Final 5 Games Will Serve as Precursor for Lamar Miller's Future with Dolphins

Week after week, the Miami Dolphins continue to forget that the running game exists. 

This past Sunday against the New York Jets, their one-dimensional offense reached a new level, with 58 pass attempts against nine rush attempts.

With that kind of imbalance, there isn't much that Lamar Miller can do to prove he deserves a long-term contract to stay in Miami. The fourth-year running back is in the final year of his rookie contract and is on pace for the fewest carries he's had in a season since his rookie year.

Former offensive coordinator Bill Lazor abandoned the running game all too frequently, which impacted Miller's production—though not necessarily impacting Lazor's status as offensive coordinator.

"Ultimately to me it's about, no matter how you think, one side or another, you always go into a game and it's about game-plan specific type plays," said interim head coach Dan Campbell Monday. "If you're playing the Jets, we knew it was going to be hard to run the ball yesterday. I'm not putting this into a box and saying this is what we’re going to be more of just yet."

Despite being an afterthought in the Dolphins offense, Miller is still averaging 4.8 yards per carry on the season. 

He has never averaged below four yards per carry in a season, so it's not his ability to make the most out of his touches. It's just that he's not getting enough touches to make the most out of. Maybe a new coaching staff will help; Miller saw an uptick in his carries when Campbell was named interim head coach in Week 6, with 33 carries in the two games after the decision was made.

In the five games since then, Miller has just 49 carries. 

You could look at this two ways. On one hand, Miller has never been given an opportunity to be a bell cow for the offense, maybe because the coaches didn't want to commit to running the ball. On the other hand, the coaches never committed to running the ball, maybe because they didn't think Miller could be a bell cow.

The inclination is to believe the former over the latter. The Dolphins have other running backs on their roster, and if they wanted to run the ball with someone besides Miller, that option was in their hands. They never sought out that option, though. Perhaps we'll get more rush calls now that Lazor is out; Campbell intimated that he'd like the number of carries to go up significantly.

"Fifty, 55," he said, joking. "Look, I am a more run-oriented person. Put it this way, I want to be more balanced. ... I like a more balanced approach, but I'm also, when you go into a game plan, just want to reiterate this, I have no problem throwing it 10 plays in a row if that means we get our quarterback in rhythm and he feels good and you open up the run game off the pass game."

At some point, the pass game has to set up the run game. Maybe the Dolphins' ignorance of the run is due to the ineffectiveness of the passing game.

Or maybe it is a product of situations that forced them to get away from a balanced approach on offense. Since 2014, the Dolphins have run 979 plays on offense while trailing by three points or more (third-most in the NFL), with 700 pass plays (71.5 percent) and 279 rush plays (28.5 percent). That's skewed in favor of the passing game by roughly 5 percent more than the NFL average.

The Dolphins have given up on the ground game at the drop of a hat in the past. Thus, Miller's ability to prove his worth to the Dolphins hinges just as much on himself to deliver when he gets the opportunity as it hinges on the performance of 21 other players to make sure he gets those opportunities in the first place.

Even if he doesn't get those opportunities on the ground, he can still contribute in the passing game. 

Miller has also proven his value in passing situations. He has already tied a career high with 38 catches for 341 receiving yards. There will always be a role for a player like Miller, but his value may depend on how teams project him into those "roles." Perhaps Miller's future isn't as a bell cow, but as a versatile third-down option. Either way, he's not likely to get a huge payday on the open market. 

Unless otherwise noted, all quotes obtained via team news release.