The Texans may have just suffered a significant injury in their regular season dress rehearsal. Starting running back Lamar Miller went down with a knee injury and had to be carted off, per Adam Schefter of ESPN.com (Twitter link).
It’s unclear how severe the injury is, although obviously the cart coming out isn’t a great sign. Miller was at least able to walk to the cart, tweets David Moore of the Dallas Morning News, so there is some hope. If you want to watch video of the play, you can view that here, courtesy of Ben Baldwin of The Athletic (Twitter link).
D’Onta Foreman was expected to be Miller’s backup coming into the season, but the Texans cut him a few weeks back after he was unable to ever fully recover from his Achilles tear. Houston traded for Duke Johnson shortly after, and they’re surely glad they acquired the former Browns running back now. That being said Johnson is more of a pass-catcher than a runner, and he likely won’t be able to take on a full workload if Miller misses regular season time.
Behind Miller and Johnson, the Texans mostly have unproven young guys. Buddy Howell, a second-year UDFA from FAU, led the team in carries in their second preseason game. Houston also signed veteran Taiwan Jones back in May, although he’s been more of a special teams guy in recent years. It’s quite possible the Texans will look to add a veteran either through a trade or free agency if Miller is going to be out a while.
Jay Ajayi? Just makes the most sense. He’s a fantastic RB who could barrel into guys while Duke offers his versatility. Why they wouldn’t go after him would only be tied to money.
Agreed. Might as well give Jay Ajayi a run.
Trade Washington for AD….they have guice and don’t need him now.
AP is pretty much the starter unless Guice wrestles the position away from him. They’d have better luck trading for one of Philly’s RBs.
Other than that they have Ivory out there who has started. Buck Allen, Corey Grant, Alex Collins and Marshawn Lynch are some lower end options. Blount, Ridley and Kerwynn Williams are some other power backs out there.
Surprised to see Collins, Blount, and Ridley be available.
Ridley was absolute garbage for the Steelers, not surprised at all he’s still available.
Also, i accidentally flagged the comment I was trying to reply to… why are the “reply” and “flag” notifications so close together???
Trade with the Jets and help with their needs…Powell has plenty to offer!
Man I just drafted Him today for Fanasty 🙁 I hope He gets better
Thats why you wait until preseason is over.
Miami Hurricanes fan here…sorry to see Lamar go down but I believe this is finally Duke’s chance to show he’s more than just a 3rd down back. He was a workhorse in college and although he may not be a 300 carry back (partially due to his extensive work on passing downs), I know he can handle 20 total touches easily. I hate hearing “he’s not a natural runner.” You don’t become the all time leading rusher at a program that has had guys named Edgerrin, McGahee, Gore, Portis, Miller, Highsmith, Anderson, etc. Duke is one of the most underrated offensive playmakers in the NFL. It’s his time to shine.
I’m hearing he tore his ACL