Bull Rush: Miller Needs To Play Bigger
February 26th, 2010
By STEVE WHITE
JoeBucsFan.com analyst
Steve White spent every season of the Tony Dungy era playing defensive end for the Bucs. He’s spent countless hours in the film room with the likes of Warren Sapp, Rod Marinelli and more. Joe is humbled to have White, also a published author and blogger, as part of the JoeBucsFan.com team. Below is White’s weekly Bull Rush column that breaks down all things defense. It’s simply a can’t-miss read for the hardcore Bucs fan.
Today he looks at Roy Miller.
Strengths
As much attention as Josh Freeman gets, and deservedly so, the rookie who played the most snaps for the Bucs last year was Roy Miller. From the first game on, Miller was the third defensive tackle in a three-man rotation, filling in on both sides and even starting one game. It says a lot in my book, on a mental as well as physical level, for a rookie to be able to come in and perform and the defense not skip a beat. (Before any commenter says so, yes I know that’s a low bar. lol)
I think Roy did a good job of using his hands, but I was more impressed with how he used his feet. Most of the season he was quick off the ball and he had very good lateral movement. He was also one of our best defensive linemen when it came to not stopping his feet on a pass rush. He ended the season with 33 tackles and two sacks. Those are respectable stats for any rookie defensive lineman. He was particularly good when he played a head up nose tackle in our short yardage and goal-line packages.
Weaknesses
One thing about Miller was that he seemed play smaller than his size at times. What I mean is, for a guy listed at 6-2 and 310 pounds, there were times when he got pushed around a little too easy for my liking.
Mostly, I would attribute this to him getting too high and not maintaining his leverage because he was trying to look into the backfield to see where the ball was going. That is a mistake most rookies make.
The truth is this: when it comes to playing defensive line, the blocking scheme will ALWAYS tell you where the ball is going. Now recognizing schemes, however, isn’t the easiest thing in the world. You have to watch a ton of film and really rep it over and over to get a feel for the differences between, say, when a guard is trying to reach you, (block your outside shoulder) or a guard is trying to base you (get you going outside and then push you that way to open up the hole inside).
Another weakness that Miller, like most of our defensive linemen had, was running pass rush games. I won’t go through another dissertation on that, but again I want to emphasize the point that the better a guy runs those games, the better the chance they have to get pressure on the quarterback. The worse a guy runs those games, the higher the chance that neither he nor his teammate will get any pressure on the quarterback. And that puts a helluva lot of pressure on our secondary.
Lastly, Miller seemed to hit that rookie wall late in the year and never truly rebounded. His quickness was gone, his get off was gone, and he was no longer pass rushing up to his abilities.
I don’t know it for sure, but I think Miller may have had a lower body injury that also slowed him down. But if it’s one thing I learned in my time in the NFL, it’s that nobody cares. It’s kinda like that scene from “Goodfellas.”
Got a sprained ankle? Eff you, pay me.
Body worn down? Eff you, pay me.
Confused about the new defense? Eff you, pay me.
Nobody buys excuses, even legit ones, when you get to this level. So my top for Roy is to get in top condition before the season and take care of your body during the season, including preventative measures like getting in the cold tub even when you feel good.
The Future
I predict the Bucs will give Miller every opportunity to start at nose tackle this year, if they in fact go back to a nose tackle/under tackle alignment. If they stay left and right, then I would suspect that he would be afforded every opportunity to start in that situation as well.
Whether its a free agent or a high draft pick, it’s pretty much a given that we will have at least one new starter at defensive tackle this year. With Miller being a third round draft pick last year and the team rebuilding with a youth movement, I think the Buccaneers brass would love to be able to point to Miller as another “hit” for them.
That’s not to take anything away from what he himself has accomplished. I think he has basically all the tools to be a good player. But the second year is usually a tough one and he is going to have to step his game up a notch to be a starter.
While he will definitely have a leg up as a draft pick, he is going to have to go out and prove himself again this year. The Bucs don’t have many guys who you can write down in anything but pencil as a starter, especially at this point. So Miller better understand that starting out at the top of the heap doesn’t mean he’ll automatically end up there.
This is going to be a pivotal season for Miller. Either he will step up and become that starter that we can count on for years in our defensive interior, or he will stay the same or go backwards and allow someone else to overtake him. I guess we’ll find out what it will be later this year.
February 26th, 2010 at 11:48 am
Huh, Ive been taking it for granted that the Bucs would use a NT/UT scheme with a lot of over/under fronts. So I could be wrong??
BTW–you mention Roy may’ve been dinged, Steve. What about Jimmy( before the injury)? His production seemed to tail off quite a bit after about Week 7.
February 26th, 2010 at 11:49 am
Good analysis.
I’m really hoping he can play the Booger role to Suh or McCoy’s Sapp role.
February 26th, 2010 at 12:04 pm
forget booger and sapp…i wanna know who plays the steve white role?…….could it be the man himself?………lol…..adam from ny
ps good insight big guy!!
February 26th, 2010 at 12:28 pm
@Mike J
The truth is Jimmy played better as the season went on even though the stat sheet didn’t always reflect that. I think one reason is because they kept sticking him inside on 3rd downs because we didn’t have any really good pass rushing tackles this year. I didn’t agree with the decision because I thought he could do more damage from the end position and we would be alright with an average pass rush from our tackles.
February 26th, 2010 at 1:04 pm
OIC, thanks. I don’t get to see many games where I live in Jax..
February 26th, 2010 at 1:42 pm
Steve,
From the small amount of exposure I have had to ROy Miller in interviews and stories .. He sounds like Rough Neck Hard Worker and a leader .. He has respect for the game and I feel will show up Stronger and lighter than he was last year .. Kyle Moore is the wildcard IMO
Steve, if you get a shot check out some of Roy Miller’s college hilights on youtube .. I think you might be surprised ( I was blown away ) at how awesome he was at getting pressure at Texas .. I heard he played at 290 LBS .. But for anyone that hasnt seen the hilights .. Check it out it can be an eye opener of what we might have on this team
And its no coincidence he chose #99 at Texas
February 26th, 2010 at 1:49 pm
P.S. The Bucs land the 42nd overall pick when they won the coin toss today ..
February 26th, 2010 at 1:53 pm
@jvato24
As it so happens I did watch Roy in college and I agree that he does say the right things. But at this point I can only go by what I saw this year with the Bucs. No matter how good he was in college, and he was good, it doesn’t always transfer to the pros. Like I said in the post I thought he did some good things this year but he tailed off at the end and you can’t do that in the NFL. Also there is no way in the world he will be able to play nose here at 290. Its just not going to happen.
February 26th, 2010 at 2:05 pm
Hmmm…wonder if Roy would be better scaling down & playing under?
February 26th, 2010 at 2:15 pm
@Mike J
Very doubtful. I think the fan base will go ape sh*t if we dont either sign a free agent under tackle or draft one in first two rounds. And whomever that guy is in either event will be the starter at that position barring injury. Therefore the only place for Roy to start would be nosetackle and I think thats where the powers at be will want him anyway.
February 26th, 2010 at 3:18 pm
Steve,
I remember Dwayne White as a rookie could barely finish practice from what I heard as a rookie but showed up big Time in that 2nd season .. Im hoping we get that from Miller and Moore … In Fact it is a must if we want to sniff 6 wins
February 26th, 2010 at 3:41 pm
Steve,
If the Bucs were able to land Suh, could you see him playing nose & Miller playing under? Not sure who has the quicker 1st step.
February 26th, 2010 at 4:26 pm
I thought smaller weak guys that get pushed around inside are the “perfect fit” for our defense.
Isn’t that why everyone wants mcCoy ?? hehe
February 26th, 2010 at 5:25 pm
@FLBoy84
Neither Suh nor McCoy will be a nose tackle. You don’t draft a nosetackle that high because historically they only play 2 downs if that. Again, Miller is going to be a nose barring an injury to another guy.
February 26th, 2010 at 5:27 pm
Anybody else notice that some of the lamest commenters always have to but their own internet laughs behind their lame jokes?
Just saying.
February 26th, 2010 at 10:29 pm
…and I’ll bet my house that Roy Miller had a better rookie season than Mr. Steve WHite.
Let’s look it up. 1996: Steve played in only 4 games and racked up a meager 1 tackle.
Roy Miller had 27 tackles and 2 sacks.
Just saying.
February 27th, 2010 at 1:16 am
Mushmouth what were your stats?
just saying.
February 27th, 2010 at 9:00 am
not much worse than steve’s
just saying.
February 27th, 2010 at 1:43 pm
@Radio Jackass
I have 7 years in the NFL, you have an anonymous moniker on a blog.
Who wins?
LMAOOOOOO
March 1st, 2010 at 6:51 pm
Looks like someone can dish it out , but he can’t take it.
If you want to talk shit about posters on this board , then don’t be surprised when they bring up the fact that, the guy you are critisizing as having such a horrible rookie season , had a rookie season 10 times better than yours.
So , what I have really isn’t the issue here, it’s what Roy Miller has. Judging by rookie seasons , he’ll have a lot more than you EVER had, you bum.
March 1st, 2010 at 6:55 pm
Joe here,
RadioMushmouth – You started it, and Steve came back with an impersonal minor shot at an anonymous poster. Should he have said nothing.
FOr the record, I believe Steve was a sixth round pick who started on the practice squad, hardly Roy Miller coming from the third round into this crappy line.
But it doesn’t really matter. The messenger is credible, and you tried to say he wasn’t.
March 2nd, 2010 at 8:39 am
Actually I think Steve is very credible. I have much respect for his career, being that he was under-sized and not the most athletic, and was still a productive player in the league- most likely through hard work and smarts.
I also don’t deny the fact that he has forgot more about the position of defensive line that I will ever know.
My original sarcastic comment about McCoy was directed at Bucs fans in general , not White. But the fact is , if he wants to get in a shit-slinging contest , I will sling it back. All in good fun , I say.
March 2nd, 2010 at 9:54 am
oh , and Steve Duemeg mentioned this on the air , so you are welcome for the free advertising , lol.
We all win.