Can Lamar Miller help the Chicago Bears’ run game?
By Joseph Herff
It’s time to see Lamar Miller on the active squad
With veteran star running back Le’Veon Bell being released by the New York Jets, the Chicago Bears didn’t show much interest in adding him. The Bears liked what they have in David Montgomery and Bell didn’t want to join an offense that doesn’t run the ball much and when they do, it is fairly ineffective. Maybe another running back is the reason why the Bears didn’t go for Bell.
After being added to the practice squad a week ago, Lamar Miller is still getting his feet wet with his new team. Miller tore his ACL in the preseason of the 2019 season while with the Houston Texans following his solid 2018 season in which he made the Pro Bowl. Nagy himself has admitted he will be taking things slow with Miller to make sure he is ready to play and 100% healthy.
"“He can be a valuable running back for us. We’ve just got to take it day by day, week by week and see where his strength is at with his injury and coming back from that. But so far, so good. We’re going to keep that thing going.”"
Why did Lamar Miller come to the Chicago Bears?
Two of the Bears’ current coaches have ties with Miller as the running backs coach, Charles London, coached him in 2016 and 2017 while Miller was on the Texans. Miller also was the running back under current offensive coordinator Bill Lazor’s offense in 2014 and 2015 when Miller totaled 2,643 yards from scrimmage with 19 touchdowns.
Miller is expected to at least fill the void left by Tarik Cohen who tore his ACL against the Atlanta Falcons in Week 3. Cohen’s impact in the receiving game has been greatly missed as nobody has stepped up to fill that role. Since Cohen went down, the Bears offense is averaging 2.29 yards per carry compared to 4.87 before Cohen went down. They have not run for more than 65 yards in a game since his injury and ran for over 130 yards per game in every game while he was healthy.
Next. 3 Takeaways from Sunday’s win over the Carolina Panthers. dark
Even against the Carolina Panthers, who are second-to-last in the NFL in yards per carry (5.4), the Bears could not get their run game going only rushing for 63 yards on 25 carries (2.52). Granted, the Bears offensive line is doing them no favors, but could a change-of-pace back open up this offense more?