Kendre Miller  |  TCU 5’11″ 215 lbs.  |  06/11/2002 (20)

Kendre Miller was drafted by the New Orleans Saints, becoming the fourth Running Back and 71st overall player in the 2023 NFL Draft.

COLLEGE PRODUCTION

After a quiet freshman season, Kendre Miller broke out as a sophomore in 2021, posting an efficient 623 yards on just 83 carries, and finding the end zone eight times. Miller then fully took over the TCU backfield with the departure of Zach Evans, tallying 1,399 rushing yards and 17 total touchdowns. Unfortunately, Miller was fairly limited as a receiver, totaling just 29 catches in his college career and 229 receiving yards. 

Miller checks many of the basic analytical boxes. He’s an early breakout (19 years old), early declare, and strikes the BMI sweet spot at 30.0. That being said, his production as a whole is not elite. Miller’s dominator rating falls in the 52nd percentile, which indicates that overall, his raw counting stats don’t stack up to many of the other top running back prospects in the class. Miller’s production isn’t a glaring weakness in his profile, but it’s not a strength either. 

FILM

One thing that stood out to me about Kendre Miller was his vision and patience. Miller is one of the smartest runners in this class, has great instincts, and has the lateral agility to put those instincts and vision to good use. He’s not quite perfect in this regard and occasionally does opt for powering through defenders when he could cut back to a lane of less resistance, but I do think his vision is still a strength overall.

This leads me to probably Kendre’s biggest strength: pure power. Kendre is a tough, hard-nosed runner who excels in between the tackles. He finishes almost every run dragging defenders forward with him and consistently picked up extra yards this way. This power, combined with his patience and lateral agility, made him excellent in between the hash marks and in short-yardage situations. There’s a reason Miller found the end zone as much as he did in his junior season.

I’ve seen people compare Miller to having a Le’Veon Bell-esque running style. Obviously, it would be foolish to expect anything close to that kind of career or even to expect anything close to that heavy of a role. However, Miller does share a lot of strengths with Bell, so if you want to describe his game without getting into the details, I don’t mind mentioning the patience-power-agility combination of Le’Veon Bell.

So, what’s the explanation for the lack of hype around Miller? There are a good number of valid concerns about his game. Mainly, for someone with such a powerful running style, Miller has extremely poor pad level and also runs with a very narrow gait. This is cause for concern at the NFL level, where faster, stronger defenders will be much more effective at knocking Miller off-balance if he continues to run upright with a weak base. Additionally, Miller is not a very natural receiver. While he does have solid hands, they aren’t a strength, and he’s not likely to be heavily involved in the passing game. Miller will also have to improve in pass protection, where he has all the physical tools to excel, but often had mental lapses on tape and missed assignments. This is an invaluable trait for running backs to have, as the fastest route to the doghouse is letting your quarterback take bad sacks due to poor blitz pickups.

ATHLETIC TESTING

Due to a knee injury suffered in TCU’s 2022 campaign, Miller wasn’t able to participate in the Combine this year but did measure in with prototypical physicals of 5’11″, 215 lbs. Unfortunately, we have no 40-time, shuttle, 3-cone, or any athletic drill results. However, Miller’s athleticism does show up on film, as he’s relatively agile for someone of his stature, and although not a burner, he does have sufficient speed to play the position. More important to his running style, however, is his physical strength, which does pop on film as well.

DRAFT ANALYSIS 

Kendre Miller was selected with the 71st overall pick by the New Orleans Saints.

I gave Miller an early third-round grade, so his draft capital is spot on to where I think his talent warrants. However, with such a loaded running back landscape in the NFL at the moment, Miller earning the draft capital I think he deserves is a much bigger plus to his value than it would be in previous seasons. Many other running backs’ value has tanked following this draft, as it’s been well vetted that Day 3 draft capital is a near-death sentence for fantasy prospects. Kendre was one of the few survivors of this purge. 

New Orleans is also an awesome landing spot for Miller, as he’s got two solid running mates in the backfield with him in Jamaal Williams and Alvin Kamara, both of whom are soon to age out of fantasy relevance. It could require some patience, but there’s a path to a very nice role for Miller in New Orleans. I’m not sure there were many better options.

Draft Analysis Grade: Great

FANTASY INSIGHTS

With the tragic fall of Zach Charbonnet, Kendre Miller has launched himself up to my RB3 slot in this rookie class. I could see an argument from fellow Round 3 selection Devon Achane, however, I feel less confident in Achane’s ability to earn a sufficient role. Miller, on the other hand, profiles as a potential three-down back if he can improve just a bit as a pass blocker and receiver. While some patience will certainly be required, and he won’t be a very juicy redraft pick, that patience could certainly pay off in a big way if Miller can take over the New Orleans backfield. I think he’s a great target in the mid-second round of rookie drafts. 

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