A sleeper for Steelers 2023 WR corps, former 2nd-round pick Anthony Miller re-signs
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When training camp began last summer, Anthony Miller was intent on earning a significant role among the Pittsburgh Steelers wide receivers corps for the 2022 season.
Miller did — just not the role he was seeking.
“Seeing that I am the oldest guy in the room, I moreso put my focus to helping the younger guys,” Miller said from UPMC Rooney Sports Complex earlier this month, “and just giving them any type of (counsel) that I’ve got and helping out any way that I can.”
Miller, a 28-year-old veteran of four-plus NFL seasons, will continue with that role in 2023. But hopefully for him, he can also make plays as the slot receiver for the Steelers offense.
The Steelers on Tuesday announced the signing of Miller to a one-year contract, the first of 19 pending unrestricted free agents the team re-signed this offseason.
A former second-round pick, Miller spent all of 2022 on injured reserve because of a shoulder injury suffered before the Steelers’ first preseason game. Although some veteran players on longer-term IR might prefer to train off-site and not be visible with the team, Miller was a regular presence during practices at the Steelers facility.
“Once I accepted that I was not playing this year, my mindset definitely had to change,” Miller said. “I just love being around the vibe of the team, anyway. This is what I have been doing most of my life, and it’s not work once you do it for so long. So I don’t mind being in here around the guys while they get their work in and I am getting my work in to prepare myself physically, as well, for when I do step out onto the field again.”
When that does happen, pending the Steelers’ offseason moves, Miller could be a sleeper to make an impact on the offense next season. A second-round pick of the Bears in 2018, Miller has 140 career catches over 50 NFL games.
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But only one of those games and one of those catches came with the Steelers, each during November 2021. Miller (5-foot-11, 199 pounds) came to training camp last year in the running to be the Steelers’ No. 1 slot receiver, and he was making some plays at Saint Vincent until suffering his injury.
“It was frustrating at first, because I know I was gonna ‘get off’ this year,” Miller said. “I felt like I had good chemistry with both quarterbacks going into the season. I was excited for what was to come.
“But things happen, so it’s just time you’ve got to move forward.”
It’s unsurprising that in looking back at his fourth calendar year in the NFL that Anthony Miller would refer to it has “humbling.” https://t.co/8KXChhkYuN
— Tribune-ReviewSports (@TribSports) June 21, 2022
A college All-American at Memphis who finished among the top 10 nationally in receptions, yards and touchdowns in 2017, Miller was taken 51st overall by Chicago in 2018. The next wide receiver selected? James Washington, by the Steelers.
Miller had seven touchdowns as a rookie, and he had 101 catches for 1,041 yards over the next two seasons — almost all of that production coming out of the slot. But he fell out of favor with the Bears by the start of 2021’s training camp and was shipped to the Texans. His stay in Houston lasted two games (one start, five catches), and the Steelers claimed him off waivers that October.
Miller was in the running to win the Steelers’ slot WR job in 2022 before getting hurt. Miller must have shown enough, though, that the Steelers wanted to bring him back.
“A guy like Ant, he’s definitely someone you would want to stick around,” Steelers rookie receiver Calvin Austin III said. “He provides a lot of leadership and instruction and advice. I see him talking to (star rookie receiver George Pickens) about running routes but also just on life in general.”
Miller said his shoulder is fully healed, meaning that when organized team activities begin in April, he will again be out to win a job and reassert himself as a viable NFL receiver.
“I like would like to be a Steeler for the rest of my career,” Miller said, “so we will see what happens.”
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