Tag: TCU

Saints RB Kendre Miller listed among rookies ‘drafted by the wrong team’

Rather than admit they misevaluated Kendre Miller, Bleacher Report’s draft analysts opined that the Saints made a mistake in selecting him:

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Here’s a take that we’ll be circling back on later. In an article discussing the worst team fits for players selected in the 2023 NFL draft, Bleacher Report’s Kristopher Knox was critical of the New Orleans Saints’ decision to pick former TCU running back Kendre Miller, citing a scouting report from his peer Derrick Klassen and the team’s other offseason moves.

While there may be a path for Miller to get on the field early should Alvin Kamara be suspended at some point this season, Knox believes his college  resume and the Saints’ offensive tendencies last season don’t point to a good match. Here’s what Knox wrote of the pick:

We have another case of a prospect being overdrafted here. The New Orleans Saints used the 71st overall pick on TCU running back Kendre Miller—who was the 175th-ranked prospect on the B/R board.

Presumably, New Orleans made the pick as an insurance policy for Alvin Kamara, who faces possible league discipline after being indicted on battery charges—though general manager Micky Loomis insisted that it wouldn’t affect New Orleans’ draft plans.

“It’s not going to influence who we pick,” Loomis said, per Luke Johnson of NOLA.com. “That’s a short-term issue.”

The problem is that New Orleans got an insurance policy and a rushing complement to Kamara when it signed Jamaal Williams in the offseason. The other issue is that Miller is an upright runner with limited third-down skills who simply isn’t the best fit for New Orleans’ offense.

“Miller will fit best in an outside zone system that simplifies his reads and unlocks his speed on the perimeter,” Klassen wrote.

The Saints used zone-rushing concepts at the 22nd-highest rate last season, according to Sports Info Solutions. Miller would have been better off landing with a team that has less depth at the position and more propensity for zone runs.

The NFC South rival Buccaneers, for example, would have been a much better spot for Miller. Tampa parted with starter Leonard Fournette in the offseason and brought in former Seahawks quarterbacks coach Dave Canales as offensive coordinator.

Seattle, it should be noted, used zone runs 75 percent of the time last season, according to SIS. Assuming Canales uses the same offensive philosophies he learned in Seattle, Miller would be a tremendous fit in Tampa.

Had the Bucs taken Miller with the 82nd pick, it still would have been a reach but a more logical one. Aside from perhaps free-agent addition Chase Edmonds, Tampa doesn’t have a truly proven runner on its roster.

While it’s true that the Saints don’t run as many zone-blocking concepts as other offenses rely on around the league, they still leaned on that philosophy more frequently (46.4%) than with gap-scheme plays (43.6%), per Pro Football Focus charting, meaning Miller will have plenty of opportunities to do what he does best.

As for Miller’s passing-down usage: it’s true that he wasn’t asked to catch many passes or hang back in pass protection at TCU. That wasn’t his role in the offense, and those are skills he’s going to need to develop in New Orleans. So it’s a good thing Jamaal Williams has extensive experience working on third downs. That was his role early in his career with the Green Bay Packers as Aaron Rodgers’ primary passing-down back. If Miller doesn’t make much headway in the passing game right away, Williams is more than capable of picking up the slack.

So was this a bad pick? Time will tell, but Miller’s confidence that he can reliably fill many of Kamara’s responsibilities is telling in itself. Just because he didn’t get many opportunities to shine as a receiver doesn’t mean he won’t be able to pick it up moving forward. Miller may have had an easier path to playing-time across the division in Tampa Bay, but he’s arguably set up for more success in New Orleans with veterans to lean on and a clear vision for his role in the Saints offense. If Bleacher Report is concerned that a team picked a prospect 100 slots higher than they predicted, the larger issue may be how they built those rankings.

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Chargers’ Max Duggan heaps high praise on Derius Davis

Max Duggan had nothing but good things to say about Derius Davis.

The Chargers loved what they saw out of the TCU Horned Frogs offense last season, and drafted their quarterback Max Duggan and two of his receivers, Quentin Johnston and Derius Davis.

The team rose to prominence as a gritty Big 12 contender that made the College Football Playoff and national championship game in a Cinderella story that fans won’t forget any time soon.

For his part, Duggan seemed thrilled to reunite with his college teammates in Los Angeles during his comments to the media after practice at the Chargers’ rookie minicamp.

Though Johnston was a known commodity by many fans who follow the draft, his counterpart Davis flew under the radar a bit during the scouting process, but Duggan made it clear that he helped make the Horned Frogs’ offense click.

“D.D. was a huge threat for us [at TCU], whether it was in special teams, punt return, kick return,” Duggan explained. “Then, obviously, he was a big threat for us as a receiver, too. He can do a lot of things, obviously. His speed is what he’s known for, but he’s savvy. He knows how to run routes. He knows how to set people up with leverage. He’s a great worker and he’s going to be a good one.”

While he won’t be much of a contributor on offense early on, Davis is the favorite to be the return man, as he was arguably the best in college football in this department.

In his collegiate career, Davis returned five punts for a touchdown in just 44 attempts. He averaged 15.0 yards a return. Davis also has experience in kickoff returns, as he had one touchdown in that department and averaged 29.6 yards a return in 2021.

Rookie Saints RB Kendre Miller eager to put pressure on Alvin Kamara

Kendre Miller isn’t letting up. The rookie Saints running back is eager to put pressure on Alvin Kamara in training camp just like he did Zach Evans at TCU:

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Competition is nothing new to Kendre Miller. He arrived at TCU as a three-star recruit from Mount Enterprise, a small Texas town of a couple hundred people sitting more than an hour’s drive away from Shreveport. Initially expected to back up Zach Evans, the five-star prospect who impressed everyone in the big city in Houston, Miller instead matched Evans stride for stride and after two years together Evans bowed out to enter the transfer portal.

Now the stakes are even higher. Having won the starting job at TCU, Miller now has sights set on winning the top spot with the New Orleans Saints. That’s easier said than done, but he’s confident he can supplant Alvin Kamara sooner rather than later.

“How they use (Kamara) is kind of unique, and watching film every day, we watch a bunch of clips of him,” Miller told John DeShazier for the team’s website. “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.”

Miller knows he’ll need to develop as an asset on passing downs to take Kamara’s spot — he says the Saints coaches have him putting in time with the Jugs machine and doing drills catching rapid-fire tennis balls, and he’s eager to work on refining his footwork once doctors give him the go-ahead. A meniscus injury knocked him out of TCU’s national championship bid, and the Saints aren’t taking any chances by rushing him back to action.

So this will certainly be a competition to watch closely in training camp. The Saints invested a lot of resources in upgrading their running backs depth chart this offseason by drafting Miller in the third round and signing Jamaal Williams to a sizable free agent contract. Kamara won’t be available for the start of camp while attending court dates in Las Vegas, and any league discipline that follows legal proceedings will only sideline him for more time and give Miller more opportunities.

There’s a real possibility that Kamara returns to a reduced role with Miller and Williams established as an already-solid one-two punch. But let’s not get too far ahead of ourselves. Words are one thing. Actions are another. Let’s see if Miller can back it up over the summer.

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Chargers WR Quentin Johnston talks about giving his mother the gift of retirement

Quentin Johnston set aside a portion of his rookie contract to help his mother retire, making good on a draft night promise.

When Quentin Johnston was selected by the Chargers in the first round of April’s draft, his first thought wasn’t about a new car or house that he might be able to buy with his rookie contract, but rather the prospect that his mother might be able to retire with his help.

He told his mother on draft night that she could stop working and retire, and after officially inking his rookie deal last Friday, he seems set to follow through on that commitment.

In speaking to the media after practice at rookie minicamp, he talked about what it means to him to be able to make such a monumental change in the lives of his family.

It means the world to me. I’m a big family person. Obviously, growing up, I wouldn’t be in this position I am today if it wasn’t for both of my parents and the sacrifices that they made, getting me to and from different games, different practices, different events when they had stuff planned already. I would’ve done the same thing for my dad, but my dad was already retired, so I just gave him a pat on the back right there. To give back to them and see the look on their faces, it’s everything.

Clearly, Johnston is motivated by far more than money in his first year with the Chargers, and if his comments are any indication, he is well on his way to paying back all of the help that got him into the NFL.

See it: Chargers’ Justin Herbert, Quentin Johnston gets reps together for first time

Justin Herbert linked up with his newest weapon for the first time on Monday.

Phase 2 of the Chargers’ offseason program continued at Hoag Performance Center in Costa Mesa, CA, on Monday.

Following the team’s rookie minicamp, most of the veterans took the field, marking the first time quarterback Justin Herbert and his newest weapon, wide receiver Quentin Johnston, linked up.

In his media availability this past Friday, Johnston said that Herbert hadn’t reached out to him since he was drafted but had followed him on Instagram.

It’s good to see Herbert and Johnston getting reps and developing chemistry early on.

The former TCU product will use this summer to refine his route running and clean up drops that he dealt with in college, but there is still plenty of excitement surrounding the speed and yards-after-the-catch ability he is bringing to the offense.

Familiarity helping Chargers’ TCU draft picks make smooth transition to NFL

The Los Angeles Horned Frogs. The TCU Chargers. Call them what you want.

The Los Angeles Horned Frogs. The TCU Chargers. Call them what you want.

The three players that L.A. drafted from the collegiate program took the field for the first time as professionals as the Bolts held their rookie minicamp this past week.

Wide receivers Quentin Johnston and Derius Davis caught passes from their college teammate, quarterback Max Duggan, who is set to compete with Easton Stick for the backup spot behind Justin Herbert.

“It was fun. I’m excited to be here,” Duggan said. “It’s a good opportunity. There are great people around here, it’s a great organization. Obviously, I have some familiarity with Q [WR Quentin Johnston] and D.D. [WR Derius Davis] coming here. It was fun.”

Johnston, the team’s first-round pick, got his reps on the outside. He was selected to bring an explosive element to stretch the field vertically and pick up yards after the catch.

“Almost feels identical,” Johnston said. I go out there and see the same guy lined up next to me and the same guy in the backfield; it feels like we’re back in Fort Worth again.”

Most of Davis’ work came in the slot. While he primarily participated in offensive drills, Davis is expected to contribute on special teams as the team’s return specialist after he had five punt return touchdowns and one kickoff return for a score during his college career.

“Max, he’s been my quarterback ever since he got to TCU,” Duggan said. “It was just great to get back out there, to run routes with him. We know we already have a connection, so the timing was really on. To have Q [Johnston] out there working beside me — we were kind of winded, so we were out there joking about it. It was good to be out there with those guys.”

Chargers WR Quentin Johnston talks about getting acclimated to life in the NFL

Chargers WR Quentin Johnston talked about transitioning to the NFL and his conversations with the veteran receivers.

The Chargers held their rookie minicamp this past week at Hoag Performance Center in Costa Mesa, CA. The sessions had all of the team’s draft selections and undrafted rookies, headlined by first-round pick Quentin Johnston.

“Yeah, now it does,” Johnston said when asked if it ‘feels like’ he is in the NFL yet. “The meetings and stuff, I felt like I was still in that before the Draft stage, just getting ready for it, still anxious. As soon as I put my cleats on and got out on the field, it was a real moment.”

Johnston joins the pros with a rare combination of size and athleticism, which immediately popped on the practice field. Still, one of the things that he will have to fine-tune is his route running. Luckily, Johnston will be in a wide receiver room with plenty of knowledge in that department.

After his introductory press conference, Johnston said he stopped back at his hotel, and Keenan Allen, Mike Williams and Joshua Palmer went over to say hello and converse with him on the team and life in the NFL.

“Letting me know that we were all family,” Johnston said. “Letting me know what to expect. Kind of a crash course they gave me of what to expect, how stuff is run, a baseline so that I could get an understanding and feel for the football team, as much as I can at that point.”

After dominating at TCU, replicating that same success in this league might take time while he learns the finer details of the position. But Johnston knows that he is in good hands, and being mentored by a solid corps could go a long way to boosting his game.

“I feel like I came into a good situation, starting off initially under some guys that have been in the league and have been playing at a high level for a minute,” Johnston said. “So I feel like I can pick a lot of their game, apply it to mine, what’s needed in mine, and kind of expand from there.”

Johnston said Justin Herbert has not yet reached out to him. “He followed me on Instagram when I first got drafted,” Johnston said. “I ain’t really get a chance to talk to him yet. But hopefully soon.”

Report: Saints plan to ‘take it easy’ with rookie RB Kendre Miller coming off meniscus injury

ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler reports the Saints plan to ‘take it easy’ with rookie RB Kendre Miller during offseason workouts, coming off a meniscus injury:

We’ll file this one under “Not worth worrying about, but still newsworthy.” The New Orleans Saints will gather for rookie minicamps this coming weekend but don’t expect to see much from running back Kendre Miller.

The team’s third-round draft pick is still recovering from a meniscus injury that kept him out of TCU’s College Football Playoff National Championship bid (though he said at the time his knee was at 50% of where it should be, while weighing his options, officially listed as questionable for the game), and ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler reports that the Saints aren’t in a rush to get him on the field:

Saints GM Mickey Loomis said pre-draft that running back Alvin Kamara‘s potential suspension wouldn’t influence which players the Saints draft. But the flexibility third-round back Kendre Miller out of TCU provides the position isn’t lost on the team. New Orleans ranked Miller highly in the running back class, believes in his game and loves the promise, once he figures out the pass-catching and pass-blocking components. He’s already a vicious downhill runner, and though the Saints are eager to see him in action, they will likely take it easy with him in offseason workouts and leading up to training camp while he recovers from his meniscus injury. But New Orleans might need Miller sooner than expected.

Miller is on track to return for training camp, but there’s a chance he hits the field at the same time Kamara flies out to Las Vegas for his next court appearance. The rookie has already made his intentions of coming for the top spot very clear, and he’s poised to help his case by continuing to recover from his injury so he can join the team for practice at full health.

He’s an exciting prospect. Despite this injury, Miller brings fresh legs to a running backs room that badly needs it — he’s one of the youngest players in this draft class (he doesn’t turn 21 until June) and he only has 361 career carries behind him. For context, Tennessee Titans running back Derrick Henry led the NFL with 349 rushing attempts last season. Miller needs more reps in pass protection and receiving drills, but he’ll have every opportunity to succeed once his body is right.

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2023 NFL draft: Chargers announce rookie jersey numbers

The Los Angeles Chargers rookies have their jersey numbers set in stone.

The Chargers announced the jersey numbers for their 2023 rookie class on Thursday.

Here’s a look at the first-year players and the numbers they will be sporting:

  • WR Quentin Johnston – 1
  • EDGE Tuli Tuipulotu – 45
  • LB Daiyan Henley – 0
  • WR Derius Davis – 12
  • OL Jordan McFadden – 71
  • DL Scott Matlock – 99
  • QB Max Duggan – 8

Notre Dame gets Pepperdine center Becky Obinma from transfer portal

The Irish have someone for the middle.

Last season, Notre Dame had transfer center in [autotag]Lauren Ebo[/autotag], and she played a key role en route to the ACC regular-season championship. [autotag]Niele Ivey[/autotag] has opted to play that card again for the 2023-24 season, looking to the transfer portal for a center again. This time, she has landed [autotag]Becky Obinma[/autotag] from Pepperdine.

For the past two seasons with the Waves and one season at TCU, Obinma has averaged 5.0 points, 4.8 rebounds and 0.9 blocks a game. She has yet to face an ACC opponent in her collegiate career, so this will be completely new territory for her. It will be new for the Irish, too, as she’s the only true center currently on the roster.

Ivey said the following about Obinma:

“I’m thrilled to officially welcome Becky to our Notre Dame family! Becky brings experience, athleticism and depth to the post position. She has a great motor and contagious energy on and off the court that will fit perfectly with our team. I’m looking forward to adding her post presence and speed in the open court to enhance our offensive capabilities.”

Here’s hoping this arrangement works out well for both her and the Irish.

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