Foothill grad Miles Killebrew bulked up to rise up NFL Draft boards

By Jesse Granger

Tuesday, March 22, 2016 | 2 a.m.

In 2011, during his senior season at Foothill High, Miles Killebrew was a slender, playmaking cornerback that topped out at 180 pounds.

The Henderson native earned all-state and all-city honors, including the defensive MVP award after racking up 77 tackles, three sacks and six interceptions, but had very little interest from college teams.

His father David even reached out to UNLV to garner the coaches’ attention but had no luck.

Eventually Southern Utah, a small Football Championship Subdivision school in Cedar City offered Killebrew a scholarship. It would be his only offer.

Five years later, Killebrew stands at 6-foot-2, 230 pounds as he prepares for his pro day on March 30th, where he will work out in front of NFL coaches.

The muscle-bound safety-linebacker hybrid is currently ranked fourth amongst safeties in the upcoming draft by NFL.com’s Mike Mayock.

“It’s easy to mistake Killebrew for a linebacker, both because of his physique but also due to his hard hits,” writes Lance Zierlein in a scouting report on NFL.com. “Tightly bundled muscle hammer with a compact frame and the thighs of a track sprinter. World-class form tackler with bad intentions behind his strikes.”

So how did a scrawny but talented cornerback from Foothill transform into a soon-to-be NFL wrecking machine?

“I didn’t lift weights in high school because my dad kept me off of them,” Killebrew said. “It was to the dismay of my high school coach, but he just wanted me to protect my body since I was still growing.”

Once Killebrew stepped onto campus and into the weight room, the rest is history.

After redshirting one year, Killebrew started 11 games as a freshman in 2012 and was named honorable mention All-Big Sky.

Killebrew always dreamt of playing in the NFL but admitted there were times when it was difficult to imagine.

"It seemed like a far off reality when I was in high school,” Killebrew said. “Once I got to college and realized I’m good at this still, even at this level, then I thought I could make a living doing this.”

In his final two years at Southern Utah he amassed 243 tackles, including 132 as a senior. He earned all-conference recognition in each of his four seasons.

Killebrew developed from being ignored by a bottom-dwelling football program like UNLV to a top NFL prospect in only four years.

“The transition has been awesome,” Killebrew said. “I always knew I could play football. I just didn’t happen to look like the prototypical high school recruit at the time, and that’s ok.”

Now, NFL coaches aren’t making the same mistake that college coaches did by overlooking Killebrew. He is currently ranked in the top-5 in his position on every major draft site.

Prior to his pro day, NFL teams have been flying in coaches to put Killebrew through drills and get to know him.

“It’s been hectic and crazy with not a lot of down time,” Killebrew said. “This month teams have come in and worked me out. Their position coach will do some workouts with me, and take me to dinner and talk football.”

While Killebrew’s reputation as a smashmouth, physical player is well deserved, he believes his leadership on the defense is his best asset.

“I’m verbal,” Killebrew said. “I’m always talking to everyone on defense. Everyone knows that I am physical, but I’m not only a physical player.”

Because of his physique Killebrew can easily add or lose weight to compensate for where coaches want to use him on the field.

He weighed as much as 230 pounds during his senior year to help in the box in run support. He quickly dropped to 219 pounds for the Senior Bowl on Jan. 28 to show off his quickness as a safety.

“It’s not an accident that I’m here,” Killebrew said. “I’ve been working for this my whole life.”

Every NFL scouting report on Killebrew drools over his physicality.

“Violent player who looks to punish and intimidate with the force of his strikes, but who won't compromise his form as a tackler just for the highlight reel hit,” wrote Lance Zierlein of NFL.com. “Killebrew is average in coverage, but has the size and physicality that makes him stand out in the box.”

At this point, it’s hard for Killebrew himself to disagree.

“If you draft me, you’re going to get somebody who is loud and likes to hit,” Killebrew said. "Not only am I not afraid of contact, but I embrace it and run through it."

Jesse Granger can be reached at 702-259-8814 or [email protected]. Follow Jesse on Twitter at twitter.com/JesseGranger_.