Vision, hole selection, and speed through the hole are more important elements for zone runners. The Fins primarily run a zone-blocking ground game that generally doesn't require backs to churn their legs through defenders and be physical after-contact-yardage players. The Dolphins appear to be thrusting Miller into that role in his second season. Question marks remain about Miller's consistency in pass pro and whether a relatively soft back can function as a true offensive workhorse. The tape suggests Miller was beginning to earn the coaching staff's trust as a receiver and pass protector. As the year progressed, Miller was used more and more as the sidesaddle back next to Ryan Tannehill on shotgun plays. Jorvorskie Lane can be a force in short yardage and on special teams, but he was an inconsistent lead blocker last season. The Dolphins liked putting Miller in the I-formation and the offset I, which explains their interest in free agent fullback Vonta Leach. His straight-line acceleration jumps off the screen. Miller is a bona fide playmaker when he gets space on the outside. His calling cards as a runner are outstanding up-field burst, ability to squirt through traffic, and dangerous perimeter speed. Miller's nifty feet, darting style, and plus balance could help him atone for a lack of consistent lateral explosion. He is not a pile pusher or leg-drive runner. While Miller flashed a stiff arm - in particular on a 22-yard inside power run to break Darrelle Revis' arm tackle against the Jets in Week 3 - Miller's game is finesse. In more than one instance, Miller dove at the feet of an oncoming defender instead of powering through or going by him. Lacking in Miller's game is physicality, a characteristic I also noticed from him at Miami. Miller turned what well could have been a negative play into a nine-yard gain. On second-and-one from a single-back formation, Miller made an explosive lateral cut behind the line of scrimmage to elude strong safety Jordan Babineaux charging downhill. One play stood out in the Week 10 Titans game. While not an exceptionally elusive runner, Miller's feet are quick enough that he can make defenders miss when necessary. The former Miami Hurricane demonstrated better wiggle than I noticed on Miller's college film. I still came away impressed after watching him. Thus, 87.7 percent of his touches occurred on first and second down. Only seven of Miller's rookie-year touches came on third down, including four of his six receptions. Miller's rookie year consisted of 57 touches as he was slow to learn the playbook and failed to endear himself in pass protection. And I believe this happens more often than some people might think. I always find it fascinating when NFL rookies look better in certain areas just one year removed from college. Also, I believe playing styles, tendencies, and some abilities are tweaked when pro coaching staffs, and conditioning and weight room experts enter the discussion. His rookie season provides a small sample size, so it was an opportunity to become more familiar with Miller the runner. I'm bypassing Richardson, Martin, and Morris because each received high-volume 2012 workloads, and we pretty much know they are now first-round fantasy football picks.īefore diving into Miller's first-year game tape, I went back and watched five of his heaviest-workload college games to get a stronger feel for the kind of runner he was before he entered the pros. Leading up to training camp, I'm going to use NFL Game Rewind to take an extended look at each of the following second-year backs: Lamar Miller, David Wilson, Vick Ballard, Bryce Brown, Bernard Pierce, Ronnie Hillman, Daryl Richardson, Robert Turbin, Isaiah Pead, and LaMichael James. Headlined by Trent Richardson, Doug Martin, and sixth-round supersteal Alfred Morris, the 2012 running back class produced a generous number of quality long-term prospects.
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