Nice article. I think he is Bush's eventual successor. Offers similar skill set and at a fraction of the price. I hope he gets involved this year, one way or the other because he seems like such a dynamic player.

One thing that stood out on all of his highlight reels that I haven't seen from any other player is his ability to be running full speed and then shorten his strides excessively while maintaining great speed during a cut. His lateral foot skills are premiere imo.

It really stands out on his run at 4:00....watch the tail end of it.

[video=youtube;E5tRXa34CGk]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E5tRXa34CGk[/video]

 

It's been said before, but it's hard to underestimate how serendipitous Lamar Miller falling to Miami could be. Not just the fact that he's a steal in terms of perceived value, but also in the context that he's pretty much exactly what they needed.

Reggie Bush and Daniel Thomas both have fairly heavy expectations and resource investments in them, but they've both got questions if they can live up to it. They needed a strong #3 runningback, but they also weren't in a position where they could spend a higher pick or bigger contract in case they didn't end up needing the player. The 4th round is about as high as they could have justified taking a runningback without creating pressure on the front office/coaching staff.

That's not to mention schematically he fits extraordinarily well.

 

so, if we had to compare his style to the other stud RBs that have come out of U Miami, who would you compare him to? Portis?

 

gotta love this quote from Al Golden "If they like him now, they're gonna love him when he is actually 100 percent."

 

I thought he looked similar Portis and McGahee in size and style......... balance of explosiveness and power. Normally you see more of one and less of the other. The combo is rare, with guys like Peterson and Richardson just being freaks of nature.

 

Stoked about this kid...

 

Frank Gore may be another good comparison.... Miller is also just 21 years old which is nice, what with the short shelf life of NFL running backs.

 

IMO, Miller's key to playing time is developing as a blocker, if folks recall Lorenzo Booker had all of the tools but rarely played simply because he couldn't block or do the other things.

Surprising thing with Miller is his size, 215 pds is rare to see that sort of speed, in that way he is hard to really classify.

I hope he is a sort of Tony Dorsett, sort of guy who can excel at sprint draws and take it to the house and Miller like Eric Dickerson was a sprinter in college.

 

..maybe you don't recall. Only tool Lorenzo had was shiftiness. Not great speed. Zero power. No balance and no vision

 

How long have you been waiting to use the word, "serendipitous?"

 

This dude better be in the weight room every time we see him on HK.

He's got so much potential if he can bulk up some and keep that speed/stay healthy.

 

WTH is that a bug? Or a dinasour?

 

It's a little known sauropod from the early Cretaceous.

 

I like it!!!! At least it's not Klingon!

 

To me he should add some mass, but not become heavier so to speak, like LT in SD when he picked up pilates over the traditional weight training program.

Thing with CJ2K is he is also a competitive power lifter, something I've rarely seen another running back do.

 

Power lifting develops explosive power. Miller (or any rb) can benefit from improving that explosive power. I don't think Miller needs to get bigger.

 

He looks like he could fill out more, imo.

He's no good if he can't take the nfl beating and stay healthy.

 

I just don't believe you need to fill out to do that especially at the risk of losing speed. You need to take the hits, but I think that is best accomplished by improving strength and flexibility rather than size.

 

The ideal is a combination of all of those.

I'd give up 1 year of a DMF for 4 of a Ray Rice any day.

 

Who is DMF?

 

Darren McFadden.

I'm saying I'd gladly sacrifice a little bit of speed if it means the guy won't be hurt all the time.

 

Thanks. I don't believe DMF's issue was ever size though. I think that the ideal running back is about 5'9" and about 210 (about Emmitt Smith size). I don't believe that you need more size once you're there. At that point staying healthy is based more on factors other than size. So at 5'11" 212 I believe that Miller is big enough. Obviously that's just my opinion though.

 

I hope so.

He def needs to put a lot of work in on that recently repaired shoulder as well.

Wishful thinking is that we have him in space enough that we're not asking him to do all that much between the tackle to begin with.

 

I've always felt that the key was being able to avoid the big hit (along with luck of course). It's that ability to adjust or go with the blow to slide off instead of taking the full brunt. IMO that ability comes from instincts and speed.

 

Another thing that Arian Foster excells at where as guys like AP still don't get it.

 

Great example! It's not an easy thing to get. I had a martial arts teacher who was incredible at making people miss and when he didn't he'd make them glancing blows. I was always good at making people miss, but my ability to make them all glancing blows was hit and miss (pun intended). I've improved at it over the years, but I'm nowhere near his level.