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Ryan Tannehill, Lamar Miller, Rishard Matthews' Post-Week 6 Fantasy Advice

Fantasy Football
October 18, 2015

If you started Ryan Tannehill or Lamar Miller out of necessity this week, then Sunday went much better than you were likely expecting following the Miami Dolphins‘ 38-10 win over the Tennessee Titans.

Tannehill didn’t have a great game, but he sat in 12th place in fantasy points at his position on NFL.com following Week 6’s earlier games:

On one hand, the Cincinnati BengalsAndy Dalton seems to be bucking the notion a quarterback can’t radically change his stripes after a few years in the league. Most had written off Dalton as top-tier NFL QB, but he’s on pace to shatter personal bests in just about every category.

Then again, when has Tannehill shown himself to be anything more than a slightly above-average QB?

Whatever progress he made in 2014 hasn’t transferred over to this year. Even after Sunday, his completion percentage is still under 60 percent, and he has nine touchdowns to seven interceptions—a less than ideal ratio.

Tannehill is a great option as a QB2. You don’t want to rely on the 27-year-old every week, but you could do much worse should your normal starter go down injured or have a bye in the upcoming week.

He also brings a certain level of security in that the Dolphins aren’t going to hand the keys to the offense off to another quarterback as long as Tannehill is healthy. Avoiding quarterback controversies is always a good thing for your fantasy team.

Like Tannehill, Miller had an encouraging 2014 campaign, only to be one of the more frustrating fantasy backs in the league again.

For the first time this year, the 24-year-old eclipsed the century mark on the ground:

To put those numbers in perspective, Miller entered Week 6 with 131 yards on 37 carries in his first four games. Omar Kelly of the Sun Sentinel thought a new head coach in Dan Campbell played a role in Miller’s increased usage:

You’re truly tempting fate if you’re relying on Miller to be anything more than a flex option or low-end RB2. He is essentially Darren McFadden—constantly on the verge of a proverbial breakout that never comes.

Maybe Miller truly has turned a corner with Campbell as the Dolphins’ head coach, but Miller has time and again shown you can’t read too much into a one-game sample size. Worth mentioning as well is the fact the Tennessee Titans ranked 28th in Football Outsiders‘ rush defense DVOA (defense-adjusted value over average) entering Week 6.

Give it a few more weeks, and if the Miami running back is still running the ball this successfully, we can talk about him as an RB1.

Should Miami be committed to giving Miller more touches, it could hinder Rishard Matthews’ fantasy potential.

Matthews has emerged as a good WR2/flex this year, but be careful about staking too much of your hopes on his production.

His numbers from Sunday were solid, but the lack of a touchdown held him back:

The trouble with Matthews is twofold.

For one, Tannehill is his quarterback. As a result, some level of variance in Matthews’ targets from week to week is to be expected. When Tannehill is good, his entire receiving corps will receive a boost. But when Tannehill is bad, it’s going to drag the entire offense down.

Also concerning is Matthews’ place in the Miami offense. Jarvis Landry has received the most targets so far this year, and the combination of Jordan Cameron and Dion Sims could steal some looks when the Dolphins are in the red zone.

This isn’t to say you should drop Matthews completely, but be prepared for some lean weeks interspersed with his more encouraging performances.

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