For the Houston Texans, Saturday was a day of emotional highs and lows. With the retirement of Indianapolis Colts quarterback Andrew Luck, the AFC South was all but handed to them on a silver platter. But the bad news could hurt their chances to do anything with it as the team fears running back Lamar Miller has been lost for the season with a torn ACL.
While there’s arguments that Miller shouldn’t have played at all in their preseason game against the Dallas Cowboys Saturday night, and I have made them, it wasn’t the amount of plays that cost him. Miller went down on the second offensive play from scrimmage after a shot to the knee from Dallas defensive tackle Maliek Collins.
With Lamar Miller done for the season with a torn ACL injury, the #Texans new starting RB [currently] is Duke Johnson.
They'll probably explore all options in order to add another RB however. [@dynastyfeed]pic.twitter.com/jgieITUR2K
— Dov Kleiman (@NFL_DovKleiman) August 25, 2019
The Texans brought in some insurance by trading for Duke Johnson a couple of weeks ago, but there’s a gaping hole on a team that should be thinking about a deep playoff run and more. Could Melvin Gordon fill it?
There’s no question the all-purpose Gordon would be a perfect fit in the Texans’ offense with Deshaun Watson at QB. His ability to catch the ball out of the backfield would be an upgrade over Miller, and his age could set up Houston’s very own “triplets” scenario with Watson, De’Andre Hopkins and Gordon.
The other option to just hit the streets Sunday morning is former Oakland Raiders and Tampa Bay Buccaneers running back Doug Martin. Martin too is a talented, multi-purpose back who the Raiders just didn’t need with first-round draft pick Josh Jacobs taking over as the starter and Jalen Richard solidifying the back-up position.
The #Raiders released RB Doug Martin, source said.
— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) August 25, 2019
We should have seen the writing on the wall for Martin as his absence in any Hard Knocks scene now seems conspicuous.
Last season Miller started and played in 14 games for the Texans. He rushed for 973 yards and five touchdowns, averaging 4.6 yards per carry and caught 25 passes for 163 yards and a score.
