New York Giants Draft Prospect RB Kendre Miller

Nick Falato looks at another potential running back candidate in this year's draft, TCU's Kendre Miller.

Author:
Nick Falato
Publish date:
Feb 10, 2023 3:04 PM EST

In this story:

New York Giants

TCU Horned Frogs

Kendre Miller, RB

Height: 6-foot
Weight: 220 lbs.
Class: Junior
School: TCU

A former three-star recruit out of Mount Enterprise High School in Mount Enterprise, Texas, where he was the 220th Texan and the 125th athlete in the 2020 recruiting class. Miller played quarterback in high school. Miller hurt his right MCL against Michigan in the college football semi-final; he was not healthy enough to play against Georgia in the championship game, but the injury wasn’t believed to be serious.

Notables

Kendre Miller was an explosive threat out of the backfield for the TCU Horned Frogs. He rushed for 1,399 yards (6.2 yards per carry) and 17 touchdowns in 2022 with 16 catches for 116 yards. Was a semifinalist for the Doak Walker Award in 2022 (presented to the nation’s top RB). He finished his three seasons at TCU with 2,410 rushing yards, 26 touchdowns, and 29 catches for 229 yards, with one receiving touchdown.

During his three collegiate seasons, Miller never averaged less than 6.2 yards per carry. TCU was a balanced offense in terms of zone and power/gap concepts; according to Pro Football Focus, Miller ran the football 119 times in a zone scheme and 101 times in a gap scheme. Miller played behind Zach Evans for his first two years on campus until Evans transferred to Ole Miss.

Strengths

Good athlete with breakaway linear homerun ability
Solid overall explosiveness at the line of scrimmage
Flexible in his joints - a good angular build
Elusive, shifty, and nimble on his light feet
Smoothly changes direction without a hitch
Forces poor tackle attempts with how he angles his body approaching defenders
Good vision to allow blocks to materialize
Very good tempo discernment when approaching the LOS
Gets skinny through holes - runs through arm tackles
Dangerous slippery ability in space - has tricks up his sleeves (spins, jukes, etc.)
Powerful enough to lower his shoulder and fall through contact - elusive enough to spin away from contact
Love his ability to optimally set up his jukes - prompt timing
Good overall play strength heading into contact
Does well to recollect his balance when trash is near his feet
Not an easy back to bring to the ground
Can play in either a gap or zone system

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Weaknesses

Does not look 220 pounds - thin lower body
Runs a bit high, presenting more of a target
Limited receiving production in college
Most of his 16 catches were screens or designed touches
Limited route runner in TCU’s offense
Struggled to anchor or lose slow enough in pass protection

Texas Q4, 12:44, 3rd & 10
Baylor Q3, 15:00 1st & 10 (on a sprint-out in pistol)
Oklahoma Q3, 3:50 1st & 10

Played in an offense that rarely was under center
One-year starter
Does not have an extensive special teams background

Summary

Kendre Miller is well-built and difficult to tackle due to a solid blend of physicality and slipperiness. He’s not a true pile-mover, but he’s not easy to bring down. Miller’s vision and excellent juking ability, combined with great linear speed and acceleration, can set him up for success in breaking long runs at the next level.

His profile is not complete. He was a one-year starter with limited receiving production; the NFL Scouting Combine will be significant for Miller to showcase his receiving skill set, for the TCU offense did not feature him in that manner. Miller was an exciting player for TCU and will look to build upon his good junior campaign as a professional running back.

GRADE: 6.12