Eagles Draft: Meet Rookie DE Shareef Miller
With the 138th pick in the 2019 NFL Draft, the Eagles selected defensive end Shareef Miller out of Penn State. Miller, a native of Philadelphia, grew up as an Eagles fan, and now he will be playing for his hometown team next season.
After selecting offensive players in the first two days of the draft, the Eagles finally made a selection on the defensive side of the ball, taking Miller. Miller will likely serve as a depth piece for the Eagles, but considering how they rotate players on the defensive front, Miller could get a respectable amount of snaps in his rookie season.
With the selections of Miller and Miles Sanders, Miller’s Penn State teammate and the Eagles first pick in the second round, this is the first time the Eagles have drafted two players from Penn State since 1979. The previous duo in the same class that played for the Nittany Lions and got drafted by the Eagles were Chuck Correal and Scott Fitzkee.
Miller is also the first Philadelphia-native to get drafted by the Eagles since Raheem Brock in 2002. After the Eagles scouted Miller at the combine, he was excited just about the idea of being drafted by his hometown team.
“I grew up on the Eagles. Me and my grandpa watched the Eagles games every day. When the Eagles won the Super Bowl, we cried when they won,” Miller said. “So, if I get drafted to the Eagles that would be a dream come true. It would be crazy, I think my family would go crazy.”
After that dream finally came true, it’s safe to say Miller is excited to have such a unique opportunity.
“Surreal. I couldn’t even put it into words. It still feels like a dream,” Miller said. “I’m just so happy, just super excited, super blessed and super thankful that the Eagles gave me this opportunity. It couldn’t be a better story.”
After celebrating the exciting news with his mother and the rest of his family, Miller says his mother told him it’s now time to get back to work.
For Miller, he will hope to re-create the success that he had in State College. In 2018, the 6’4 and the 254-pound defensive end had a collegiate-high in total tackles (41), tackles for a loss (15.0), and sacks (7.5). Miller is a high-character player who has a great motor and is fairly explosive off the edge as a pass-rusher. He still has some parts of his game to clean up, though, which could limit the number of snaps he sees early on in his career. The addition of Miller drew some questions on the future of Chris Long, but it’s unlikely it will have much impact on Long’s decision of whether to retire or not in 2018.
Miller will also look to make noise at the professional level for his late brother, Mikal Powell-Miller, who was shot four times and killed in West Philadelphia back in 2015.
In the environment Miller grew up in, violence and guns was something he had become used to.
“That’s where you’re raised, that’s what you know,” Miller said. “We didn’t know anything else.”
After he got the tragic news, Miller said he didn’t even want to go to Penn State anymore and wished he could have been there for his brother. However, Miller knew he wasn’t raised to quit and was lucky to be in the position to have that opportunity. Miller continued chasing his dream and played at Penn State, using the memory of his brother as a his source of motivation.
“I had to beat the odds,” said Miller. “I couldn’t stay in Philly. I ain’t going to be nobody in Philly.”
This time around when Miller returns to Philadelphia, it will to be playing for his hometown Eagles and completing his mission of playing in the NFL.
Miller cried watching on TV when the Eagles won the Super Bowl in 2017, and now he has a chance to help the Eagles win the Super Bowl in 2019 and years following that.
Photo: Joe Hermitt/PennLive
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Categorized:Eagles