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Ryan Tannehill, Lamar Miller, Jarvis Landry Post-Week 8 Fantasy Advice

Fantasy Football
October 29, 2015

The Miami Dolphins had a prime opportunity Thursday night to prove they could hang with the best, but their offense sputtered in a 36-7 loss to the undefeated New England Patriots.

The Dolphins offense managed a paltry 315 yards, committing two turnovers while scoring only one touchdown.

Running back Lamar Miller was the only Dolphins player to find paydirt, but his 15 rushing yards look ugly in the box score.

Let’s take a look at how Miller, quarterback Ryan Tannehill and wide receiver Jarvis Landry fared in Week 8 and what to expect from the trio moving forward in terms of fantasy production:

No one expected Tannehill to outperform Brady, but even in garbage time, the Miami quarterback didn’t put up good numbers. His 300 yards masked how bad the game was and kept him from putting up negative numbers in some fantasy leagues.

Tannehill also threw two interceptions and zero touchdowns. Having your quarterback put up a goose egg in the touchdown column Thursday night is not a great start to your fantasy week.

Twitter was abuzz after this second-half throw to tight end Jordan Cameron, per the NFL‘s official Twitter account, but it didn’t help his fantasy numbers much:

However, Tannehill owners shouldn’t panic yet. While he is not Tom Brady or Aaron Rogers, Tannehill has performed well this season. This was the first time he failed to throw a touchdown, and he is coming off a four-touchdown, zero-interception performance for which he was named the AFC Offensive Player of the Week.

His nine interceptions are concerning, but his 13 touchdowns are enough to warrant a spot on your fantasy roster. Chalk this one up to playing against perhaps the most complete team in the NFL.

Tannehill has favorable matchups over the next three weeks against the Buffalo Bills, Philadelphia Eagles and Dallas Cowboys. Unless you have a top-five quarterback on your roster, feel safe starting Tannehill moving forward, because by the time he plays the Patriots again in Week 17, most fantasy seasons will be over.

Asking Miller to perform at the level he has over the past two weeks against New England would have been unrealistic, but this was bad.

Miller rushed for 175 yards in basically one half of football in a blowout victory against the Houston Texans in Week 7 and 113 yards the week before against the Tennessee Titans. It wasn’t the Patriots defense—which was allowing 110.3 rushing yards per game coming in—that held Miller in check; it was Miami’s offense.

Miami trailed 19-0 at the half, and despite the one good drive on which Miller scored from one yard out after Cameron’s big catch, the Dolphins didn’t do much. As a result, Tannehill attempted 44 passes, and the Dolphins ran the ball just 13 times. Miller did have five catches, which will help those in points-per-reception leagues, but that wasn’t enough to make owners feel good about his rushing output. 

Erik Frenz of Boston.com summed up Miami’s rushing performance late in the game:

It’s going to be hit-and-miss for Miller moving forward. In his first four games of the season, he had a total of 131 yards and no touchdowns. He broke out against Houston and Tennessee before his latest performance.

Miller is still Miami’s No. 1 back—Jonas Gray had only two carries against his former team Thursday—but proceed with caution. You never know which Miller you are going to get.

Heading into Thursday night’s matchup, Landry, like every other Dolphins player, was coming off a big offensive output against the lowly Texans. With five catches for 83 yards and two touchdowns, he put in his best effort of the season Thursday. However, he was not able to find the end zone against the Patriots.

Landry’s numbers were OK, but his eight targets were four behind team leader Rishard Matthews. Landry had just one more target than Kenny Stills despite playing more snaps than any other Miami wide receiver, according to ESPN.com’s Nathan Jahnke:

Landry, with 42 receptions through seven games, is on pace for 96 catches. That’s always going to merit a fantasy roster spot, especially in PPR leagues. However, his only two scores—outside of a punt return—came in the Houston blowout.

If you are in a return-yardage league, his value goes up, but he’s at best a low-end WR2 at this point. Don’t expect a big game from Landry when you slot him into your lineup, but a 100-yard performance with eight-plus catches is never out of the question.

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