 | Miller Time - 12/04/2008
BY Aaron Gleeman Thursday night's Raiders-Chargers matchup doesn't sound especially appealing given the teams' combined 7-17 record, but one nice part about the game getting a national spotlight is that Zach Miller may get some attention for his outstanding sophomore season. Miller was solid as a rookie after the Raiders took him with the 38th pick last year, but he's emerged as a long-term TE1 this season.
With an average of 14.9 yards per grab Miller leads the league among tight ends with at least 30 receptions and he trails only Tony Gonzalez, Jason Witten, Chris Cooley, and Owen Daniels in yards. All of which is pretty amazing given how bad the Raiders' passing game has been. Miller has accounted for 24 percent of the team's catches and 29 percent of the team's passing yards.
Remove the throws intended for Miller and Raiders quarterbacks have a horrible 47.4 completion percentage while averaging a pathetic 5.3 yards per pass. When throwing to Miller, the quarterbacks have completed 60.9 percent of their passes for an average of 9.0 yards per attempt. Oh, and perhaps the most startling stat is that Miller has the Raiders' lone first-half touchdown, which came in Week 3.
He's racked up 492 yards on 31 catches over the past nine games and should be able to post strong numbers Thursday night versus the Chargers. San Diego has given up more fantasy points to tight ends than any team in the league through a dozen games, allowing 845 yards and 10 touchdowns! on 75 receptions. They've been 23 percent worse against tight ends t han any other team.
Miller is never a lock to post TE1-worthy numbers because the Raiders' passing game can go from awful to completely useless at a moment's notice, but he has quietly become the best young tight end in football and has an ideal opportunity to formally introduce himself to fantasy nation Thursday night. If the Raiders and JaMarcus Russell ever get their acts together, Miller's upside is substantial.
While hyping him in this space probably jinxes Miller enough that he'll post a big goose egg tonight, here are some other notes from around football .
* Miller has thrived of late despite playing for a brutal offense, but his counterpart Thursday night, Antonio Gates, is on pace for the worst numbers since his rookie season in 2003 and has been a non-f! actor in three straight games. Gates hasn't topped 100 yards yet after doing so four times last year, but he at least found the end zone six times through nine games.
However, during the past three games Gates has 65 yards and zero scores while getting just 16 targets, putting him on a 712-yard pace even while Philip Rivers is on track for nearly 4,000. Gates has been a step slow lately after playing through various injuries early in the year and it's been too long since he's looked like the guy who averaged 1,000 yards and 10 scores over the past four seasons.
* Clinton Portis gained just 22 yards on 11 carries last week while missing snaps with various injuries, and came out of the loss to the Giants with what coach Jim Zorn called "a really sore" neck. Zorn said Wednes! day that Portis figures to be a game-time decision this week, which co nsidering the highly unfavorable matchup with the Ravens and Sunday night kickoff makes him a very risky fantasy option.
Baltimore's rush defense has allowed the third-fewest yards per game (78.3) and fifth-fewest yards per carry (3.5) this season, including holding Brian Westbrook to 2.8 yards per carry two weeks ago and limiting the Bengals' backs to 28 yards on 13 carries last week. Even a healthy Portis would be no more than a low-end RB1 option against the Ravens, so a banged-up Portis is at best a low-end RB2.
Two-Minute Drill: Reggie Bush (knee) is no longer on the Saints' injury report, so he should get more than eight touches this week . Maurice Morris will start th! is week against the Patriots, but coach Mike Holmgren said Wednesday that he will also "sprinkle in" Julius Jones . With suspensions looming for both Pat Williams and Kevin Williams, the Vikings brought former first-round bust Jimmy Kennedy in Wednesday for added depth on the defensive line . Wes Welker is absent from the Patriots' injury report despite being knocked out of Sunday's game by a scary hit . Already third on the Saints' depth chart before being suspended for the rest of the season, Deuce McAllister said Wednesday that he plans to play in 2009 . Willis McGahee said Wednesday that he's healthy, yet refused to whine about getting zero touches last week because he doesn't "mind sitting back and watching" while LeRon McClain and Ray Rice "are doing a great job" . There's going to be grievance filed on Plaxico Burress' behalf by the Players Association because they say "his rights have been violated," but he's still out for the season after shooting himself in the thigh.
Red Zone: ! Steven Jackson (quadriceps) put in a limited practice Wednesday, but coach Jim Haslett said afterward that "he looked good to me" . Trent Edwards (groin) missed practice again Wednesday, increasing J.P. Losman's chances of starting against the Dolphins . Ryan Grant (thumb) practiced fully Wednesday while Brandon Jackson (quadriceps) was limited, so Grant should get the bigger workload against the Texans . Matt Schaub (! knee) practiced Wednesday and is on track to reclaim his job from Sage Rosenfels this week . As expected, Brady Quinn underwent finger surgery Wednesday and should be ready to throw in 2-3 months . Selvin Young (groin) returned to practice Wednesday, but hasn't been healthy in two months and likely won't steal more than a handful of touches from Peyton Hillis this week . Ben Roethlisberger exited Wednesday's practice early after tweaking his knee, but said afterward that the injury is not serious . Willie Parker (knee) was held out of Wednesday's practice, but is slated to suit up this week . Colts middle linebacker Gary Brackett (leg) being sidelined for a month turns their run defense from bad to downright awful. | | This e-mail is being sent at your request. To stop receiving these e-mails, click here. | |
