There's no sugarcoating things for Kendre Miller as he enters what feels like a sink-or-swim Year 3. Something positive has to happen, and it probably has to happen quickly.
The former third round pick has been a near-constant injury question since he was drafted while in the process of rehabbing a major knee injury suffered during his final college game. From that point it's been an array of soft-tissue injuries, sprained ankles and even a concussion keeping him off the field.
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The flashes in Miller's limited work do something to justify the belief, but 14 total games played over two seasons tell the story. The numbers: 80 carries, 304 yards, 2 touchdowns and another 15 catches for 150 yards.
Head coach Kellen Moore made it clear that his past and relationship with the former coaching regime, which often appeared strained at best, won't be a factor. It's a similar vibe to what Darren Rizzi created when he took over midway through the 2024 season and after Miller's second IR stint.
“The first day was a blank slate," Moore said. "So, whatever’s … happened in the past, we acknowledge, but it has no bearing on what happens in the future.”
That goes for everybody, and it's a reasonable philosophy to have. That said, at some point something needs to be etched on that etched on that slate, and the current coaching staff is hoping it looks different.
With that in mind, and with the second Saints OTA session kicking off this week, let's dive into four big questions we'd like to find out answers to:
1. Where exactly is Kendre Miller?
This is meant more figuratively than anything else. Kendre is active and participating, and there's really only so much he can prove in these limited practices. That said, the Saints went out and drafted Devin Neal in the 6th round, Marcus Yarns is an intriguing UDFA and Clyde Edwards-Helaire is still only 26 and a potential option.
Alvin Kamara will, of course, be atop the depth chart, but isn't expected to be at OTAs. So where do we rank all the players behind him? For now I'm tentatively putting Miller there, and he was working with the first team in Week 1. That was also the case with Yarns, while Neal worked with the 2s.
It won't be a major decision point, regardless, but it'll be an early indicator of where the team sees him. I'll also note that Miller looks a bit slimmer, but it might be an optical illusion now that he's gone from No. 25 to 5.
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2. How about the CBs?
The expectation is that Quincy Riley will miss this stage of the offseason as he works back from a post-draft procedure. The issue isn't expected to impact camp, but he'll have to wait and see in terms of exactly what's expected from the 4th round pick.
But what about everyone else? I'd expect Alontae Taylor to be the featured player in Brandon Staley's "star" role (effectively the nickel corner), and Kool-Aid McKinstry would be the likely choice at CB2. But who plays across from him when Alontae moves inside? My guess is Ike Yiadom, but we'll have to see.
There will be no 11-on-11 reps until we get to camp, but the deployment in 7-on-7s should be a good indictor. We'll be keeping an eye on it.
3. The OLB transition
One of the bigger questions the Saints will have to answer this offseason is how effectively the former crop of defensive ends can transition into the 3-4 outside linebacker room in Staley's scheme.
Any players that signed this year were brought in with the understanding of their assignment, but how about the holdovers in Cam Jordan, Chase Young, Carl Granderson and Isaiah Foskey?
Generally the strong-side OLB will operate in a similar way to a 4-3 DE, but how about the other side? The weakside OLB is asked to drop into coverage much more frequently. Some guys will do much better with that than others.
Young wasn't there for the first batch of OTAs, but he has reported for session No. 2. Because of the coverage responsibilities we'll get a glimpse of that deployment even in 7-on-7s, and Jordan is getting some early run. We'll be monitoring which players seem best suited for that role.
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4. Will the Saints run the tush push?
The first thing to know is: They can. The NFL flirted with banning the play popularized by the Eagles and used to great effect by Kellen Moore last season. They came two votes shy, meaning there will be at least one more season of tush pushing.
When asked whether that means the Saints will be in on the play, Moore smiled and said: "We’ll see. Certainly I’ve had great experience with it, but again, it’s an investment."
Those last three words are important. Moore knows just how much time and energy the Eagles invested in running that play. The same is true for several members of the coaching staff, including OC Doug Nussmeier. If the Saints do intend to take their shot at running the play, they'll be spending a lot of time on it throughout the offseason. We might not see it at OTAs because there's no OL-DL contact allowed and only one of the three sessions is open to the media, but the team won't be able to hide it all camp. If we see the drills to work on it, we'll know it's in the arsenal.