average skills when in the open field, tripping over his own feet multiple times, fumbling without contact, bad angles, wide open dropped passes, think about those things, those things all happened in the open field with a degree of consistency..I said it last year a couple of times, it felt as though the kid had OFA.. Open field anxiety...lol.
I think its a fair assessment overall (unlike that farcical 31st power ranking yesterday), but I think we have the potential to be better than 8-8.