There were naturally high expectations placed on Christen Miller coming into the season. He was a top-50 pick and the only defensive player the New Orleans Saints invested in early in the NFL Draft. He’s unquestionably fallen short of those expectations as a rookie, and his strange season just got stranger.
A big point of frustration has been the fact we simply haven’t seen the defensive tackle on the field, and fans are going to have to wait even longer. Miller was placed on injured reserve Saturday after being a healthy scratch a week ago. That’s four more weeks Miller will be on the shelf.
Miller landed on the injury report on Wednesday with a knee injury as a limited participant, but it still begs the question of when he suffered the injury. During the week, Brandon Staley and Kellen Moore spoke as if Miller was a part of the plan moving forward. It makes the timeline of his move to injured reserve feel rushed.
Christen Miller has been one of the Saints’ biggest disappointment in his rookie year
It's been an ugly start to Miller's NFL career, and he's been the most disappointing rookie from a class that has largely disappointing. When you look at the rookie class, the majority of players they drafted were expected to need time to develop. That's what makes the struggles of Bryce Lance or the lack of receiving production from Oscar Delp more bearable.
Miller has fallen in the category with Lance and Delp, but that's not what we expected. Many thought Miller was going to and push Godchaux for a role quickly. Instead, the rookie has been a healthy scratch on multiple occasions.
It's been head scratching because the Saints have struggled to stop the run this year, and that was supposed to be Miller's strength. Everything has seemed poised for the rookie to have a prominent role, but he's been surpassed by Khristian Boyd.
Everything we've seen from Boyd, we thought we'd see from Miller. Staley preaches patience, but Miller being a healthy scratch makes it difficult to practice that patience. Instead, it makes Miller look like a disappointment.
This injury couldn’t have come at a worse time for Miller either. The Saints had just traded away Davon Godchaux, and the move seemingly opened the door for Miller to have a role on the defense. There was no reason for him to be a healthy scratch, and now he's not healthy.
It's been a strange season for Miller, and this is the latest in a list of unfortunate events.
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