Written by: TJ Inman (@TJHoosierHuddle)

Ladies and gentlemen, we are a little more than one week away from the season opener for the Indiana Hoosiers! After a long and often uncertain offseason, IU will finally be taking the field and battling the Penn State Nittany Lions. Today’s Hoosier Huddle Countdown profile focuses on a pair of players: James Miller and Stevie Scott.

Name – James Miller

Position – Linebacker (Redshirt Sophomore)

Hometown –Tampa, Florida (Armwood High School)

Height – 6’2”

Weight – 231

One of the many players from the state of Florida, the Tampa area specifically, James Miller is an exciting linebacker entering his redshirt sophomore season. Miller starred at Armwood High School and the 2017 Hillsborough County Defensive Player of the Year. He was outrageously productive as a senior, posting 164 tackles with nine forced fumbles and three fumble recoveries (including two he returned for touchdowns). His college choices were narrowed to Indiana and Florida State and he ultimately chose to make the trek to Bloomington and be a part of the “Sunshine Pipeline”.

Miller redshirted the 2018 season, appearing in three games including one start at Michigan. He showed well on the scout team and was ready for an increased role in 2019. As a redshirt freshman, Miller appeared in all 13 games and started one contest as he had 31 tackles, two forced fumbles and 4.5 tackles for loss. He was outstanding in the November loss to Penn State with seven tackles and a forced fumble.

The hard-hitting linebacker is likely behind Cam Jones and Micah McFadden, the two starters at linebacker in IU’s 4-2-5 alignment. I would expect Miller to be third on the list, ahead of Cam Williams, Aaron Casey, Thomas Allen and newcomer Ty Wise. Miller needs to improve in pass coverage but there is no doubt he is a playmaking linebacker that will play a major part in IU’s defense.