LATROBE, Pa. -- The Steelers might have a real find in Anthony Miller.
And they don't have to look all that hard since, while the offense has been struggling at Saint Vincent College, he's still been a standout.
After three full seasons with the Bears in which Miller missed only one game, he was traded to the Texans in July. For whatever reason -- and that is very unclear -- Miller’s stay with the dysfunctional Texans was very short-lived. He played just two games for Houston before being released on Oct. 6 of last year.
The Steelers signed Miller on Oct. 12, seeing an opportunity to snag a productive young player at no cost. After jumping on a moving train last year, he only saw action for Pittsburgh in one game and has one career reception with his current club. But the Steelers are giving him $1,035,000 on a one-year term for 2022, a strong indicator that they think Miller is a keeper.
In 2018, the Bears selected Miller in the second round of the NFL Draft with the No. 51 overall pick, the sixth wide receiver off the board. He caught 33 passes as a rookie, and then 101 over his next two seasons with the Bears, finding the end zone 11 times over that stretch. For his career, he has averaged 1.2 yards per route run, which isn’t great, but also isn’t atypical or a red flag for a slot receiver.
Miller’s last two seasons in college were just outstanding.
During that 26-game period, he caught 191 passes for 2,896 yards and a whopping 32 touchdowns. Miller never averaged under 14.8 yards per reception while at Memphis. That’s not too shabby for a walk-on self-made guy. Miller also chipped in with 31 rushing attempts for a 4.8 average on the ground. Matt Canada might look to get Miller the ball on a direct handoff or two, probably off pre-snap motion.
Miller is a shade over 5 feet 11 and weighed in at 201 pounds at his combine. In Indianapolis, Miller didn’t run, but his jump numbers were excellent, as was his change of direction scores. He is very quick, but also quite physical, and by no means is Miller a finesse player. He is a player who plays the game with passion and is emotional and competitive.
That has shown up this year in practice as well as during his NFL career in games. Miller’s upper-body is well built and strong with wide shoulders for a slot receiver. That's not new. He did 22 reps on the bench press at his combine, an exceptional number for a slot-type receiver, and he has big, strong hands.
THE TAPE
Let's take a look at a few samples from his time in Chicago:
Above, Miller aligns tight to the formation from a bunch set in the slot on the Seattle 10-yard line. The Bears utilize play-action with the running back taking the defense to Trubisky’s right as Trubisky rolls to his left and throws a strike to Miller on the move ... which is where Trubisky knew he was going with the football before the ball was even snapped.
This is a very similar concept to what we will see in Canada’s offense, and it shows Miller’s ability to quickly make a break on an outbreaking route away from the teeth of the defense.
Here's another:
Now this is poor coverage by the Dolphins, but it does demonstrate Miller’s ability to threaten a defense deep down the middle of the field when aligned out of the slot. Neither JuJu Smith-Schuster nor Ray Ray McCloud had Miller’s vertical abilities from the Steelers' interior alignment and, as a result over the past few seasons, their passing game has had very little presence or impact in the middle of the field in the deep or intermediate depths.
Another:
Here is another good example of Miller’s quickness on outbreaking routes out of the slot, again, in the red zone. But in this instance, we see Miller’s physicality and ability to win in contested catch situations. Trubisky once again shows great confidence in Miller to make a play in a difficult and crucial situation.
One last one:
This is yet another Trubisky-to-Miller touchdown connection and once again Miller does an excellent job of pushing his coverage player up the field and then sharply breaking off his route to the outside -- the direction Trubisky is rolling. But in this instance, the pass was underthrown, and Miller had to show off his body control to contort and scoop the ball off the group somewhat behind him for the touchdown reception.
Miller has a lot of affiliations with his current Steelers teammates. At Memphis, Miller overlapped with Calvin Austin in that wide receiver room, a room that Miller was known to have been the leader of. Then there is the obvious overlap with Miller and his former Bears offensive teammates, Mitch Trubisky and James Daniels. While Miller became a Steeler before Austin, Trubisky and Daniels, this reunion can only be looked at as a positive and, who knows, Miller might have even put a good word in with the Steelers front office on these new players’ behalf.
Miller, still just 27 years old, clearly profiles best as a slot receiver. In fact, he is the most 'true slot' receiver currently on the Steelers' roster.
Eighty percent of Miller’s routes run at the NFL level have been from the slot. Chase Claypool should get plenty of opportunities to sink or swim on the inside as a 'power slot' player, and that opportunity could really boost Claypool’s young career. But if Claypool flounders that away and isn’t as willing of a blocker as he should be, Miller could really put a stranglehold on that slot position that, especially for the Steelers, who used 11 Personnel (1 RB/1 TE) at the third-highest rate in the NFL, is truly a starting job. Miller’s fellow Memphis Tigers teammate Austin also could see action from the slot, giving the Steelers a wealth of options with their top five wide receivers with Diontae Johnson and George Pickens doing the majority of their work on the outside.
All of this isn’t to suggest that Miller is a star. But he is a keeper, and he's a keeper that the Steelers got for nothing. He might just be very useful this year.
