Jam Miller is headed to New England. The Patriots selected the Alabama running back with the 245th overall pick in the seventh round of the 2026 NFL draft, making him the 10th Alabama player chosen.
For Miller, it is the next step after four years at Alabama and a season in which he led the Tide in rushing despite missing four games. He finished 2025 with 504 yards, averaging 3.9 yards per carry after returning Sept. 27 against Georgia from a collarbone injury that cost him Alabama's first three games.
Miller's path to the draft was shaped as much by injury as production. He hurt his collarbone in a fall scrimmage in mid-August, then missed the opening stretch of the season before coming back against Georgia. He played the rest of Alabama's games except the rematch with Georgia in the SEC championship game, and Alabama's running game struggled in part because of his absence.
That made the numbers around him harder to ignore. Miller averaged 4.6 yards per rush in 2024, then ran a 4.42-second 40-yard dash at the NFL combine in late February, fourth among all running backs. At 5-foot-10, he gave Alabama a compact frame and enough speed to keep his name in the draft conversation even after the injury interruptions.
The selection also keeps him on a longer Alabama track. Miller was recruited by Nick Saban, and he is trying to become the 15th Alabama running back recruited by Saban to be picked in the NFL draft. That lineage has become part of how Alabama backs are judged: not just by production, but by whether they can carry it into the league.
For Miller, the draft did not erase the missed time or the uneven offense around him. It still ended the way he needed it to, with a team calling his name and a chance to turn a solid college career into a professional one.
