Bruce Arians: 'Heath Miller is the best tight end in the NFL'

[SteelCrazy]

Arizona Cardinals head coach Bruce Arians believes that Pittsburgh Steelers tight end Heath Miller is the best in the NFL because of his ability as a blocker.

Arians used to coach Miller at the Steelers as his offensive coordinator and feels that he provides better value at the position over players who just catch passes.

He told reporters: "The tight end for me, I'm old school. You've got to block first and catch passes,.

"That's why I loved Heath Miller. I still think Heath Miller's the best tight end in the National Football League, not because he catches 90 passes, because he blocks big defensive ends, and he catches about 60-70 passes.

"The guys that line up as wide receivers might get tagged as wide receivers. But, you know, tight ends for me block first, catch second."

Arians had an excellent first season at the Cardinals guiding them to a 10-6 record in 2013.

[url]http://www.sportsmole.co.uk/american-football/arizona-cardinals/news/arians-miller-is-the-best-tight-end-in-the-nfl_140056.html[/url]

[BradshawsHairdresser]

Maybe Arians will make a play to obtain Miller...Do you think Colbert will call and ask what Brucie would be willing to trade for Heath?

[NorthCoast]

Pure BA. Heath Miller was completely underutilized in BA's offense. What good is a TE with soft hands and good speed that was rarely sent into pass patterns?

[SS Laser]

Pure BA. Heath Miller was completely underutilized in BA's offense. What good is a TE with soft hands and good speed that was rarely sent into pass patterns?

That happens with bad O line play and trying to not get the QB killed. Need to use that TE that can block like a OT

[Shoe]

I'm like BA. Dual threat TEs are always preferable to me, than a guy who can do one part exceptionally well but not the other parts at all. I remember in the 90s, how we had a guy named Adrian Cooper who used to block DEs in the run game, seal the edge, and we'd dominate games that way. I don't think Heath is that good (blocking), but he's probably in the 90th percentile, when it comes to starting TEs blocking.

[skyhawk]

Mark Bruener was likely a better blocker. And better than Adrian Cooper as well. But Heath is right up there with them.

Heath is the best all around TE in the past 20 years IMO.

[RuthlessBurgher]

Steelers veteran tight end Miller thriving after missing last offseason

By Alan Robinson

Published: Monday, June 9, 2014, 9:50 p.m.
Updated 10 hours ago

Ben Roethlisberger is using the Steelers' pre-camp practices to get in rhythm with the receivers who weren't around a year ago.

Martavis Bryant. Lance Moore. Darrius Heyward-Bey. Rob Blanchflower.

Don't forget one more name: Heath Miller.

Miller, long the most-trusted target for Roethlisberger, seems to be enjoying the offseason workouts that move into their third week Tuesday — an uncommon occurrence for a player going into his 10th NFL season.

But rather than feeling drudgery while going through practices that take place three months before the season starts, Miller believes the sessions are good for him and the offense.

For good reason, too — he was healing from a major knee injury a year ago, when he missed all of the major preseason work and didn't return to the lineup until Week 3.

Even after he came back, it took Miller weeks and weeks to again be the receiver he was while making 71 catches in 2012, before he tore his ACL and MCL and injured his PCL against the Bengals on Dec. 23. He needed nearly nine months — and that was a rapid recovery — for his right knee to fully strengthen, and for him to get back into game and practice shape.

It was a long road, but Miller — the top receiving tight end in Steelers' history — believes he's fully back, 18 months since he was injured.

“Last year was the first year I haven't been able to prepare for a season with these (May-June) practices, and they're certainly beneficial — to me, anyway — to be out here to work on your technique,” Miller said.

“It's hard to simulate football activity without doing football.”

It also was more difficult for Roethlisberger to begin last season without Miller and projected starting running back Le'Veon Bell, who missed the first three games of the Steelers' 0-4 start.

iller and Bell should be full-go in an offense that looks deeper than it did at the start of last season, even without receivers Jerricho Cotchery and Emmanuel Sanders.

“It's hard for me to think of another year when we've lost (more) guys, but we've got some new faces — and, from what I've seen, they're more than capable of getting the job done,” Miller said. “It's just a matter of who is going to be out there doing it.”

The one constant in the Steelers' passing game since Miller arrived as a first-round pick in 2005 is how reliable he is as a receiver.

Even while playing in an offense that never emphasized throwing to the tight end, Miller has 466 catches — the fourth-most among all NFL tight ends over the past nine seasons. He has made those catches while being targeted only 652 times — or nearly 500 times fewer than 13-time Pro Bowl tight end Tony Gonzalez during that span.

Miller, who turns 32 in October, doesn't think his knee operation will have any impact on this season or the rest of his career.

While he didn't look like himself until the second half of last season, he still finished with 58 catches, the third-most of his career.

“Certainly, if you play the game long enough, there aren't many guys who come through it without major injuries,” Miller said. “It's just something that I've had to work to overcome, and I'm just looking forward now.”

So is Roethlisberger.

“I've always said that Heath is the best all-around tight end in the league,” he said.

[URL]http://triblive.com/sports/steelers/6250942-74/miller-heath-tight#axzz34E3QaSus[/URL]

They also included a sidebar this listed Heath as having 7 of the 10 most productive seasons for a Steeler TE.


Top targets

Top 10 receiving seasons by a Steelers tight end:

Name Year Rec. Yds Avg. TD

1. Heath Miller 2009 76 789 10.4 6

2. Heath Miller 2012 71 816 11.5 8

3. Eric Green 1993 63 942 15.0 5

4. Heath Miller 2013 58 593 10.2 1

5. Heath Miller 2011 51 631 12.4 2

6. Heath Miller 2008 48 514 10.7 3

7. Heath Miller 2007 47 566 12.0 7

8t. Eric Green 1994 46 618 13.4 4

8t. John Hilton 1966 46 603 13.1 4

10. Heath Miller 2010 42 512 12.2 2

I guess they are considering Elbie Nickel to be more of a WR than a TE when doing this list.

[Oviedo]

I agree with Northcoast. I was never a Arians hater like so many because I saw that he was trying to move this offense to a level to compete with the other high octane offenses in the league. My biggest disappointment with him is that he never delivered on his promises to use the TEs more. Maybe that is ebcause the OL was so bad he needed the blocking but still very disappointing that we never got what we could have out of Miller's prime playing years.

[feltdizz]

I agree with Northcoast. I was never a Arians hater like so many because I saw that he was trying to move this offense to a level to compete with the other high octane offenses in the league. My biggest disappointment with him is that he never delivered on his promises to use the TEs more. Maybe that is ebcause the OL was so bad he needed the blocking but still very disappointing that we never got what we could have out of Miller's prime playing years.

BA was pretty good. It's a shame he was blamed for so much

[Djfan]

He just wants him when he gets old. It's the Cardinal way to bring in old Steelers. Just look at their coaching history.

[ikestops85]

BA was pretty good. It's a shame he was blamed for so much

I didn't hate BA like a lot of folks but I would never say he was pretty good. Just remember his offensive philosophy was run twice up the middle and then see if Ben can get us a first down. Even under BA reign Ben was great in the no huddle and every year he would say we would do more of it but it never happened. He would always say we were going to use Heath more and it never happened. He had a hard time utilizing weapons that they got for him. Stephan Logan was never used out of the backfield. Mike Wallace wasn't used on underneath drag routes which with his speed he would have excelled at. The only thing that saved BA's offense was the play of Ben. If he wasn't leading our team we would have placed in the bottom 5 offensively.

I can't say I was sorry to see BA go. Of course we could have done worse and the jury is probably still out on Haley.

[feltdizz]

I didn't hate BA like a lot of folks but I would never say he was pretty good. Just remember his offensive philosophy was run twice up the middle and then see if Ben can get us a first down. Even under BA reign Ben was great in the no huddle and every year he would say we would do more of it but it never happened. He would always say we were going to use Heath more and it never happened. He had a hard time utilizing weapons that they got for him. Stephan Logan was never used out of the backfield. Mike Wallace wasn't used on underneath drag routes which with his speed he would have excelled at. The only thing that saved BA's offense was the play of Ben. If he wasn't leading our team we would have placed in the bottom 5 offensively.

I can't say I was sorry to see BA go. Of course we could have done worse and the jury is probably still out on Haley.

nah... BA was a vertical guy and since he had a big QB he utilized his ability to the fullest.

Wallace was a MONSTER with BA. Those RUTM would set up those bombs for Wallace and Nate Washington. First play vs GB in Pittsburgh...PA bomb to Wallace. Sweed was next in line but he couldn't catch.

BA's run game was lacking but we were a big play team who led the league in plays of over 40 yards.

The biggest flaw was BA's in game adjustments... he made none. His first 15 or so scripted plays were great too.

One thing about BA's offense with Ben that was clear is Ben had total control over that O. There were times when it looked awful but a lot of times it was because Ben was hurt or refused to check down at a rate he does nowadays. Looking back I can't be too angry about it tho because Ben was younger, stubborn(er) and we damn sure benefited during their time together.

[Oviedo]

nah... BA was a vertical guy and since he had a big QB he utilized his ability to the fullest.

Wallace was a MONSTER with BA. Those RUTM would set up those bombs for Wallace and Nate Washington. First play vs GB in Pittsburgh...PA bomb to Wallace. Sweed was next in line but he couldn't catch.

BA's run game was lacking but we were a big play team who led the league in plays of over 40 yards.

The biggest flaw was BA's in game adjustments... he made none. His first 15 or so scripted plays were great too.

One thing about BA's offense with Ben that was clear is Ben had total control over that O. There were times when it looked awful but a lot of times it was because Ben was hurt or refused to check down at a rate he does nowadays. Looking back I can't be too angry about it tho because Ben was younger, stubborn(er) and we damn sure benefited during their time together.

I'll always say that we never saw what BA's offence could do because the OL play was so bad. That right there killed any running game. Probably one of the worst OL's we have had in the past 20 years.