Malik Miller ‘steady force’ in Auburn running back battle

AUBURN, Ala. (TNS) — There’s still another week to go before Auburn pares down its competition at running back from five to, likely, three — but one of the Tigers’ most senior running backs is making his case for the job.

Seemingly overlooked in the running back battle, third-year sophomore Malik Miller has left a good impression on Auburn’s coaches this spring as he tries to carve out a role in the Tigers’ backfield this fall.

“I think he’s kind of a steady force,” offensive coordinator Chip Lindsey said. “He’s kind of a veteran now. I think he’s continuing to improve.”

While Miller is entering his third year in Auburn’s offense, the 5-foot-11, 225-pounder has just 50 total carries in his first two seasons.

As a freshman in 2016, Miller 16 carries for 69 yards and a touchdown in three appearances before a knee injury brought his year to a premature end. After earning a medical redshirt in the offseason, Miller worked his way back onto the field in a limited role in 2017, carrying the ball 34 times for 135 yards and a touchdown while being, ostensibly, Auburn’s fourth option at running back.

With Kerryon Johnson and Kamryn Pettway no longer in the mix after declaring early for the NFL Draft, Miller is now the Tigers’ second-most experienced running back behind junior Kam Martin, who rushed for 453 yards on 74 carries last season.

“Malik’s a veteran guy,” Auburn head coach Gus Malzahn said. “He knows the offense inside and out. Our expectations are very high for him. I know that coach (Tim) Horton and Coach Lindsey have been pleased so far.”

Of Auburn’s five options at running back this spring, Miller is the most prototypical between-the-tackles runner of the group, and he has the frame to support it. He’s built more similarly to Pettway than to Johnson, with whom he shared the backfield in high school at Madison Academy while providing the Mustangs with a championship-caliber combination at running back.

Experience may be one thing that Miller has going for him in the Tigers’ competition, but perhaps his best advantage to this point has been his proficiency in pass protection — an area that both Malzahn and Lindsey have said will be crucial to determining Auburn’s backfield recipe in 2018.

“I think Malik has gotten much better as far as pass protection,” Lindsey said. “I think that’s one of the things where I feel really confident in him in. He’s a solid runner that obviously has been around a while, so I think any experience he’s gotten is a benefit.”