First Down: Miami’s Miller tastes great, fantasy filling

I like Miller for a replacement for Bush. Tannehill said he seems to have learned his blocking assignments. If he turns out to be a 3 down back that would be huge.

Still, with the projected easiest schedule among fantasy RBs, the ex-Hurricane should blow through the competition, finishing well-inside the RB top-20. At his current 33.7 ADP (RB21), he's a Fish worth casting a line for.

Interesting....

Kids got the body, the feet, and the speed, lets see how smart and healthy he can be..Im looking forward to his production relative to Reggie's.

First Down: Miami’s Miller tastes great, fantasy filling

i have so high hopes for miller, i truly believe he will put himself on the map after this year

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I am not so worried about Miller, really. I think he has the talent and explosiveness.

My concern is the #2 RB. In today's NFL, you can't just go with one feature back, you really need two. I think we'll either go with the big guy who just does not seem to have the power his size would indicate and think he may well be elsewhere next year (and, in which case, that 3.7 ypc is going to haunt us); or one of the younger RBs. I like several of the younger RBs but imo they are pretty young to put into a position to perform well. None of them are Doug Martin types (who can explode for a 60 yard run on any play); and I don't think they have the experience to come in and solidify the backfield when Miller rests.

Miller might be looking even better if Miami signed Vonta Leach.

As the article noted on Thomas:

Daniel Thomas is a plodder who's offered consistency in only one facet of the game, torching dumpsters. He's a tepid interior runner who struggles pushing the pile.

"Da 'Fins wrote:

I am not so worried about Miller, really. I think he has the talent and explosiveness.

My concern is the #2 RB. In today's NFL, you can't just go with one feature back, you really need two. I think we'll either go with the big guy who just does not seem to have the power his size would indicate and think he may well be elsewhere next year (and, in which case, that 3.7 ypc is going to haunt us); or one of the younger RBs. I like several of the younger RBs but imo they are pretty young to put into a position to perform well. None of them are Doug Martin types (who can explode for a 60 yard run on any play); and I don't think they have the experience to come in and solidify the backfield when Miller rests.

Miller might be looking even better if Miami signed Vonta Leach.

As the article noted on Thomas:

With you all the way on Miller. If he has good blocking, and he will, he can be a 4.6-5.0 ypc back. The key will be durability, and from watching him last year he seems to make it his business to avoid unnecessary punishment. Normally I'd hate that, buuut if he's popping of those 15-20+ yd runs like I saw last season, on a regular basis, then I'll learn to deal with the falling down and running out of bounds.

I actually think Thomas isn't tepid enough, he slams the ball in there, hole or not. Almost the exact opposite of Reggie Bush. I think he'll make a pretty good 3rd down back though. He can protect, has good hands, and IMO he's better after the catch than he is after the handoff. Plus he's a ST contributor.

"GMJohnson wrote:

With you all the way on Miller. If he has good blocking, and he will, he can be a 4.6-5.0 ypc back. The key will be durability, and from watching him last year he seems to make it his business to avoid unnecessary punishment. Normally I'd hate that, buuut if he's popping of those 15-20+ yd runs like I saw last season, on a regular basis, then I'll learn to deal with the falling down and running out of bounds.

I actually think Thomas isn't tepid enough, he slams the ball in there, hole or not. Almost the exact opposite of Reggie Bush. I think he'll make a pretty good 3rd down back though. He can protect, has good hands, and IMO he's better after the catch than he is after the handoff. Plus he's a ST contributor.

Hope you are right.

Any more, in this league, I think going out of bounds when you have a 1st down and you know it is unlikely you are going all the way - that's the smart play. A RB esp. has to save his body. I loved the old-school "hit someone and get that extra 3 yards" kind of playing back in the 60's, 70's and even 80's ... but, injuries are so prevalent and with a sketchy back-up situation - Miller needs to save himself.

The only time you don't want that running out of bounds is if you're a yard short of a 1st (or a TD) and could get it if you took on the tackler (esp. on 3rd down). You have to keep the chains moving.

"GMJohnson wrote:

With you all the way on Miller. If he has good blocking, and he will, he can be a 4.6-5.0 ypc back. The key will be durability, and from watching him last year he seems to make it his business to avoid unnecessary punishment. Normally I'd hate that, buuut if he's popping of those 15-20+ yd runs like I saw last season, on a regular basis, then I'll learn to deal with the falling down and running out of bounds.

I actually think Thomas isn't tepid enough, he slams the ball in there, hole or not. Almost the exact opposite of Reggie Bush. I think he'll make a pretty good 3rd down back though. He can protect, has good hands, and IMO he's better after the catch than he is after the handoff. Plus he's a ST contributor.

I thought I was the only one who liked DT more than most here in the passing game. I think he's more dynamlc after the catch. I don't love DT's vision in the run game, but he generally runs well after the catch. He seems to usually make at least one guy miss. I recall him picking up a couple of critical 1st downs out of the backfield last year where I thought our drive was dead. They were plays DT had to make several people miss to get the necessary yardage.

"rafael wrote:

I thought I was the only one who liked DT more than most here in the passing game. I think he's more dynamlc after the catch. I don't love DT's vision in the run game, but he generally runs well after the catch. He seems to usually make at least one guy miss. I recall him picking up a couple of critical 1st downs out of the backfield last year where I thought our drive was dead. They were plays DT had to make several people miss to get the necessary yardage.

Its not even so much about what you can do in the open-field. Being a good 3rd down back is mostly about blocking and having good hands. Thomas has both. He's a good 3rd down RB IMO.

I love Miller's potential as a fantasy back. I think he could easily be a top 5-10 producer. I'm hoping to pick him up in my draft.

As for the back-ups, I think that DT is okay overall, passable in the run game and good in the passing game. And Gillislee is a guy I watched at UF quite a bit. I never thought he was special, but he was at least good. He rarely made a mistake and he never stopped improving. Every season he came back a little better. It made me wonder if I'd sold him short in my evaluation. If he continues his arc in the NFL, he could end up being a good 3rd team/ STs back in year 1, a good back-up in year 2 and a solid starter in year 3 (although hopefully still our back-up b/c Miller is tearing up the league).

"Stringer Bell wrote:

Its not even so much about what you can do in the open-field. Being a good 3rd down back is mostly about blocking and having good hands. Thomas has both. He's a good 3rd down RB IMO.

He's good in both of those categories. He has few drops and only occasionally makes the poor pass blocking decision. But I think he's under-appreciated as a play maker here. People seem fixated on his lack of play making as a runner and forget that he's a decent play maker as a receiver.

"rafael wrote:

I thought I was the only one who liked DT more than most here in the passing game. I think he's more dynamlc after the catch. I don't love DT's vision in the run game, but he generally runs well after the catch. He seems to usually make at least one guy miss. I recall him picking up a couple of critical 1st downs out of the backfield last year where I thought our drive was dead. They were plays DT had to make several people miss to get the necessary yardage.

He snapped Revis's knee.

Some glowing praise for Daniel Thomas in there also:

as reported by NFL.com earlier this month, Miller lacks meaningful competition. Daniel Thomas is a plodder who's offered consistency in only one facet of the game, torching dumpsters. He's a tepid interior runner who struggles pushing the pile. The backup may poach occasional goal-line touches – he doubled Bush in carries inside the 10 last year (16-to-8) – but he's hardly a threat.

i hope d thomas can bring something this season or he'll be gone,,,,, run lower dog and use some vision to quit getting concussed.

I think too much gets blamed on Tony Sparano and Co., but I think they might have ****ed up Daniel Thomas. The guy's game was basically vision and decision making. He read his blocks, made an appropriate move and got up field. He isn't fast, and he isn't powerful. For some reason, people including that coaching staff seemed to want to insist he be a power back because he's 230+ pounds, but he's not and it isn't hard to see.

They really pushed him in his initial camp to hit the hole quickly and to lower his pads. I don't think he had a grasp of NFL speed before he was asked to change how he did what was really his strength. Going from a zone game in college to more of a man-oriented game where the decision making was de-emphasized didn't help either.

Yeah I'm going to try to get him late in the draft since my non-Dolphins fan friends hopefully won't know who he is at all.

"rafael wrote:

I thought I was the only one who liked DT more than most here in the passing game. .

I've mentioned that like in 1000 threads. It's something I've harped on for awhile now. He's very good at receiving and can then RAC. I have no idea why they haven't used him more in that dept. I truly hope that changes because that is when he can be dangerous and extremely effective. :up: