Fantasy Football: Lamar Miller still should draw draft interest in 2019

Houston Texans running back Lamar Miller should draw interest in fantasy football drafts in 2019.

For those who play in fantasy football leagues where there are 12 to 16 teams in each season, roster depth is of great importance, and one player who stands out in those terms for adding depth to a roster is Lamar Miller of the Houston Texans.

The start of the 2019 NFL season is less than one month away, and now is the time to make decisions on which players should stay on your rosters in keeper leagues, which players need to be dropped in dynasty leagues, or if making a fresh start, the time is here to draft a whole new team.

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That brings us to the Texans and their current running back situation, especially Miller. The Texans not only have Lamar Miller penciled in as the starting running back, but right behind him are Duke Johnson, Buddy Howell, Damarea Crockett, Josh Ferguson, Taiwan Jones, Karan Higdon and fullback Cullen Gillaspia.

Granted, none of those above players are listed to be at the top of the of the running back yardage leaders, but zeroing in on Miller, he does have a chance to have a 1,000-yard rushing season for the third time in his career, but he hasn’t done that since the ’16 season.

In ’16, Miller rushed for 1,073 yards and five touchdowns, which was his fifth NFL season and his first with the Texans. Since then, Miller rushed for 888 yards and three touchdowns in ’17, followed by last season’s performance of 973 yards with five touchdowns.

There is also the receiving ability of Miller, who in ’18 totaled 25 receptions for 163 yards and one touchdown. Two seasons ago, Miller had his best pass catching season with 36 receptions for 327 yards and three touchdowns, so the ability is there to accumulate fantasy points.

According to FantasyPros.com, Miller has an average draft position (ADP) of 63rd overall (standard scoring), and his draft rank is 61st. The website also says in Yahoo leagues, Miller is on 88 percent of teams on that site, and in ESPN leagues the Texans running back is on 90 percent of teams in their leagues.

Breaking things down a little more for Miller, in the Pro Football Focus Fantasy Playbook (Vol. 3), Miller is the 23rd-ranked running back, as T.J. Yeldon of the Jacksonville Jaguars is right in front of Miller and the player listed after the Texans running back is Aaron Jones of the Green Bay Packers. The PFF Fantasy Playbook has Miller being drafted in rounds 5 and 6 in a 16-round draft.

One stat that jumps off the page for Miller is he had 56 percent of all running back touches for the Texans last season, and he averaged 3.22 yards after contact per carry. The top player on that list was Nick Chubb of the Cleveland Browns, as his average YAC was 4.42.

Miller also had 31 Red Zone carries in ’18 for four touchdowns, and seven of those carries were for five yards or fewer where he scored three of his four Red Zone touchdowns.

It is simple for Miller in ’19, many don’t view him as a RB1 in fantasy football anymore, and there are players like Howell and Johnson whom he’ll most likely share carries with. Though Miller won’t be a Top 5 rusher in ’19, the veteran running back is in a contract year, and he is reliable as he’s played in 13 or more games in each of his previous seven seasons.

Keep a close eye on Miller in the middle of your fantasy drafts, because if you need a running back who is consistent, and one who will be on the field for most of the games, Miller is a solid option at the position.

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