The Miami Dolphins have lost Knowshon Moreno for the season and now fantasy football owners should look at Lamar Miller, Daniel Thomas and Damien Williams as replacement RB options for Ryan Tannehill, as the Fins still plan on running the ball a lot and Miller likely will be the main starter for the team moving forward.
The Dolphins have been getting some strong play from Lamar Miller since Moreno went down and he has had the chance to start for most of the season with Moreno injured earlier in the year as well. Miller is by far the best starter option at RB for the Dolphins and in deeper leagues Thomas is a solid pickup, as he has moved past Williams in the depth chart. LaMichael James is a non-factor in fantasy and the Dolphins are planning to continue pushing the run as they try and get Ryan Tannehill to develop into a consistent starter.
Miller had the chance to take over the starting position last season with Thomas, but neither player played all that great through the year. Moreno came in to help get things more productive in the running game and after he was injured, Miller used that as motivation and played very well in his absence. Miller is on pace to beat all of his career highs in carries, yards and touchdowns this season and he also should do it in receptions.
Thomas will get touches, but for fantasy owners, it's Miller who will be the starter going forward. Miller has 391 yards this season and four touchdowns and he also has 17 catches for 115 yards and one score. Miller came into the season after rushing for 709 yards last year and he now is averaging nearly five yards per carry and has been markedly better than he was last year. Thomas has 75 yards this season while Williams has rushed for just 38 and that makes Miller the top option for fantasy owners in this backfield.
Moreno came in as the top free agent signing for the Dolphins at the skill positions and he was looking to have another strong season after putting up career best numbers in Denver. While playing with Peyton Manning helped, Moreno put up career bests across the board and that included rushing yards, receptions and receiving yards. Moreno now heads back into free agency after tearing his ACL and at his age, it may be hard for him to find another starting job in the league.
Moreno dealt with an elbow injury after starting off the season hot and he basically never got the chance to get into a rhythm all year. Moreno now ends the season with 31 carries for 148 yards and on TD along with one catch for eight yards. Moreno also had one 100-yard game this season and that came all the way back in Week 1 and showed how he could really help the Fins. The Dolphins won over the New England Patriots and that was a big upset and he had 24 carries for 134 yards in that game. In his final game this season, Moreno had six carries for 10 yards and one catch against the Packers in Week 6.
