Over the past 12 seasons, the Patriots have had eight different players lead the team in rushing yards.
Only Sony Michel, Legarrette Blount, Stevan Ridley and BenJarvus Green-Ellis have repeated, while Dion Lewis, Jonas Gray, Laurence Maroney and Sammy Morris each led New England for one season over that stretch.
So could there be another changing of the guard in the 2020 season?
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Michel is starting training camp on the PUP list and his availability for Week 1 is reportedly in question, potentially leaving the door open for one of the team's other running backs to hit the ground running when the season opens next month. And while James White, Rex Burkhead and Damien Harris are the incumbents on the roster, a newcomer could take the opportunity and — pun definitely intended — run with it.
Lamar Miller reached agreement on a one-year contract with the Patriots on Monday, but just a year removed from tearing his ACL in a preseason game with the Texans, he's a long-shot, right? NBC Sports NFL analyst Chris Simms doesn't think so, telling Mike Florio on NBC Sports Network's "Pro Football Talk" that he thinks Miller can recapture the form that made him a Pro Bowler in his last full season (2018).
"I'm going to say he has a significant role. Lamar Miller didn't play last year, but two years ago, (he) was very impressive," Simms said. "I mean, he's a home run hitter. He can bounce it outside and take it 70 yards up the sideline. He's always been that type of player. Unfortunately, like the guy we just talked about (Jaguars RB Leonard Fournette), he's been on some teams — the Dolphins, the Houston Texans — who have had just crap offensive lines in front of him.
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"So his stats are never going to tell you how good he is, but the fact he knows that system, being from Billy O'Brien and then going into New England, he'll have the jump-start there. And you know them, they're never going to have a true bell-cow, but I think he will be a part of that rotation and have a serious role this year."
Even if the stats don't tell Miller's full story, they still paint the picture of a solid running back.. Prior to the ACL injury, the 29-year-old had rushed for at least 850 yards in five straight seasons, only missing four games over that stretch. He's also busted off a pair of 97-yard touchdown runs over his NFL career, something that Mike Florio pointed out while illustrating what a low-risk, high-reward addition Miller could be.
"If he's healthy, who knows what he can do for New England?" Florio added. "And it's going to be one of those situations where we say 'Bill Belichick, the genius, at it again.' A guy who's just out there, waiting to be signed and Belichick does it."
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