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Alabama Football: Part 3 – Outlook for the Tide’s drafted players

By Zachary Mangum

FAYETTEVILLE, AR - OCTOBER 6: Irv Smith Jr. #82 of the Alabama Crimson Tide runs the ball in for a touchdown in the first half of a game against the Arkansas Razorbacks at Razorback Stadium on October 6, 2018 in Tuscaloosa, Alabamai. (Photo by Wesley Hitt/Getty Images)
FAYETTEVILLE, AR - OCTOBER 6: Irv Smith Jr. #82 of the Alabama Crimson Tide runs the ball in for a touchdown in the first half of a game against the Arkansas Razorbacks at Razorback Stadium on October 6, 2018 in Tuscaloosa, Alabamai. (Photo by Wesley Hitt/Getty Images) /
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BATON ROUGE, LOUISIANA – NOVEMBER 03: Christian Miller #47 of the Alabama Crimson Tide attempts to sack Joe Burrow #9 of the LSU Tigers in the second quarter of their game at Tiger Stadium on November 03, 2018 in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. (Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images)
BATON ROUGE, LOUISIANA – NOVEMBER 03: Christian Miller #47 of the Alabama Crimson Tide attempts to sack Joe Burrow #9 of the LSU Tigers in the second quarter of their game at Tiger Stadium on November 03, 2018 in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. (Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images) /

Christian Miller – Christian Miller’s Alabama football career was filled with ups and downs. He started making an impact on special teams as a RS Sophomore but didn’t see major game action until Florida State in his RS Junior season.

Unfortunately, he suffered an arm injury in that game and missed the next 10 games. After returning for the Iron Bowl, he became an impact player in the playoffs. The stats from those two games don’t show the true impact he had.

His RS Senior campaign got off to a great start. He was named SEC defensive player of the week against Ole Miss and was a force off the edge all season.

His contributions were sorely missed in the Championship game against Clemson. He was injured against Oklahoma. After a week in limbo, it was decided essentially on gameday that he would not play against Clemson. He was the best pass rusher outside of Quinnen Williams and that lack of an edge rush was exploited all night by Clemson.

Needless to say, opinions were mixed on Miller’s draft stock. On one hand, he showed elite pass-rush ability. On the other hand, there were injury concerns given the fact that he had missed 11 games in two seasons.

Now he has the chance to answer those concerns in Carolina. The Panthers are loaded at LB. They have arguably the best ILB in the game in Luke Kuechly. They have a veteran pass rusher in Bruce Irvin who plays the hybrid OLB/DE position. They also have a talented LB prospect in Shaq Thompson.

Miller is going to have to stay healthy and prove he has elite pass-rushing ability to stick with this team. If not he could easily be gone in 1-2 seasons.

Miller is a bit of a wild card, in that his outlook is tougher to predict, but if he shows off the skills that we saw in his Senior year he has staying power. Look for him to have limited action in his rookie campaign. Guys that play his position rarely come in and make an immediate impact.

Rushing the passer is a lot different in the NFL than in college. Miller will need to use this first season to learn everything possible from the veterans. If he can develop the necessary pass-rushing skills (and stay healthy) he can develop into a solid rotational guy for years to come.

Next. Outlook for Bama Players Drafted in the Late Rounds. dark

There you have it. The outlook for Alabama football players taken in the middle rounds. The next and last post in this series will look at the superstars of the future. Alabama football players drafted in the first round.

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