Alabama outside linebacker Christian Miller believes he has “first-round ability.” But he was a fourth-round selection in the NFL Draft on Saturday, taken with the 115th choice by the Carolina Panthers.

Miller was fine with it.

“I’m thankful I went to the right place,” Miller said. “It’s crazy how things work out, and I couldn’t be any happier. …

“It’s not where you get picked. It’s what you do when you get there.”

The Panthers weren't sure why Miller was available in the fourth round, but they were fine with it, too.

“He was a guy that we’ve been talking to for a while,” Carolina general manager Marty Hurney said of Miller. "He’s an excellent football player, had 8.5 sacks in around 400 snaps last year. I think, you know, he’s been going through a hamstring. He went through a hamstring early in the offseason process. That might have contributed some to him being available to where we picked him, but we are really happy to get him.

"He’s got length, he knows how to rush the passer, he can dip and bend. He just makes plays, and, as you can see by his stats last year, he’s a really good football player. He’ll help rushing the passer. That was one of the things we wanted to do was address that, and I think we did that in this draft."

The Panthers finished 27th among the NFL's 32 teams in sacks in 2018. Before picking Miller, Carolina used its first-round choice on a similar player, Florida State edge rusher Brian Burns.

“I think these guys can come in and become the kind of guys you’re looking for, most certainly,” Carolina coach Ron Rivera said. "I wouldn’t say you needed to have them; I’d say these are guys that have a skill set that brings something to the party. That’s going to be the fun thing about it -- watching what they do and the way they do it. They’re both dynamic football players. …

"For us to have Brian on this football team just adds to what we’re going to do. Getting the added depth with a guy like Christian who has an opportunity to get into the rotation, that I think is really cool."

Carolina’s defense has operated predominantly with four linemen throughout Rivera’s eight seasons with the Panthers. But Carolina plans to mix up its defensive looks this season with more 3-4 alignments.

Carolina added Bruce Irvin in free agency and Burns and Miller in the draft to boost its pass rush, and they’re the only players on the Panthers’ roster designated as LB/DE for linebacker/defensive end.

“They really do like my versatility,” Miller said. “I know they want to do a lot of different things on defense going forward, so that definitely was something they liked about me.”

Miller enters the NFL with one season of starting experience at Alabama. After a redshirt year and two seasons as a reserve, Miller got hurt in the Crimson Tide's opening game of the 2017 campaign and missed 10 games because of an arm injury. He made it back to record a sack in Alabama's 26-23 overtime victory against Georgia in the CFP national-championship game.

In 2018, Miller recorded 36 tackles for Alabama, including 11.5 tackles for loss and 8.5 sacks. One of the sacks came in the Tide's 45-34 victory over Oklahoma in a CFP semifinal contest. But Miller suffered a hamstring injury against the Sooners that caused him to miss Alabama's 44-16 loss to Clemson in the national-title game.

“To put it all together as a senior and have a complete year, it meant the world to me,” Miller said. “The most important thing to me was that I was named captain by my teammates. That really was icing on the cake and something I’ve always dreamed of, especially at a place like Alabama.

“Obviously, I wish we could have ended the season in a different manner, but all the hard work paid off. I had to develop a little bit after having a role with the team in other ways -- special teams and rotating in helping with pass rush -- and then when I did have my opportunity, I got injured. But I was able to come back and help win a championship that year and then put it all together.”

Miller starts work with the Panthers on May 10, when Carolina opens its three-day rookie minicamp.

“I’m just getting started,” Miller said. "I feel like I haven’t even scratched the surface yet, and I feel like my best football is ahead of me.”

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Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter at @AMarkG1.