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Chicago Bears Draft Prospect Profile: EDGE Christian Miller

The Chicago Bears were able to fill some of their holes in free agency, but as of right now are still looking for a third pass rusher.
Fortunately, it is a very deep edge class which could cause a good player to fall to the Bears. There are plenty of Day 2 edge rushers, and just by sheer numbers alone, one of them should unexpectedly fall into the Bears’ laps.

Here is a look at the position as we know today:

First Round Locks:

  • Nick Bosa (Ohio State)
  • Josh Allen (Kentucky)
  • Brian Burns (Florida State)
  • Montez Sweat (Mississippi State)
  • Rashan Gary (Michigan)
  • Clellin Ferrell (Clemson)

Day 2 Prospects:

  • Jachai Polite (Florida)
  • D’Andre Walker (Georgia)
  • Chase Winovich (Michigan)
  • Jaylon Ferguson (Louisiana Tech)
  • Charles Omenihu (Texas)
  • Christian Miller (Alabama)

That makes 13 pass-rushing prospects slated for the first round or somewhere on Day 2 (second and third rounds).
Are 13 edge defenders going to be drafted in the first 86 picks in the draft? Unlikely.
While there are other intriguing players slated for Day 3 (Maxx Crosby, Ben Banogu) the Bears can reach for at Pick 87, if they want someone who can contribute meaningful snaps right away they will want to target one of those 13 players.
Of those players, there are a few that have the best chance of being there when the Bears pick.
Polite, once thought of to be a first-round lock, is in a free fall after a horrendous combine and some concerns about his work ethic. However, his tape is great so he is unlikely to fall all the way to Pick 87.
Sweat has some medical concerns that might cause him to fall. Regardless, his talent level is too great to fall out of the second round at worst.

The best player most likely to be there is Alabama’s Christian Miller.

Miller has great talent but he has a few things that might turn teams off. For one, he is a one-year starter. In his first three seasons, he played sparingly in 14 games accumulating 22 tackles and only three sacks. Even in his breakout senior season he only managed 34 tackles and a good, not great eight sacks.
Another reason Miller might be available is due to injuries. His junior season he suffered a bicep injury that kept him out of all but four games. This past season he suffered a hamstring injury in the semifinal game against Oklahoma which kept him out of the national championship game, Senior Bowl and prevented him from doing all the drills at the combine. The injury was so bad he was still limited at Alabama’s pro day more than three months later.
Without full athletic testing, teams may opt to go for high upside, super-athletic prospects such as Banogu, even if the tape doesn’t warrant it.
Lastly, Miller is undersized. We saw it just last season with Boston College edge rusher Harold Landry that the NFL is wary of sub-250 pound edge rushers. Landry had even better production and tape than Miller although despite top-10 traits slipped all the way to the second round. Miller measured just over 6-foot-3 (shorter than his listed height at Alabama) and only 247 pounds at the combine.
So if he is available and the Bears make him their pick, what exactly would they be getting?

Strengths

Bend – Flexibility
Despite some of his deficiencies, he does one thing extremely well: Get after the quarterback. Players who do that consistently will always get drafted high
Miller’s bend and flexibility are what allow him to wreak havoc on opposing quarterbacks. Few prospects in the draft, let alone in the Bears’ range, have shown the ability to turn the corner as Miller has.
Below is just a straight speed rush, but it’s the subtle things that make it so impressive. He is able to dip his inside shoulder, shrinking his body and giving the left tackle a smaller target to punch. A lot of pass rushers don’t possess the flexibility for this and are far too linear, giving up a lot of surface area for offensive lineman to attack.
Kyler Murray does a great job of feeling the pressure and steps up in the pocket nicely. This is where most pass rushers would run past the play as they lack the change of direction that Miller possesses. Miller is able to continue his arc up through the pocket for the sack.


Here is another example of his flexibility, this time lined up over the right tackle. Here the inside shoulder dip is obvious. This is almost an untouched sack in a one on one pass rush situation. Again, this is due to his flexibility which allows him to shrink the strike zone for opposing tackles.


The above play is also a good example of his next strength …
Synchronization of Hands and Feet
Miller’s hands and feet are typically in sync with each other. A subtle yet highly important aspect of rushing the passer. Alabama players are always well coached and this is a perfect example of that. His cross chops are always timed perfectly with his feet pointed towards the quarterback. This allows him to flatten at the top of the arc for a more direct line to the quarterback.


Hand Use – Pass Rush Counters
Miller’s pass rush arsenal isn’t the deepest at this point in his career. However, he is effective because he has a plan and knows when to use each move. His go-to move is a cross chop to swat away the tackles initial punch. With this, he usually has impeccable timing.
In the below example, the left tackle, potential first round pick Greg Little, has quick enough feet to stay in front of him. This is where a lot of young pass rushers stall out, but Miller deploys a long arm technique utilizing his immense 35â…› inch arms to get underneath the pads and push the tackle back into the quarterback for the sack.

Weaknesses

Run Defense
Even with more playing time this season, Alabama did a good job of hiding him in the run game. He only played about half the snaps (a rough estimate based on the games I watched) which allowed him to stay fresh and receive limited early-down work. He can struggle against larger offensive linemen to set an edge and can be easily washed away by double teams.
He has shown some flashes of potential in this regard. Despite his size limitations, Miller has very long arms that allow him to keep tight ends and smaller tackles away from his body. When he does this he shows good gap discipline and is able to find the ball carrier quickly.
Burst
For all his athleticism and bend, his initial get off is nothing to write home about. When Miller does get a good initial get off he produces the splash plays shown above. When he doesn’t, he tends to stall out at the top of the arc.
His 38.5-inch vertical jump shows he has the lower body explosiveness needed for a better burst. Nothing a little coaching and slight stance change can’t fix.

Fit with the Bears

The Bears obviously have a need at outside linebacker, but not every edge player will be a fit in their defense. For example, Rashan Gary is not a player who can drop into coverage, something the Bears have asked often out of their outside linebackers.
Miller was dropped into coverage often at Alabama and has shown some fluidity in that regard. It might not be a strength of his like it is for Leonard Floyd, but it is far from a weakness. He also has experience rushing from both a 2 and 3-point stance. This allows him to play in both their base and nickel defenses.
Miller can be used as a situational pass rusher from Day 1 with the Bears. And if Floyd goes down with an injury, could step in and adequately fill his role. If Mack goes down with an injury… Well, I’d rather not think about that so let’s move on.
Miller provides Chicago with roster flexibility. The Bears will most likely pick up Floyd’s fifth-year player option so he will be a Bear for at least two more seasons. However, if Miller stands out, it will allow them to let Floyd go in free agency, save some money, and recoup a comp pick.
Stay tuned next week when we look at some potential mid-round targets at the position.

steve

Steve is a graduate of Marquette University where he majored in Business Administration and Marketing and he currently lives in Milwaukee. Even though he grew up in Cleveland, he is a lifelong Chicago sports fan.

His favorite Bears memory is going to the Bears-Packers game on Thanksgiving in 2015. It was cold and raining, but the Bears ended up winning the game 17-13. You can follow him on Twitter @stephenletizia.

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