New Orleans Saints rookie running back Kendre Miller, the 71st pick in the 2023 NFL Draft (third round), needs to impress in a big way this summer, especially with the news that five-time Pro Bowl selection Alvin Kamara will serve a three-game suspension to start the season.
Fortunately for the rookie, the TCU Horned Frog has some experience outperforming such counterparts in big moments -- like when he outshined the 2023 NFL Draft's eighth overall pick, former Texas Longhorn and current Atlanta Falcon Bijan Robinson in college head-to-head. Miller totaled 138 rushing yards, 75 of which came on his lone rushing touchdown, on 21 carries in a 17-10 win in Austin against the Longhorns in prime time last November. Robinson had a season-low 29 yards on 12 carries, which prompted Miller to declare himself the best running back in the Big 12.
During his final season at TCU, Miller amassed 1,399 rushing yards and 17 rushing touchdowns on 224 carries. That was good for 6.2 rushing yards per carry, the sixth most in college football among players with over 200 carries last season, and his mark ranked just ahead of Robinson's 6.1 yards per carry.
However, his work in the passing game was limited in college with 29 receptions in 33 games, but that hasn't stopped Miller from pushing to prove he can be the next all-purpose third-round running back for the Saints. That's where New Orleans selected Kamara, the 67th overall pick in the 2017 NFL Draft. The 27-year-old is one of only three running backs in league history with over 400 catches (430) in his first six seasons along with San Francisco 49ers running back Christian McCaffrey and Roger Craig.
"It was something I never got to show [at TCU]," Miller recently said, per the Saints' team website. "The coaches here, they've got me on the JUGS [machine] and the tennis ball machines. They were like, we knew it was in you, that's why we drafted you, we know you can catch. Just showing everybody else in the world my ability will be a big thing for me, and I'm ready to get out there and compete."
Kamara has served as Miller's teaching tape early on in the Saints' offseason program.
"How they use [Kamara] is kind of unique, and watching film every day, we watch a bunch of clips of him," Miller said. "How they use him in the pass game, that's pretty cool. I feel like I can step in and pretty much do the same thing."
The Saints have endorsed Miller's ambitions and dual-threat abilities as he battles to factor into their offense in his first NFL season.
"I like the player, I like his downhill running style," Saints head coach Dennis Allen said about Miller. "I think he's got really good feet, I think he's got really good contact balance. And he's got the speed to take it the distance if he breaks free in the open field, so there's a lot of qualities about him that I like. And look, I don't know that they used him as much out of the backfield at TCU, but I think he's got that skill set."
Miller needs to overcome a hurdle of his own -- an injury-related one -- in order to show what he can do this offseason. He hasn't yet been cleared to do more than conditioning drills after an MCL injury he suffered in TCU's Fiesta Bowl win over Michigan in the College Football Playoff Semifinal round. The ailment held him out of the Horned Frogs' National Championship Game defeat against the Georgia Bulldogs as well as New Orleans' rookie minicamp last week.
"I've just been doing my technique, with steps and different things, while the other running backs are going," Miller said. "Just trying to get the mechanics down of the different footwork, how it was from college to now. Nothing too hard, but I'm just kind of getting it down."
Miller is chomping at the bit to be fully cleared to show the Saints he can be their next workhorse running back, and feels that moment could come any day now given the comfort he has with his knee now.
"I feel great, but the doctors have got to kind of tone it down, be like, 'You're not ready for that now.' But that's just the competitiveness in me."
