Film Room: What the Steelers are getting with WR Scotty Miller

The Pittsburgh Steelers have reportedly signed their third free agent wide receiver of the offseason, Scotty Miller. Like Van Jefferson and several other additions, Miller was in Atlanta last season with Arthur Smith, now the Steelers’ offensive coordinator.

While Scotty Miller isn’t the Steelers wide receiver many expected, let’s find out what the team is getting with him.

Much like Van Jefferson, there aren’t many tapes or productions to watch. In 2023 with the Falcons, Miller caught just 11 passes for 161 yards and two touchdowns, recording 267 (24%) offensive snaps. He played another 107 on special teams. As Dave Bryan noted, about a third of his yards last year came from that press coverage against the New Orleans Saints.

At 5,091 and 174 pounds out of Bowling Green before the 2019 NFL Draft, he posted a 4.36 40 at his Pro Day. That athleticism and fluidity showed up on tape. His movement style reminds me of Roman Wilson; in and out of his cuts quickly and displays burst and long speed throughout his tape.

His best showing came in Week 7 against his former team, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The X-back receiver, Miller handles this position perfectly. He extends his route while maintaining speed, causing the LCB to slow down and perhaps expect an explosive route before coming back to the post and winning vertically. He does a good job tracking the ball and finishing the play for a 46 yard gain. A run similar to Calvin Austin’s 72-yard touchdown against the Las Vegas Raiders.

Although small, Miller is not just a slot receiver. As seen in the clip above, he lined up on the outside. According to PFF, he had about a 50-50 split between outside snaps and slots last season. Last year, he had 138 in the slot and 124 outside.

In 2022 with Tampa Bay, most of his snaps came on the outside (192 outside, 57 pitches) while Chris Godwin played inside.

But that doesn’t take into account what the tape shows, which includes lots of looks grouped and stacked, even on the outside, to create free releases, of which there were plenty on film.

Miller does a good job tracking and finding the ball down the court. Here he becomes #1 in this group out, running a fade to the corner and making the grab with the defensive back protecting him. At the bottom of the screen here.

On tape it was used on posts, digs and short loops. He often saw zone defenses and ran freely up the middle or quickly sat underneath.

His 107 snaps on special teams consisted primarily of kick returns, recording 90 snaps. But he only had one return for 14 yards all season. Atlanta had just 14 kick returns all season, a low number even compared to the record number of kick returns the NFL saw in 2023. In 2022 with the Bucs, his snaps on special teams were more distributed , playing 36 on punt coverage, 26 on kick coverage and nearly 70 snaps on returning teams.

On the downside, its size poses an obvious problem. He is not good at lashing out at the press and is too easily redirected. Although the Packers are flagged here for down contact, you can see Miller getting legally kicked off the line, which impacts the timing of this route. Top in the clip slot below.

And here he is losing on this point. A good read and jump around the corner, but Miller’s lack of size hurts him here, finding himself locked in and unable to fight down the course. Bottom of the screen here outwards.

As a blocker, there is desire and effort, but his size makes it difficult for him to make an impact.

Final Thoughts

As with the addition of Jefferson, there’s not much to talk about with Miller. His playing reminds me a lot of Calvin Austin. They are small but not only exterior receivers with large wheels and smoothness but light production and a frame that creates problems. Miller arguably does a better job of tracking and finishing than Austin showed in limited opportunities, but the sample sizes for each aren’t significant, especially compared to what Miller did last season with the Falcons.

The Steelers’ plan should be to put all four, Quez Watkins, Van Jefferson, Calvin Austin III and Scotty Miller, in the same boat. All the guys are trying to fight for one of the last spots on the 53-man roster. Go to camp and let the best win. I’m guessing two of those four make 53, creating a depth chart that looks like this:

1. George Pickens
2. Romain Wilson
3-4. Watkins/Jefferson/Austin/Miller
5. Dez Fitzpatrick OR exterior addition

Obviously, if this is a significant addition, outside receiver would be higher on the depth chart. Otherwise, Fitzpatrick could sneak in as a special teamer and backup to Miles Boykin/James Pierre.

The addition of Miller shouldn’t stop the team from continuing its conversations and explorations for another outside receiver. This remains a necessity and an obvious fact. Miller likely received a one-year veteran benefits deal from the Steelers, so there’s little financial impact here, and it’s hard to be upset about just signing this. But the Steelers stack similar talents and skills redundantly and at some point they have to do something different.