Film Analysis - Anthony Miller, WR (Memphis)

[OffensivelyPC]

Was watching this kid on film and decided to do a film write-up.  Without the combine to nail down his measurements, any comments on his speed, agility etc. will be based on film alone; even if I could pull up any combine type measurements from college scouting camps like Nike, in Anthony Miller's case, he was a low key recruit.  No scholarship offers and ended up being a walk-on at Memphis.

 

Size/Athleticism - Has adequate height for the position, but could stand to put on about 5 pounds.  He plays bigger than his size would indicate.  Miller's not an absolute burner, but he enough speed to beat man to man.  If I were to guess, he's somewhere within a few ticks of a 4.5 40 yard dash.  Shows good ability to keep on his feet and make guys miss after the catch.  His leaping ability wasn't clearly on display that I can recall, but he does high point it well.

 

Ball skills - As I said, he does high point the ball well and has a "my ball" mentality.  Able to contort his body and make big catches with his large catch radius.  He tracks the ball well and shows great concentration using his strong hands well.  He's got insane catches for days, but if you want to see it in a nutshell, watch the 2017 UCLA game (http://draftbreakdown.com/2017/10/10/anthony-miller-vs-ucla-2017/).  In that game you'll also see a great catch in Southern Illinois, but he makes them at least once or twice a game it seems - Tulsa, UCONN, Western Kentucky.  Dude just makes plays.  He does make the occasional body catch, but by and large, he's all hands. In the 4 games I watched, I saw him drop two passes, one on a bubble screen and another on a slant route.  If anything, it seems he has an easier time with the contested or impossible catches than the routine run-of-the-mill catches.  Still it doesn't appear he'll suffer from Heyward-Bey-Itis.

 

Route Running - His go to route was seams and fades; I don't think that will be his forte at the next level.  While he does tend to round off  routes here and there, he's generally a crisp route runner.  He runs a good route tree from both the slot and the outside.  One thing that I thought was advanced for a college receiver was his ability to manipulate DBs.  See 3:01 at the UCLA game link above, 3:14 for a slow mo replay with the camera on Miller the whole play.  I wish they would show this kinda stuff more often in the game film, but unfortunately, this stuff almost always appears out of camera.  In other words, I don't know how routine this is in his play, but it's an advanced ability that will translate to the pro level.

 

Immeasurables -  No injury history throughout his entire career and then in the bowl game of 2017, dude goes down and needs crutches.  Unfortunately, this will keep him out of the senior bowl, but hopefully he'll heal up in  time for the combine.  Seems to be a humble kid who loves competition; he's tough and will fight for extra yards..  He was targeted often in the redzone, ranked in the top 6 for red zone targets and 3rd in RZ touchdowns.  He's a redshirted senior, so not your typical Day 1 or 2 prospect. 

 

Bottom Line - He's projected  in the 3rd as a slot receiver.  If he's viewed as a small-school slot receiver, the 3rd is a pretty realistic landing spot.  That being said, he shows an ability to line up wide, so the question for any team that takes him in the 2nd, even late 1st will be whether he can play 2 inches taller and 15 pounds heavier than his size would indicate, so he can face NFL corners on the outside.  His tape apart from his size looks like that of a 2nd round or late first round, but not playing against elite competition on a regular basis makes it tough to legitimize being picked that high.  Seeing how red flags of that sort can often remove a guy from investing high collateral in such a prospect, I wouldn't be surprised at all if he was taken on Day 2 of the draft.  Kid is a playmaker.

[krunk]

He kind of reminds me of Larry Fitzgerald .

[OffensivelyPC]

13 hours ago, krunk said:

He kind of reminds me of Larry Fitzgerald .

I see a little Beckham in His game too.  

[throwing BBZ]

20 hours ago, OffensivelyPC said:

Was watching this kid on film and decided to do a film write-up.  Without the combine to nail down his measurements, any comments on his speed, agility etc. will be based on film alone; even if I could pull up any combine type measurements from college scouting camps like Nike, in Anthony Miller's case, he was a low key recruit.  No scholarship offers and ended up being a walk-on at Memphis.

 

Size/Athleticism - Has adequate height for the position, but could stand to put on about 5 pounds.  He plays bigger than his size would indicate.  Miller's not an absolute burner, but he enough speed to beat man to man.  If I were to guess, he's somewhere within a few ticks of a 4.5 40 yard dash.  Shows good ability to keep on his feet and make guys miss after the catch.  His leaping ability wasn't clearly on display that I can recall, but he does high point it well.

 

Ball skills - As I said, he does high point the ball well and has a "my ball" mentality.  Able to contort his body and make big catches with his large catch radius.  He tracks the ball well and shows great concentration using his strong hands well.  He's got insane catches for days, but if you want to see it in a nutshell, watch the 2017 UCLA game (http://draftbreakdown.com/2017/10/10/anthony-miller-vs-ucla-2017/).  In that game you'll also see a great catch in Southern Illinois, but he makes them at least once or twice a game it seems - Tulsa, UCONN, Western Kentucky.  Dude just makes plays.  He does make the occasional body catch, but by and large, he's all hands. In the 4 games I watched, I saw him drop two passes, one on a bubble screen and another on a slant route.  If anything, it seems he has an easier time with the contested or impossible catches than the routine run-of-the-mill catches.  Still it doesn't appear he'll suffer from Heyward-Bey-Itis.

 

Route Running - His go to route was seams and fades; I don't think that will be his forte at the next level.  While he does tend to round off  routes here and there, he's generally a crisp route runner.  He runs a good route tree from both the slot and the outside.  One thing that I thought was advanced for a college receiver was his ability to manipulate DBs.  See 3:01 at the UCLA game link above, 3:14 for a slow mo replay with the camera on Miller the whole play.  I wish they would show this kinda stuff more often in the game film, but unfortunately, this stuff almost always appears out of camera.  In other words, I don't know how routine this is in his play, but it's an advanced ability that will translate to the pro level.

 

Immeasurables -  No injury history throughout his entire career and then in the bowl game of 2017, dude goes down and needs crutches.  Unfortunately, this will keep him out of the senior bowl, but hopefully he'll heal up in  time for the combine.  Seems to be a humble kid who loves competition; he's tough and will fight for extra yards..  He was targeted often in the redzone, ranked in the top 6 for red zone targets and 3rd in RZ touchdowns.  He's a redshirted senior, so not your typical Day 1 or 2 prospect. 

 

Bottom Line - He's projected  in the 3rd as a slot receiver.  If he's viewed as a small-school slot receiver, the 3rd is a pretty realistic landing spot.  That being said, he shows an ability to line up wide, so the question for any team that takes him in the 2nd, even late 1st will be whether he can play 2 inches taller and 15 pounds heavier than his size would indicate, so he can face NFL corners on the outside.  His tape apart from his size looks like that of a 2nd round or late first round, but not playing against elite competition on a regular basis makes it tough to legitimize being picked that high.  Seeing how red flags of that sort can often remove a guy from investing high collateral in such a prospect, I wouldn't be surprised at all if he was taken on Day 2 of the draft.  Kid is a playmaker.

 

 Thanks. McDaniels would like a couple like him.

[OffensivelyPC]

I'm gonna toot my own horn here...

 

Back in January no less!

[OffensivelyPC]

On 1/23/2018 at 4:52 PM, OffensivelyPC said:

If I were to guess, he's somewhere within a few ticks of a 4.5 40 yard dash.

He ran a 4.46 and a 5.2 at his pro day.

 

On 1/23/2018 at 4:52 PM, OffensivelyPC said:

His leaping ability wasn't clearly on display that I can recall, but he does high point it well.

39 inches on his pro day

 

On 1/23/2018 at 4:52 PM, OffensivelyPC said:

If anything, it seems he has an easier time with the contested or impossible catches than the routine run-of-the-mill catches.  Still it doesn't appear he'll suffer from Heyward-Bey-Itis.

This was a common criticism and his drop rate was a little more than I gave him credit for, which I suppose is understandable since at the time, there were only a handful of film cut ups of him

 

On 1/23/2018 at 4:52 PM, OffensivelyPC said:

While he does tend to round off  routes here and there, he's generally a crisp route runner.  He runs a good route tree from both the slot and the outside.  One thing that I thought was advanced for a college receiver was his ability to manipulate DBs

This was why he was drafted mid second round.  As time went along, people began to wise up on this guy's ability to run routes, even some of  the more nuanced routes, and how he set up his defenders.

 

Quote

His tape apart from his size looks like that of a 2nd round or late first round, but not playing against elite competition on a regular basis makes it tough to legitimize being picked that high.

Late first was always high, but early-mid 2nd?  Before any scouting reports?  Back before it was cool?

 

I had to pat myself on the back.