New England signs Lamar Miller, and he’s an interesting wild card on that roster. I don’t think he’ll be their main tailback, but it’s at least a possibility. Bill Belichick has had luck with transplanted veteran runners in the past.
During Belichick’s 20 years there, I notice, half of the team’s leading rushers (10 out of 20) were guys who previously played for other teams. And nine of those backs were at least 29 years old. Miller is 29, and had 1,000-yard seasons with both Miami and Houston.
| NEW ENGLAND'S LEADING RUSHERS (last 20 years) | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Player (age) | Att | Yds | Avg | TD | Receiving | PPR | Rk |
| 2000 | Kevin Faulk (24) | 164 | 570 | 3.5 | 4 | 51-465-1 | 186.5 | 27 |
| 2001 | • Antowain Smith (29) | 287 | 1,157 | 4.0 | 12 | 19-192-1 | 231.9 | 10 |
| 2002 | • Antowain Smith (30) | 252 | 982 | 3.9 | 6 | 31-243-2 | 203.5 | 24 |
| 2003 | • Antowain Smith (31) | 182 | 642 | 3.5 | 3 | 14-92-0 | 105.4 | 41 |
| 2004 | • Corey Dillon (30) | 345 | 1,635 | 4.7 | 12 | 15-103-1 | 268.8 | 8 |
| 2005 | • Corey Dillon (31) | 209 | 733 | 3.5 | 12 | 22-181-1 | 191.4 | 17 |
| 2006 | • Corey Dillon (32) | 199 | 812 | 4.1 | 13 | 15-147-0 | 188.9 | 24 |
| 2007 | Laurence Maroney (22) | 185 | 835 | 4.5 | 6 | 4-116-0 | 137.1 | 33 |
| 2008 | • Sammy Morris (31) | 156 | 727 | 4.7 | 7 | 17-161-0 | 147.8 | 36 |
| 2009 | Laurence Maroney (24) | 194 | 757 | 3.9 | 9 | 14-99-0 | 153.6 | 35 |
| 2010 | BenJarvus Green-Ellis (25) | 229 | 1,008 | 4.4 | 13 | 12-85-0 | 199.3 | 19 |
| 2011 | BenJarvus Green-Ellis (26) | 181 | 667 | 3.7 | 11 | 9-159-0 | 157.6 | 28 |
| 2012 | Stevan Ridley (23) | 290 | 1,263 | 4.4 | 12 | 6-51-0 | 209.4 | 15 |
| 2013 | Stevan Ridley (24) | 178 | 773 | 4.3 | 7 | 10-62-0 | 135.5 | 35 |
| 2014 | Jonas Gray (24) | 89 | 412 | 4.6 | 5 | 1-7-0 | 72.9 | 64 |
| 2015 | • LeGarrette Blount (29) | 165 | 703 | 4.3 | 6 | 6-43-1 | 122.6 | 40 |
| 2016 | • LeGarrette Blount (30) | 299 | 1,161 | 3.9 | 18 | 7-38-0 | 234.9 | 9 |
| 2017 | • Dion Lewis (27) | 180 | 896 | 5.0 | 6 | 32-214-3 | 203.0 | 13 |
| 2018 | Sony Michel (23) | 209 | 931 | 4.5 | 6 | 7-50-0 | 141.1 | 34 |
| 2019 | Sony Michel (24) | 247 | 912 | 3.7 | 7 | 12-94-0 | 154.6 | 31 |
I’m not anointing, by the way, Miller as a starter or even a backup. I’m not sure he’ll even make the team. They’ve got bunch of other guys. James White definitely will be their main back in obvious passing situations – their third-down guy. They’ve got youngsters Sony Michel and Damien Harris, and they’ve still got versatile veteran Rex Burkhead. I’m not sure that Miller, who missed last season with a torn ACL, will beat out any of those guys.
Michel, I think, will be the starter if healthy. He’s still on the PUP list after offseason foot surgery. If Michel remains out, then I would think Harris is more likely than Miller. But they’ll compete in practice, and that’s the point of the signing.
I don’t think Miller is the back he’s been in the past. As an older guy who’s bulked up, he’s not the speedster he was in the past. And I would think he’s pretty ordinary in terms of vision, power and decision-making.
Miller has reasonable hands, but I don’t think he’ll be much of a factor at all in that regard. The Patriots typically like to have a third-down back (Faulk, Woodhead, Vereen, White), and lean on that guy for most of their pass-catching production out of the backfield. Their regular running backs don’t tend to catch many passes. In the last 14 seasons, only one running back who’s led the team in rushing has caught 20 passes, and that was a back who’s really more of a third-down guy (Dion Lewis). Only one other back since 2005 has caught more than 15 passes (Sammy Morris, with 17 grabs in 2007).
This is a backfield to continue to monitor. If I’m drafting today, Miller isn’t one of the first 70 running backs I would select.
—Ian Allan