Ed Bouchette: Steelers Find Helping Hands

With the 30th pick of the 2005 draft, the Steelers find some helping hands
Cowher counting on receiving TE to give Big Ben another target
Sunday, April 24, 2005
By Ed Bouchette, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Just as they did last year, only 19 spots lower this time, the Steelers got their man in the draft when they selected Virginia tight end Heath Miller with the 30th pick of the first round yesterday.

They can only hope Miller works out nearly as well as quarterback Ben Roethlisberger did last season.

"We want to put some good players around our young quarterback and at the same time not get away from what we believe in," coach Bill Cowher said shortly after the team picked Miller. "This guy can catch, he has big hands -- huge hands. I just like the way he plays. He finishes blocks; he's a no-nonsense guy. He's a good fit for our football team, not just our offense."

Miller became the first tight end drafted in the first round by the Steelers since Mark Bruener in 1995. And he should be the team's best receiver at the position since Eric Green in the early '90s.

Miller's forte as a 6-foot-5, 255-pound tight end is catching the football. He caught 77 passes in 2003. He dropped down to 41 receptions last season as a junior despite a season-long bout with a sports hernia. Still, he won the Mackey Award as college football's best tight end.
Miller had surgery in January and said he should be ready to go next week, although Cowher said there's no rush.

"He's a tough guy," Cowher said. "He had an injury that I'm not so sure a lot of people would have played through last year. But he did, he played through it."
Cowher said it's the same surgery cornerback Deshea Townsend had after the season and he, too, is healing well.

The Steelers usually red flag players with injuries, but they did not this time because they are convinced Miller is healthy. However, his injury probably prevented others from drafting him earlier.
"It's pretty good when you're sitting at 30 and you get the No. 1 guy on the board at his position," Cowher said. "I think when you can do that, there's got to be good fortune that goes with that.

"I think what scared a lot of people is the fact he has not worked out since the end of the season. I think a lot of people were a little reluctant probably to pick a guy and not knowing [if he's fully recovered]. We're very comfortable with where he's at."

The Steelers haven't thrown much to their tight end since Green left in 1994, mainly because they did not have good receivers at that position. Jerame Tuman led all their tight ends with nine receptions last season. That should change.

John Heller, Associated PressSteelers coach Bill Cowher, left, and Kevin Colbert, director of football operations, discuss the pick of Heath Miller.Click photo for larger image.

"You talk about us not throwing to the tight end, but we try to utilize the people we have," Cowher said. "When we had Eric Green here we tried to utilize him. I'm not saying he's Eric Green, but we think he's a pretty good football player that is not just a one-dimensional guy."
Green caught 63 passes in 1993, Cowher's second season, and 46 in 1994 before he left as a free agent. Mark Bruener caught 26 as a rookie in 1995, but no Steelers tight end has caught 20 passes since then.

Cowher, though, promised the Steelers would not change what they do on offense, that Miller merely will enhance what they do.

"I think he fits into our offense," Cowher said. "It doesn't need to change."
Miller said that if the Steelers want him to block, he can block.

"I'm sure the coaches are going to do what we have to do to win football games," Miller said. "If that means run the ball a lot then I'm more than happy to do my part in the blocking aspect and do as well as I can."

The Steelers identified Miller as their most likely draft choice near the end of the week, especially after the New York Jets traded their first-round pick (No. 26) to Oakland for veteran tight end Doug Jolley. That took the Jets out of the market for a tight end.

"When you looked at the group of teams in front of us, most of them have very good tight ends, some of them are Pro Bowlers," said Kevin Colbert, the Steelers' director of football operations. "You knew if Heath reached a certain point, there was a chance he would slide down, but you also worried about someone coming up from the bottom.

"We just had to wait it out. Sometimes that's the best situation. Certainly, it worked for us last year."

Miller, who caught a 52-yard touchdown pass against Pitt in the 2002 Continental Tire Bowl, can't wait to catch passes from last year's rookie sensation, Roethlisberger.
"I think it's going to be exciting. It's a great place to be for a tight end. I know I'm going to have to be a good blocker and a receiver, which is what I want to be."

(Ed Bouchette can be reached at ebouchette@post-gazette.com or 412-263-3878.)