Grading the Kendre Miller Pick for the Saints

It's been a crazy day for the Saints so far, but let's take a minute to re-visit the Kendre Miller pick to give him a draft grade.

John Hendrix | Apr 29, 2023

Grading the Kendre Miller Pick for the Saints /

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New Orleans Saints

The Saints are rolling through Day 3 of the draft, as they have been active in the trade market. We take a brief pause out of the action to take a closer look at the Kendre Miller pick, and what to make of the TCU running back's outlook in New Orleans.

Grading the Kendre Miller Pick

For starters, Miller is a very likable guy. He's already making waves talking about coming for the top running back spot, and that's the type of mentality you want from a player - hunger.

"I don’t sit too well at backup," Miller told WWL Radio. "Even though I respect (Alvin) Kamara and everything he got for the Saints, and everything he did, but I’m coming for that No. 1.”

HOW KENDRE MILLER WILL FIT THE SAINTS OFFENSE

He didn't test prior to the draft due to a knee injury suffered in the College Football Playoffs, so that's why you won't see any type of RAS score. He's an explosive athlete that offers balance, good vision, strong ball security, patience, and effort. He told us that he should be ready come training camp, but he'll be doing other work during minicamp and OTAs.

DENNIS ALLEN THOUGHTS: Allen says that Miller will be 'medically fine'. The Saints felt good about him medically and where he's at in his recovery. Again, don't be surprised when he starts out somewhat on the 'slow path' when it comes to OTAs and such. It's just all part of the process of getting players back up to speed before they hit the field.

Allen called him a little bit more of a one-cut runner, but a power runner. He thinks Miller has good ball skills out of the backfield despite not catching a ton at TCU. The vision for the running backs is to help take some pressure off Alvin Kamara.

"As much as anything, it's just trying to take a little bit of that load off Alvin," Allen said. "Being a runner in this league for 17 games is a lot of pounding. So if you can spread those carries out, I think it keeps everybody fresh throughout the season."

New Orleans added to a position that was certainly a weak spot last season, and having strong depth is never a bad thing. What will be interesting to pay attention to is the workload when all three backs are in the mix, and hopefully the Saints figure that out when that time does come.

Draft Grade: B

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Published Apr 29, 2023

JOHN HENDRIX

I officially started covering the New Orleans Saints & other NFL topics in 2011. My work has been featured on various outlets over the years. I worked closely with Skyhorse Publishing in Fall 2018 to update the book, Tales From the New Orleans Saints Sidelines, which filled in all Saints material from the 2013-2017 seasons. Prior to joining Saints News Network, I served as the Managing Editor of SB Nation's Canal Street Chronicles for 3.5 years, and before that with FanSided's Who Dat Dish as the Managing Editor for several years. I have also had experiences of being a freelance Saints reporter for The Sun Herald in Biloxi, MS and a contributing writer for WDSU, a local NBC TV station in New Orleans. I have appeared on a vast amount of TV and Radio shows, both nationally and locally. For tips, comments, or suggestions, please contact me at johnhendrix@saintsnews.net