Kendall Milton signs as undrafted free agent, to reunite with several teammates
Georgia running back Kendall Milton is making his way to the next level. While the the Fresno, Calif. native didn’t get picked in the 2024 NFL Draft, he did sign an undrafted free agent deal with the Philadelphia Eagles where he’ll have an opportunity to reunite with several former UGA teammates of his.
Injuries seemed like a constant battle for Milton. As a freshman, he suffered a knee injury that sidelined him late in the season. As a sophomore, that same issue struck again. Then, there were pulled hamstrings and other nagging injuries that popped up. However, as a junior and senior, Milton put together much more consistent campaigns. He found the end zone eight times in 2022 and posted a new career-high of 113 yards in the SEC Championship Game against LSU. That came during a stretch of football after his return from a groin injury in which Milton scored four times in UGA’s last six games and helped create momentum for him headed into 2023.
During his final season at Georgia, Milton carried it 121 times for a 790 yards and 14 touchdowns, all career-highs for him. He topped the 100-yard mark three times in UGA’s last five games of the 2023 campaign, finding the end zone twice in four of those five outings. Milton earned MVP honors at the Orange Bowl with nine carries for 104 yards, part of a stretch in which he scored in nine straight to close things out in Athens.
All in all, the former top-50 recruit heads to the NFL with a collegiate stat line of 297 carries, 1839 rushing yards and 23 touchdowns on the ground. He also added 12 catches for 116 yards and a receiving score, bringing the total yardage to just shy of 2,000 in 41 career contests.
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“He’s high character. Pain tolerance is high. He works really hard. He runs tough. He seeks out contact. He’s a good leader and done a great job,” Georgia head coach Kirby Smart said about Milton during his strong closing stretch. “The last game, the thing he did so great that people don’t talk about is the pass pickups. I think he had about four really big pickups in pressure that allowed Carson to stand in the pocket. That’s not the backs favorite thing to do but he did it like a stud.”
“Really physical. He’s getting his pads down, running through contact. He breaks a lot of arm tackles. You know, I saw two or three of their guys have to go out from having to tackle him ’cause he’s really physical and downhill,” Smart added on separate occasion. “But make no mistake about it: it’s not just him. It’s a lot of them dudes up there in front of him. It’s quarterback run-checking, front o-line moving people, tight ends and receivers blocking downfield. It’s a team effort, and he was a big, big part of that tonight. I mean, even Daijun had some good runs, but I thought Kendall was really physical.”
Georgia saw eight players get selected in the 2024 NFL Draft: Brock Bowers (Las Vegas Raiders), Amarius Mims (Cincinnati Bengals), Ladd McConkey (Los Angeles Chargers), Kamari Lassiter (Houston Texans), Javon Bullard (Green Bay Packers), Tykee Smith (Tampa Bay Buccaneers), Sedrick Van Pran (Buffalo Bills) and Zion Logue (Atlanta Falcons). Bulldogs not drafted include Milton along with his fellow running back Daijun Edwards, wide receiver Marcus Rosemy-Jacksaint, defensive lineman Tramel Walthour and long snapper William Mote.
