Alabama fifth-year senior outside linebacker Christian Miller is living, breathing proof that coach Nick Saban is not a stats guy.
Miller is heading into his final season having made just 22 career tackles, with 16 of those occurring in 2016. He arrived in Tuscaloosa as a top-100 national prospect in the 2014 signing class but had to wait his turn behind the likes of Ryan Anderson, Denzel Devall, Rashaan Evans and Tim Williams.
When Miller finally got his opportunity to shine last year, he suffered a torn biceps in the opener against Florida State that forced him to miss 10 games, which has only sharpened the focus for the 6-foot-4, 244-pounder from Columbia, South Carolina.
“For the most part, it’s in the past,” Miller said in a news conference this week when asked about last September’s setback. “I’m locked in and focused on my senior season. I will say that there is some motivation, because I had a lot of my season cut out last year, and this is my last shot.
“I want to go into this thing and just leave it all out there with no regrets.”