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The Chicago Bears re-signed TE Zach Miller to a one-year contract on Friday. The terms of the deal haven’t been released yet, but I’m assuming it is for the veteran minimum of around $730,000. Miller has had a tough-luck career which I will get to in detail below, but also has the ideal skill-set the Bears have been looking for in a 2nd TE.
The Bears have been searching for a Move TE / H-back to pair with Martellus Bennett in 2-TE sets for the last three seasons. A “Move-TE” is different from a standard, or “Inline TE”, who lines up next to the tackle with his hand on the ground. The Move TE can line up in the backfield as a fullback type, split out wide, or go in motion. The advantage of running 2-TE sets is that it forces the defensive to decide on whether to use a base defense to play the run or sub package to stop the pass and then gives the offense the flexibility to create an advantage based on the defensive scheme. The Patriots were the best at utilizing the 2-TE scheme in 2012 with their combination of Aaron Hernandez (Move) and Rob Gronkowski (Inline). Obviously both TEs need to be talented and proficient at both catching the ball and run blocking for the created advantage to matter. The Bears have one talented, versatile TE in Martellus Bennett, but have been searching for another one the last few seasons with no success.
The move TE is a hybrid of a big WR and a classic inline TE. Some traits that teams look for in a Move TE include:
– Height of 6’4 or taller: Enough length to create a mismatch against DBs when split out wide
– Speed of 4.7 or better: The move TE needs the speed to get deep down the seam
– YAC: Most of the Move TE’s catches will be short passes and they need the ability to run with the ball and gain yards after the catch.
– Blocking: It’s not usually their first responsibility, but in order to create scheme confusion for the defense the Move TE needs to be a competent run blocker
– Intelligence: The Move TE will be asked to do something different on almost every play. He will be lining up in different positions (backfiled, inline, out wide), going in motion often, and basically being a jack of all trades. The Move TE needs to have the mental capacity to fully grasp the offense and recognize defensive schemes