Why the recruitment of Colorado ATH commit Chris Miller matters for Texas

On January 20, Colorado Buffaloes commit Chris Miller will officially visit the Texas Longhorns, but even though the consensus three-star prospect doesn’t yet hold an offer, he could play an important role in the 2017 recruiting class for new head coach Tom Herman.

On an individual level, the 5’11, 173-pounder is an impressive athlete who ran a 4.50 40-yard dash at the Dallas The Opening Regional camp last year, in addition to a 4.10 shuttle and a 40.2-inch vertical leap.

In fact, Miller is hardly your average mid three-star prospect as a result — he’s among the best athletes in the state at his size.

And though not a big name in recruiting circles, Miller does hold offers from programs like Baylor, Iowa, Missouri, Notre Dame, and Ole Miss, so there are some coaching staffs in the Big Ten and the SEC that believe in his upside.

With targets like Kamren Curl and Chevin Calloway still on the recruiting board for the final secondary spot, Miller would likely be a take at wide receiver for Texas, perhaps even in addition to the potential flip of fellow Metroplex product Omar Manning, the current TCU pledge.

In a worst-case scenario, he’s a credible back-up plan at both positions.

Miller doesn’t yet hold an offer from the Longhorns and the staff could try to get him to commit on the spot in return for extending one, but his greatest potential impact on the class could be in regards to his teammate, Grant Polley.

Like Miller, Polley is also committed to Colorado and has publicly remained firm with his pledge while considering an official visit to Texas behind the scenes.

Following the recent decommitment of former Longhorns offensive line pledge Xavier Newman, the Buffaloes still hold six pledges from recruits in the greater Dallas area and those prospects have stuck together. Many of them have been committed for a number of months.

Convincing Miller to flip to Texas could provide a fracture in that group and an opening with Polley, a key target for offensive line coach Derek Warehime as the preferred take along with US Army All-American Derek Kerstetter.

Like many prospects currently committed in the class, Polley has higher value than this three-star ranking might suggest — he’s an Under Armour All-American who drew a favorable comparison to Connor Williams from Coach Lamons upon film review.

Taking Miller on his own merits makes sense because he’s an excellent athlete who can play on either side of the ball, but it makes even more sense if he can help land his talented high school teammate.