Hogs Haven takes a look at 2023 NFL Draft prospects that could contribute to the Commanders
Ventrell Miller, LB
School: Florida | Conference: SEC
College Experience: Senior | Age: 22
Height / Weight: 6’ / 232 lbs
Projected Draft Status: 5th-7th Round
Player Comparison: Micah Kiser
College Statistics
| Tackles | Def Int | Fumbles | |||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | School | Conf | Class | Pos | G | Solo | Ast | Tot | Loss | Sk | Int | Yds | Avg | TD | PD | FR | Yds | TD | FF |
| *2018 | Florida | SEC | FR | LB | 7 | 8 | 7 | 15 | 2.0 | 1.0 | 1 | 82 | 82.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| *2019 | Florida | SEC | SO | LB | 12 | 27 | 28 | 55 | 5.5 | 3.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | |||
| *2020 | Florida | SEC | JR | LB | 11 | 52 | 34 | 86 | 7.5 | 3.5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 0 | |||
| *2021 | Florida | SEC | SR | LB | 2 | 3 | 5 | 8 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||
| *2022 | Florida | SEC | SR | LB | 11 | 34 | 40 | 74 | 8.5 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | |
| Career | Florida | 124 | 114 | 238 | 23.5 | 7.5 | 1 | 82 | 82.0 | 1 | 7 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||||
Player Overview
A three-star recruit in high school, Lakeland, Florida native Ventrell Miller decided to stay in state and play at Florida over Arizona, California, Cincinnati, and Bowling Green. Things got off to a rocky start in 2017 with Miller redshirting while he was suspended for marijuana possession. He started turning things around the next season, appearing in each of the Gators’ games in 2018 as a reserve and special teamer. He would get his chance to start in 2019 and was second on the team in tackles. He’d follow that up in 2020 by leading the team in tackles and earning SEC Defensive Player of the Week honors twice. His 2021 campaign was limited to two games because of injury. In 2022, he was fourth on the team in tackles with 8.5 of them for a loss, all while playing through a foot injury that has kept him from athletic testing prior to the draft.
Strengths
- Does a good job scraping along the line to track ball carriers
- Willing to take on blockers and fight through them for tackles
- Excellent at timing his blitzes to get in the backfield
- In zone coverage, has good feel for players in his zone
- High effort player
Weaknesses
- Limited athletically with change of direction and speed primary concerns
- Struggles getting to edges to prevent outside runs
- Difficulty covering players in man coverage
- Needs to improve strength to consistently shed blockers
Let’s see his work
Textbook tackle.
@ventrell_miller #RecruitPolkFL pic.twitter.com/3KbjTm1ucL
— Hasani (H2) | Football Recruiting (@H2_Recruiting) December 13, 2020
Great 3rd and 1 stop by LB Ventrell Miller pic.twitter.com/lXlWob9JNf
— Connor Rogers (@ConnorJRogers) September 26, 2020
Florida LB Ventrell Miller will be at the NFL Combine without a boot on right foot following Dec. 22 bone graft surgery to repair Jones fracture. He’ll meet with teams/docs + expected to be ready for rookie minicamp, per source.
Miller, a Day 2 Draft candidate, working last week pic.twitter.com/XMVkj2iuLo
— Cameron Wolfe (@CameronWolfe) February 27, 2023
Florida LB Ventrell Miller has drawn extensive interest from the Jets & Titans during the predraft process. He’ll meet individually with each team’s LB coach this week, per source.
Physical second level defender has also met with Indianapolis, Green Bay, Denver, and Washington.
— Ryan Fowler (@_RyanFowler_) March 22, 2023
How he fits on the Commanders
Ventrell Miller has has a lot of qualities that teams want from their linebackers: instincts, toughness, effort. These qualities help make up for his lack of athleticism, but will be enough for him to make an impact at the next level? The Commanders may think so given that they have meet with Miller. If Washington selects him, he would provide special teams play and depth to a starting unit that will feature Jamin Davis and Cody Barton. While Miller has tools to contribute in the front seven, he’ll have to improve his coverage ability to prevent being targeted by teams in passing situations. If he can do those things, he might become a quality backup on the Commanders defense.