QB Zach Miller from UNO drafted

[BigBL87]

I know this isn't Husker related, but thought it was interesting. Anyone know anything about the guy?

[Dundermifflinite]

technically could go under Former Skers...

from the OWH:

 

Published Saturday April 25, 2009

Miller thinks tight end is the ticket to an NFL roster

BY RICH KAIPUST

WORLD-HERALD STAFF WRITER

 

UNO's pro day last month reached the stage where Zach Miller had completed his physical testing and was ready to run some patterns and catch the football.

 

Zach Miller, UNO's quarterback the past three years, is second on the school's all-time total offense chart. But he's looking to crack the NFL draft as a tight end. If the past few weeks are any indication, he's a quick learner.

Slight problem.

 

Miller was the Mavericks' quarterback the previous three seasons. And nobody else with much of an arm was around.

 

"So Mike Tice threw to him," UNO coach Pat Behrns said.

 

Perhaps there was some symbolism in the gesture.

 

Tice played quarterback at Maryland before embarking on a 14-year NFL career as a tight end. Miller is trying to make the same transition almost 30 years later.

 

Miller was just a little nervous as the 50-year-old Tice - the former Minnesota Vikings coach now with the Jacksonville Jaguars - got him started on the Caniglia Field turf.

 

"I'm like, 'OK . . . Mike Tice is throwing to me,'" Miller said.

 

Tice started him off slowly because Miller was dealing with torn ligaments in his right thumb.

 

"People weren't sure what I'd be able to do because I had a brace on," Miller said. "I said, 'You can throw it a little harder than that.' From then on, he let them fly.

 

"He threw some pretty good balls. He got the ball where it needed to be."

 

Miller hasn't asked anybody to take it easy on him - or cut any corners - since he made the commitment to go from quarterback to tight end. Teams have taken notice, starting with 20 or so NFL types attending UNO's pro day and a handful of teams working him out individually in following weeks.

 

It leads him to the NFL draft, which starts today. Miller could land as a late-round pick Sunday, which would make him UNO's first pick since receiver-tight end Ryan Krause went to San Diego in the sixth round in 2004.

 

"Hopefully I've done everything I can," Miller said. "Now it's out of my hands."

 

It's been quite a five-month process getting to this doorstep. Luckily for Miller, he started with the toughness and physical ingredients necessary to make the jump: size (6-foot-4, 238 pounds), speed (4.53-second range in the 40) and jumping ability (37½ inches in the vertical leap).

 

He's a project, for sure, but maybe not to the extent some might think, Behrns said.

 

Miller didn't just run the football for UNO - he was a physical runner. He was a 1,000-yard rusher as a senior and finished his career No. 2 on the Mavs' all-time list for total offense (7,218 yards).

 

"The thing about most quarterbacks trying this would be, can you take that physical pounding running down the field?" Behrns said. "But he's already done that. At least they can see he's a football player when he's running around the field. A guy who's always in the pocket, you never see him outrunning people, avoiding people and making plays with his feet."

 

Behrns said Miller was "unbelievable" during the UNO pro day. Mavs offensive coordinator Aaron Keen came up to him during a breather and joked: "I don't know what I was doing playing you at quarterback."

 

Among his trips, Miller last week visited Jacksonville, where Tice coaches the tight ends. The Jaguars previously converted Matt Jones from college quarterback to receiver, although they recently released the former first-round pick after four troubled seasons.

 

Behrns said character is one of Miller's strengths, praising his work ethic and attitude. The Wahoo Neumann graduate, from Weston, Neb., walked on at NU but eventually transferred when Bill Callahan was hired and changed the Husker offense.

 

Maybe Miller could have switched positions then and stayed. Tried linebacker or safety. Even tight end.

 

"Hindsight is 20/20," he said. "But no regrets, no remorse, because I had a great time and a great career at UNO."

 

One scout told Miller last fall that he probably could play defense in the NFL, but offense better suited his skills. Teams would find ways to get him in space, use his athletic ability and create mismatches.

 

"I love playing quarterback, and I love being in that position, being in the spotlight," Miller said. "But I also love playing football, and what's wrong with playing tight end or H-back in the National Football League as opposed to sitting at home and doing nothing?"

 

Many apparently think he can make it. Some team will either draft Miller or sign him quickly as a priority free agent.

 

As Gil Brandt of NFL.com wrote recently: "He reminds me of a Jay Novacek, Dallas Clark-type player."

[Dundermifflinite]

Darn Double!

[Danimal]

Looks to be be a solid TE-prospect. He's 6'4, like 240lbs, runs a 4.5 with a 36" vertical. Learning a new position he'll be a project but dude is a quality athlete and football player.

 

 

Nice job BC, TE was a very thin spot during his tenure and he let a potential good one just walk away. If he had some sense he'd have seen that potential and worked on getting Miller to change spots while Zach was still in Lincoln.

[redout22]

[huskertim]

I saw him play live a number of times, very good athele, scouts have been high on him as a project for some time and yeah, he'd have been a fine QB for the Big Red.