Heading into this past New Orleans Saints offseason, one of the more exciting talking points was the potential emergence of second-year running back Kendre Miller. He’s had to take a long road to get here, but he has a big opportunity through the last three weeks of the 2024 season after an injury to Alvin Kamara.
After an injury-plagued rookie year, Miller caught the attention of many in the 2023 regular season finale. In the first start of his career with Kamara sidelined due to another injury, Miller delivered a promising performance against the rivaled Atlanta Falcons. In a 48-17 blowout win, Miller rushed for 73 yards on the ground on 13 carries (5.6 yards per carry) to go along with an acrobatic touchdown, the first of his young career.
With hopes high for Miller, many were looking forward to seeing what the offense could potentially be with he and Kamara sharing the backfield in Klint Kubiak’s zone-blocking run scheme.
But unfortunately, the now second-year pro was unable to catch a break. Miller would suffer a hamstring injury on the very first day of training camp, resulting in him being placed on injured reserve for the next three months or so.
Finally at full strength, Miller would be activated off of IR and return to play against Sean Payton and the Denver Broncos. In what was a catastrophe of a game, many got to see that spark again from Week 18 of last season. In his six carries Miller rushed for 36 yards (6 yards per carry) including a 16-yard pick up. It was noticed quickly the burst, the elusiveness and contact balance was all still there post-injury.
In the coming weeks though, Miller would be hit with adversity once again. Now-former Saints head coach Dennis Allen would place Miller on IR for the second time, sidelining him for the next four weeks. It was reported there was a “lack of trust” in Miller’s ability to stay healthy which led to this decision. During this time, Miller was in fact healthy and ready to play despite being placed on IR, which only added more frustration to a player that is waiting to prove himself yet again.
After the firing of Dennis Allen and the elevation of now interim head coach Darren Rizzi, Miller and Rizzi had a positive conversation, giving the green light on his return when eligible. Miller was asked about this and replied with, “I’m ready to get out there and bark a little bit.” This would be indicative of him being out of the “doghouse.” Miller was ready to go.
Miller would get his first opportunity in over a month against the New York Giants in MetLife Stadium and was quick to deliver. Miller would score his first touchdown on a 9-yard outside run in which he and his teammates carried Giants defenders into the end zone. This marked his first touchdown of the season. He would follow this performance up with an exceptional game against the Washington Commanders (9 carries for 46 yards, 5.1 per carry) where he and rookie quarterback Spencer Rattler led a late second-half comeback down 17-0 but falling just short of victory after a failed two-point attempt.
With Kamara’s status in question, Miller has an opportunity to cement himself as the team’s No. 2 back going into the offseason. After much uncertainty due to injury, Miller gets his chance to showcase his abilities and even audition as the teams answer at the position once Kamara decides to hang it up. Now is the time for Kendre Miller to prove that there he’s the guy for the job and that the team can allocate their resources elsewhere.
The lights will be bright for the young buck on Monday night against the Green Bay Packers. Expect him to embrace it.
