When Houston Texans running back Lamar Miller went down with a gruesome leg injury Saturday night, it was easy to see his 2019 campaign was over. On Sunday, per ESPN’s Adam Schefter, it was confirmed Miller suffered a torn ACL and MCL in his left knee.
Miller has been a reliably boring fantasy running back, with at least 210 carries and 25 catches and no more than five rushing scores in each of his three seasons with the Texans. In those seasons he finished as RB18 (2016), RB14 (2017) and RB22 (2018) in standard scoring leagues.
With Miller out, Duke Johnson now becomes Houston’s No. 1 running back. He has been a fantasy asset in PPR leagues, with at least 47 receptions in all four of his seasons with the Cleveland Browns. In three of those seasons (2015-2017), he finished as a starting caliber (top-30) fantasy back in PPR leagues.
Duke Johnson, who wanted more playing time in Cleveland, will be the Texans' starting RB. He's going to get all the playing time he can handle.
— John McClain (@McClain_on_NFL) August 25, 2019
Johnson has not been used like a workhorse back (299 career carries, 104 in 2015). But he has averaged a solid 4.3 yards per carry during his career, with 13 total touchdowns. His outlook is on the rise all-around, but his value is still greater in PPR.
Barring a signing or a trade acquisition (Melvin Gordon or Jay Ajayi anyone?), Damarea Crockett seems the most likely of Houston’s other running backs to climb the depth chart into a fantasy relevant role. Buddy Howell, Josh Ferguson, Karan Higdon, Taiwan Jones and Cullen Gillaspia are the other backs currently on the depth chart.
Losing Miller is not ideal for anyone that drafted him, but it’s not as if a fantasy stud or a back with fantastic upside is now gone. Johnson is available owned in 59.7 percent of ESPN leagues, and Matt Breida (59.8 percent owned), Dion Lewis (39.4 percent owned), Kalen Ballage (35.1 percent owned), Jaylen Samuels (25.7 percent owned) are among the viable waiver wire adds worth checking on in your league.
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