Endless Love; And A Return?
April 14th, 2024
Scotty Miller shares his love.
When Joe saw the social media image (below) of what appeared to be Baker Mayfield working out with former Bucs receiver Scotty Miller last week, it prompted Joe to listen to a podcast Miller was on that Joe had stashed on a to-do list.
Miller, currently a free agent, was a guest on Falcons In Focus.
Considering Miller produced little with Atlanta last season, plenty of chatter was about his four years in Tampa (2019-2022). Joe was grateful for the reprieve from endless NFL Draft chatter.
A few nuggets:
When Miller was a free agent after the 2022 Bucs season, it seems he wanted to return and there was a lingering chance it would happen. “I felt like maybe they didn’t want me there,” Miller said.
Miller mentioned a couple of times that he’s still “very close” with former Bucs teammates. “I still love all those guys,” he said.
That pain in Miller’s heart is one reason he was so happy to torch Carlton Davis for a bomb of a catch against the Bucs in Tampa last season (see video below).
Miller, of course, was asked to reflect on time with Tom Brady. He said he first met Brady during an intimate throwing session in Tampa with Cameron Brate, Chris Godwin and Brady. Miller said those happened “2 or 3 times per week” during the 2020 offseason.
He painted Brady as the ultimate football role model. “He continued to show up and outwork everybody and just prepare like he wanted to win the Super Bowl every single day,” Miller said, which made Joe wonder about the impact of Brady bailing on the team in August of 2022.
Miller added that under the Bucs learned to conduct meetings and practice with greater “purpose.”
So is it possible Miller returns to the Bucs on a veteran-minimum contract after the NFL Draft, as in assuming the Bucs don’t draft a receiver next week?
Joe thinks there’s a solid chance, primarily because of the new kickoff return rules.
Most teams will line up two returners and the new coverage rules are going to prompt many more returns. Miller, 26, has extreme speed and as hungry as he seems to be a Buccaneer, Joe thinks Miller could provide valuable competition in training camp at a nothing price.
Scotty miller working out with baker??? 🛴time?! #GoBucs pic.twitter.com/xeQy5LVDB9
— Jorge813 (@lakers_bay) April 5, 2024
Welcome back to Tampa, @MillerTime___10 ‼️
📺 FOX | NFL+ pic.twitter.com/0yCLFgXs3m
— Atlanta Falcons (@AtlantaFalcons) October 22, 2023
April 14th, 2024 at 9:48 pm
Bring him back (on a good deal)!
April 14th, 2024 at 9:52 pm
I liked him. He had a few good plays as depth.
April 14th, 2024 at 10:03 pm
No…time to move on
April 14th, 2024 at 10:06 pm
Liked him as a player, and his contribution against the Packers will never be forgotten by Bucs fans. That being said, he has a pretty one dimensional game (speed). Add to that he is so small, DBs just ride/ bump him out of bounds and he would never get the calls. Not sure there is great value to bringing him back, even at vet minimum. If you want to bring him back as a special teams guy, maybe. But I wouldn’t count on him for anything in the passing game at this point. Short QB and short WR is not a recipe for success.
April 14th, 2024 at 10:25 pm
We’re probably drafting a receiver to compete for #3 with Trey Palmer. Palmer and Jarrett would probably both be above Miller on the depth chart, so Miller would be WR6.
April 14th, 2024 at 11:20 pm
As a #5 WR, you can do a lot worse.
April 14th, 2024 at 11:20 pm
A veteran receiver with class speed for just above the league minimum IS A NO BRAINER. Depth people. Plus as a veteran he can help train the rookies how to be pros. I always thought he was used as an afterthought. They should’ve tried him in the slot like Edelman. His stop and start quickness on slants and on 3 wide pick plays would be awesome if he’s not afraid to go over the middle.
April 14th, 2024 at 11:47 pm
Only 26?
Seems like he would be older to me.
Hard to believe.
What’s not hard to believe is CD24 got burned bad.
😂
April 15th, 2024 at 12:00 am
Swashbucklersfan Says:
His stop and start quickness on slants
———
Uh no, that’s literally his biggest issue – he’s very fast, but his start and go ability is not that good. That’s why Leftwich is such an idiot, he’d use him on screens and endarounds when his lack of quickness was exposed all the time.
Miller is a one trick pony – go line-up outside and run as fast you can down the field. BUT there’s nothing wrong with that, guys like that help you strech the field and hopefully draft safeties back which help guys like Evans and Godwin hopefully get a bit more time of one-on-one coverage underneath.
In fact if you have Miller and Palmer out there, put them both wide, and have them running go routes, that might force safeties to take a step or two back, which again might mean Evans and/or Godwin get a bit more time underneath to get open.
If that’s the plan, I say do it.
But for the love of God, don’t bring Miller back to run screens and and endarounds. Also, for slants, the issue is he’s so small he can get easily knocked off route, so it makes him dangerous to play under if it’s in man-to-man. But against zone, he can do some damage there.
April 15th, 2024 at 12:04 am
DoooshLaRue Says:
What’s not hard to believe is CD24 got burned bad.
———
Did he burned? They’re playing zone there, and for some reason the help is coming from Dean. Stop the footage and look at the defense, you got three defenders standing around about 20 yards off the LOS without a Falcon even on the screen.
Get used to seeing more of that nonsense this year as Bowles goes nearly exclusively zone. Should be fun to watch guys standing around as plays happen elsewhere, and then low IQ fans will complain about X is LAZY, GRRRR, HE’S JUST STANDING AROUND, GRRRR, I LOVE CHRIS MEYERS, HE’S THE BEST, GRRRR!!!! <– BTW, that's you in 6 months.
April 15th, 2024 at 12:15 am
Does he still jump every time he attempts to catch a ball?
April 15th, 2024 at 3:28 am
Nothing against the guy, but I’d rather see the Bucs go in a different direction.
April 15th, 2024 at 4:16 am
Man I’m sure glad I have Joe here to scour the depths of the internet to produce some decent intel.
April 15th, 2024 at 4:19 am
Love that Scotty worked out with Baker! It would be great to have him back.
April 15th, 2024 at 5:01 am
Scotty has a 59% catch percentage after 5 seasons. And in 4 seasons with us, it was less than 58% … with Tom Brady tossing him the rock for 3 of those years.
Personally prefer WRs who can catch the ball consistently and then get some nice yardage after the catch. That’s not Scotty; YAC is not his forte. No thanks. Pass.
April 15th, 2024 at 5:33 am
Jumping is not required to catch the ball scooter
April 15th, 2024 at 5:34 am
Thank you, Defense Rules. I always learn informational data from your comments.
April 15th, 2024 at 7:14 am
There’s a reason Miller is a FA. Bucs wisely moved on from him.
April 15th, 2024 at 8:07 am
According to Jose, Davis was our best cover corner. If he was our best we were in bad shape at that position. We need a top shelf CB pronto.
April 15th, 2024 at 8:27 am
bring him back, why not throw him in as a returner?
April 15th, 2024 at 9:58 am
I like Miller, and I thank him so much for his single bright moment when all the chips were on the table in GB. What a great moment to be a Buc fan! IMO, he won that game.
That said, while his speed is impressive, not much else of his game is.
There is no need to bring him on board because he can be replaced with a young guy with a more extensive toolbox.
April 15th, 2024 at 10:55 am
The catch vs The Packers before half time sealed that game before the half.
April 15th, 2024 at 2:29 pm
The photo cracks me up. They look like two dudes at the batting cages getting way too serious about the upcoming softball league season.
April 15th, 2024 at 7:10 pm
Here we are talking about a one trick pony on Chop Robinson and here is another one. Sorry but we’ve moved on.. put on the blinders and walk straight ahead. Nice guy and all But, trying to get better here.
April 15th, 2024 at 8:16 pm
The problem with scooter is not that he got ridden out of bounds. It was that he was looking to get out of bounds even before defenders got there. They’d use him on screens and he looked terrified and for good reason. I think he weighed 156lbs when he was here and from the pic it doesn’t look like he gained anything. He’s the only WR I’ve seen who’d go down before anyone touched him, like a QB sliding. The good plays were to few and far between. There are quite a few 6′ + WR’s over 200lbs that run in the 4.3’s too in the draft this year. 🛵 does too but at over 50lbs & a 1/2ft + less.
April 16th, 2024 at 12:00 pm
Developed a bad habit of jumping to catch passes… even when unnecessary. Hopefully he’s corrected that.
April 16th, 2024 at 8:03 pm
More of a running back will be used for kickoff returns with the new kickoff rules. Need more of a thicker body who can find the whole and break tackles. Not a light weight, straight line speedster.