Georgia Football: NFL Player Comp Series, Kendall Milton
Nearing 6'2, and 230 pounds just over three days after turning 18 years old, it should go without saying that Kendall Milton is a physical specimen. Though some may look at the Kid from Clovis and see a traditional power back, that's not what I see when I break down the tape of the Georgia tailback.
I see a back far beyond his years with regards to his patience with the ball. Too often you look at an elite high school running back on tape and they are so much faster than everyone else on the field that it's an 8-minute track meet on Hudl.
And though there are portions of Milton's tape that show signs of that 4.59 speed at almost 230 pounds - running away from secondary defenders - more than any other running back's tape that I've evaluated in recent memory I see a guy that knows how to set up blockers.
I see a young man that not only has the jaw-dropping physical measurables that have drawn comparisons to the likes of Todd Gurley, Derrick Henry, and even Eddie George but has the lateral quickness of a 180-pound back. Slicing and cutting through the levels of the defense as if he's playing a game of Tetris.
Patience paired with burst topped off with uncommon power.
That is Kendall Milton. And that is why my NFL player comparison is the most patient and O-Line friendly back the league provides, Le'Veon Bell.
Here's the full film study and comparison of Kendall Milton and Le'Veon Bell:
Jump Cuts:
Some backs - like D'Andre Swift - use the dead leg to make defenders miss. Pressing the sideline shoulder of the defender and then sticking there outside leg in the ground with violence, getting vertical with explosion.
Some backs like to spin. Some backs just use their speed. All effective in their own specific way. The only problem is, they are all moves used when in space matched up one on one. But what separates elite backs is their ability to make defenders miss in confined spaces.
This is where a dynamic jump cut is deployed by backs with elite lateral quickness like Milton and Le'Veon Bell. The ability to zig-zag their way through zone blocking schemes requires incredible patience, burst and most importantly, spatial awareness. To know and feel where the defenders are without exactly seeing them.
RB, Kendall Milton ran a 4.59 at The Opening
Questions about "Top-End Speed"
I know there's been a lot of speculation and questioning about whether or not Kendall Milton has the straight-line speed to run away from defenders. To which I say this.
To me, the ability to find holes that other backs simply can't. The ability to rarely, if ever, have a negative play. The power to always fall forward for positive yardage. Those are far more transferable traits than simply being fast.
Because I'm here to tell you, everyone in the SEC is fast.
I've made this comparison before, but it's very similar to being a baseball pitcher. Sure, you have a fastball but can you locate that fastball? Can you change pace and keep the hitter off balance? It's the same thing for great backs.
Sure, Milton doesn't have the 97 MPH heater that is a 4.40 forty yard dash, but he's got the best off-speed stuff around and that's so often times more important.
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