Anthony Miller 2017 Review: Week 4
In part three of our Anthony Miller break down series, we see how Miller does against the undefeated UCF Golden Knights and cornerback Mike Hughes
This long series will essentially go game by game and break down what Anthony Miller did on the field. Where he lined up, who he played against, how many times he was targeted and what routes he was targeted on. It is a running diary of his 2017 season. In part one, we broke down his first two games against UL-Monroe and UCLA. Part two was a game against Southern Illinois. Today, we look at Anthony Miller vs UCF, round one.
Week Four
For the second week in a row, Anthony Miller was held in check. He put up just three receptions for 37 yards. Even worse, it was on nine targets. Between weeks three and four Riley Ferguson is 9-21 when targeting Miller. That is not strong.
Riley’s Struggles
To be fair to Miller, a lot of that is on Riley Ferguson. We’ve talked about his placement costing Miller in previous posts and he sailed two of his six incompletions when targeting Miller well over his head. He was 27-49 with one touchdown and three interceptions in this game.
The play below can speak to the incompetence of Miller’s quarterback. Miller is in the slot to Ferguson’s right. Watch the safety lined up over him. He is heading for the flats meaning that had Ferguson read the defense pre-snap, he would have known Miller, his top wide receiver had 15 yards of free release running straight over the middle.
Instead, he never looked that way and threw to his first read that just so happened to be in triple coverage.
Ferguson was poor and has hindered the stats of Miller. Still, Miller did not do Ferguson favors in this game either. His first target of the game was a catchable pass that Miller dropped near the sideline.
And on a big third-down pass early in the game, Miller was able to get separation, but again dropped the first down. Memphis went for it on fourth down and got stuffed.
You can see that while the placement is not perfect, it was a catchable pass, and the defender was not nearly as impactful as it may have appeared. That is now eight situations in four weeks where Miller has either straight up dropped or failed to haul in a contested pass in his wheelhouse.
Anthony Miller had another chance to make an impact, and in another contested catch situation, he failed to bring in a touchdown in the red zone.
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Miller is not known as the red zone target but did catch a one-yard touchdown the week prior. This jump ball would have been a great boost to his stock but adds to the question of his ability to bring in the physical passes in which he has to adjust to the ball.
Mike Hughes
What is even more frustrating about the lackluster performance from Miller was that he hardly lined up against Mike Hughes. Hughes was a first-round pick who lined up solely on the left side. Anthony Miller lined up on the other side almost the entire game and still struggled to get separation or make tough catches.
He had a similar situation against Hughes in the red zone. Miller runs a clean route and gets a step over the middle. However, Hughes is able to close with athleticism and physicality to get in front of Miller and bat the pass away. This was great defense from the first round pick.
Fortunately, Miler did get him earlier in the game. One of his three receptions were against Hughes, and he finished the game just 1-2 for 16 yards when targeted.
Physicality is in the profile of Hughes and showed in both plays against Miller. Hughes is able to disrupt Miller’s route down the field below.
Fortunately, Miller was able to freelance and branch off of his route to clear space and box Hughes out to make the grab. This was his longest catch of the game. He caught a post route for 14 yards and turned a screen upfield for seven yards.
While he got one on Hughes, you wanted to see more of those two lined up, but also more of Anthony Miller hauling in passes that may not be perfect, but are catchable.
Routes:
Screens: 8-11, 72 yards
Curls: 2-3, 17 yards
Post: 4-6, 106 yards
Go: 2-8, 34 yards, 2 TDs
In: 2-2, 24 yards, 1 TD
Cross: 1-3, 5 yards
Slant: 1-4, 34 yards
Comeback: 0-1
Out: 0-2
148 yards after the catch