Jackson State linebacker Aubrey Miller Jr. is one of the members of the Miami Dolphins’ 2023 undrafted free agent class. He began his college career at Missouri before transferring to Jackson State under the tutelage of a coach you may have heard mentioned from time to time: Coach Deion Sanders, one of the greatest players to grace the football field. Playing for Coach Sanders, Aubrey finished his senior season receiving All-SWAC honors after putting up 109 tackles and 6.5 sacks. His two-year totals comprised 226 tackles, 23.5 tackles for loss, 8.5 sacks, six forced fumbles, and 3 fumble recoveries. Those are solid numbers, regardless of what level of football. Coach Sanders had this to say about Miller, “Aubrey is one of the guys that we hang our hats on in the middle of the defense – making calls, getting to the ball, flying around, and setting the tone and tempo. And not only on game day but in practice as well. He plays his heart out”. He was predicted to go in round 5 or 6 in this year’s draft.
5th round projection stands at 6 feet and weighs 229 lbs., sideline to sideline linebacker. This seems to ring some bells of a previous similar linebacker who we were all lucky enough to have watched play for our beloved Miami Dolphins from 1996-2007. Yes, the newly chosen Hall of Famer is Zach Thomas (although Aubrey has Zach by 1” in height). He was drafted in the fifth round of the 1996 NFL Draft, at pick #154. For the twelve years, we, as Dolphin fans, became accustomed to watching #54 coming out of the bottom of the pile on what seemed to be every tackle/play during the games. I mean, he was in on EVERY. SINGLE. PLAY! His play earned him the defensive rookie of the year. On top of that, he was one of the more modest players you’d ever meet or speak to. He always said he was never the biggest or fastest player on the field but always knew where the play was going. Very few players in the course of the NFL were as prepared. While watching many of his games, you could see he was calling out several plays that the opposition was attempting to run. Zach truly was the heart and soul of the defense during his time (although a certain former brother-in-law, Jason, was equally amazing in his own right).
Getting back to Aubrey Miller. We, as Dolphin fans, can only hope that he has even a fraction of Zach’s career. I can tell you that I am pulling for him. This team has had some solid linebackers through the years and plays very well, but not at the level we once had for so many years. And we may have a chance to have that again with what seems to be very similar traits, size, instincts, and play style. Playing for Coach Sanders may be one of the toughest assignments given to a college player in any program. He came through that with flying colors. Now, throw in a highly respected defensive coach who is one of the top 5 to have ever coached in the NFL, Coach Fangio, and it looks like the Dolphins will be serving up some incredible defensive numbers and plays this year.
Let’s hope that the previous #45 can play like the 154th player picked and old #54 for the Miami Dolphins. That is too many 5&4’s in the same sentence not to give me hope; it can’t just be a coincidence.
