Harlan Miller shines in debut with Arizona Cardinals
With more injuries early in the Arizona Cardinals game against the Seahawks on Christmas eve, Harlan Miller stepped in
The Arizona Cardinals have been battling injuries all year, they’ve had another one that came early, to safety Tony Jefferson who leads the team with 96 tackles. It was time for another young player to step in, and this time it was 6th round pick Harlan Miller, who was activated from the practice squad.
Drafted as a cornerback out of Southeastern Louisiana, Miller was signed to the practice squad after the preseason. In the game against Seattle he had a big role to fill with the loss of starting safety Tony Jefferson after the second play of the game. With two games left, the Cardinals got a nice preview of what Miller could bring to the table.
Miller only had 2 tackles, but played the position like it was natural. Bruce Arians was first to praise the rookie after the win.
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Coach Arians said “It’s his first ball game, he just got active and to play safety. I’m really proud of him and he studied his playbook well enough in the secondary meetings that he could play a position he hasn’t played.”
Could this be a sign in the off season, that if Jefferson departs via free agency, Miller could make a switch the safety? It’s possible, especially with a whole off season to train and learn at the position. Unfortunately, with Tyrann Mathieu coming back from injury, Miller will probably stick to the Corner spot.
Going into the final game against the Rams, we will have to wait and see if Arians decides to use Miller at the safety spot again. Tony Jefferson was put on IR to end the season, so there really might not be any other options.
Miller does give the Cardinals some room to breath, now that they know they have depth at safety. They just didn’t know it would come from the rookie cornerback from the practice squad.