Kendre Miller Fantasy 2024
Kender Miller is entering his sophomore season in the NFL and his second with the New Orleans Saints. If only someone around here wrote about Kender Miller prior to his rookie season. Oh wait, that was me. Let’s take a look at how accurate I was or was not…
I was wrong about Alvin Kamara missing all or part of the 2023 season and quite a season he had.
I was right about Taysom Hill vulturing work from the RBs. Hill was 2nd on the Saints last year in rush attempts with 401.
I wasn’t really sure where Kendre Miller would fall in the pecking order of RBs. I was hopeful that he would overtake Jamaal Williams, but he did not. Williams had 306 rush attempts while Miller had 156. Miller was also low on the totem pole in terms of snaps. He was on the field for 9.7% of offensive snaps in 2023. Williams was around 27%, Kamara had 48%, and Taysom was at 37%. Part of the reason for this is that injuries hampered Miller’s 2023 campaign. He missed 7 games during November and December with a high ankle sprain. He made it back for the season finale and had 13 carries for 73 yards and a TD.
This summer’s camp and preseason has not been going well for Kendre Miller. Basically, he has yet to make it onto the practice field as he has been dealing with a hamstring injury. This has arguably handcuffed the coaching staff, and there is speculation that Kendre Miller could actually be cut. Head coach Dennis Allen has expressed frustration over the situation saying, “it’s hard to make the team from the training room.” While cutting a former 3rd round pick of a year ago is unlikely, the fact of the matter is that in his short time in the NFL, Kendre Miller is already looking injury prone, and it’s affecting his development within the Saints organization.
Latest Odds
Kendre Miller is +20,000 to be the NFL’s rushing leader in 2024. I’ll pass.
He’s +15,000 for most rushing touchdowns. Also pass.
I cannot find any odds for either MVP or Offensive Player of the Year. This is not a good sign for Kendre Miller’s fantasy fortunes this upcoming season.
Current ADP
- ADP: 159
- Position ADP: 53
I can only anticipate that these ADPs will decrease if Miller continues to nurse his hamstring issue and not make it onto the practice field. Jamaal Williams’ ADP is pick 254. His statistics from last year, as well as Miller’s situation, are indications that he will be RB2 on the depth chart and not Miller. This is an ongoing situation that will continue to need monitoring.
Fantasy Insight and Value
The Saints run game is something I definitely want a part of in 2024. Offensive Coordinator Klint Kubiak and Offensive Assistant Rick Dennison have a long history of installing effective running schemes. A key part of that will be to improve the play of the offensive line; the Saints have made some moves to do so, and they retained line coach Doug Marrone, so things are looking good for RBs in New Orleans.
The wild card here is Taysom Hill. Hill’s history of gadget plays, different positions, and vulturing TDs from our fantasy players was all done under OC Pete Carmichael who is now gone. How Kubiak will eventually utilize Taysom is not really clear yet, but Kubiak was quoted as saying, “Taysom has been phenomenal here early on. We’ve been moving him in a lot of spots as he’s done his entire career. He’s a really intelligent guy so we’re looking forward to giving him a lot of volume early, and we’ll start narrowing it down as we get closer to the season.” We should probably expect some involvement from Taysom Hill again. One thing Hill did say is that he had been practicing his 3 point stance, something he had not been doing much of in the NFL. Here he is operating as a fullback for Jamaal Williams in week 2 of the preseason. Hill also had a rushing TD in that game.
This is further bad news for Kendre Miller. I am someone who likes to handcuff his starting RBs in the case of an injury. At this point it seems that Jamaal Williams is the person with whom to do that. That’s a shame because I was, and still am, rooting for Kendre Miller after his collegiate success. As I said, I will continue to pay attention to this backfield as my drafts start happening at the end of August, but right now I cannot advocate for drafting Miller at his ADP.
Dynasty Value
Well, Kendre Miller’s dynasty value may be taking a huge hit if he cannot get on the field this summer. Last year Miller was going as RB5 in rookie drafts, and if you took him in your dynasty league then you’re probably not happy right now. Things could turn around for him as both Kamara and Williams aren’t getting any younger, but Miller still needs to prove that he can stay healthy in the NFL. That’s a huge ‘if’ to take a risk on this young RB in your dynasty leagues. Hopefully there are better options for you.
