Ron Cook: Three Questions Draw Attention to No. 1 Pick

Sunday, April 24, 2005
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Two minutes on the telephone, and I'm wondering if the guy has what it takes to make it in this town.

"I never like to draw attention to myself," Heath Miller was saying early last night.
Talk about a tough adjustment to the NFL.

As the Steelers' No. 1 pick, Miller, a pass-catching tight end from Virginia, is facing the scrutiny of his young life. Welcome to Pittsburgh, kid! Between now and training camp, three questions will be asked about him a million different ways by a million different people.

Will Miller's sports hernia injury be the career-killer that it was for Kendrell Bell with the Steelers?

Will Miller be able to block well enough to keep Duce Staley, Jerome Bettis and that Steelers' power offense rolling?

And, by far the most interesting query, will the Steelers throw Miller the darn thing?
Here are the early answers:

No problem.

We'll see.

Are you kidding?

There's no doubt Miller slipped to the Steelers at No. 30 because of his injury, torn abdominal muscles. He played hurt much of last season, had to shut it down in Virginia's bowl game, had surgery in early January and couldn't work out for NFL teams.

But it took only one look at Bill Cowher's smirk last night to know the Steelers had no qualms about taking Miller. It came when he was asked if Miller's injury is similar to Bell's last season. The feeling at Steelers headquarters is that Bell's problems had less to do with his stomach than it did with his head and his contract unhappiness. That's why the team didn't care that Bell left as a free agent.

"He's a tough guy," Cowher said of Miller. "He had an injury that I don't know how many guys would have played through."

Here's guessing Bell felt that parting shot in the gut all the way to Kansas City.
"It really didn't take us very long to turn the pick in," Cowher said of Miller again.
Miller said he is recuperating well and has been told by doctors he'll be full-go by the Steelers' minicamp early next month. Cowher will settle for July.

That will give Miller plenty of time to learn the offense. That should be the least of his problems. He played in a pro-style system at Virginia under former NFL head coach Al Groh. He's also a bright guy, a sociology major who says he will graduate on the four-year plan in May. That's impressive for any big-time player let alone one at a prestigious school.

The next three months also will give Miller time to add the bulk the Steelers think he needs to be successful as a blocker. (By eating and working out, silly). He said he easily could add 10 pounds to his 6-foot-5, 256-pound frame and not lose quickness. That should help him take on those mean-spirited defensive ends and linebackers, the top priority for any Steelers tight end.

"The thing I like about him is he's not afraid to put his nose in there," Steelers offensive coordinator Ken Whisenhunt said. "The biggest part of run-blocking is want-to. He has that. I'm sure he'll get better as he learns the techniques."

Said Cowher, "He's not just a one-dimensional guy."

Obviously, Miller will be a work in progress as a blocker.

Now, to that third question.

"Yeah, we're going to throw to him," Whisenhunt said, grinning.

I know what you're thinking.

I, too, long have thought the Steelers don't utilize their tight end enough as a receiver. Every season, they tell us they're going to throw to him. Every season, they don't. Jerame Tuman had nine catches last season.

But, if you think about it, the Steelers haven't had a capable receiving tight end since Eric Green. Would you rather they have thrown the ball to a tight end who might have dropped it 50 percent of the time or to Plaxico Burress?

OK, bad example.

Let me try again.

Would you rather they have thrown it to a tight end or Hines Ward?

Miller could change that, although Cowher took some offense to the suggestion. "I don't think you need to change," he said. "I think [Miller] will enhance what we do and bring another dimension to it." Certainly, it's easier to believe Whisenhunt when he says he's going to use Miller. The kid has the receiving skills to open up the offense.

"I think the quarterback is going to open up the offense," Whisenhunt said.

Maybe you have heard of him.

Ben Roethlisberger.

"As he gets more comfortable, we'll be able to do a lot more things," Whisenhunt said.

Don't look for the Steelers to line up Miller outside the way the Baltimore Ravens do with Todd Heap. He's not that fast. But he should be able to get open down the middle of the field and use his quickness to beat a linebacker or his physical skills to beat a safety. And his hands? Cowher gushed about those the way he did about Roethlisberger's arm last year and Troy Polamalu's speed the year before and Kendall Simmons' motor, whatever that is, the year before.
"Big hands, huge hands," Cowher said.

When Cowher and Whisenhunt closed their eyes last night, they probably dreamed of a new-and-improved play-action passing game with Miller.
"I think the quarterback is going to be very comfortable with this guy," Whisenhunt said.
You know the truth as well as I do:
If Big Ben is happy, all of us are going to be happy.

(Ron Cook can be reached at rcook@post-gazette.com or 412-263-1525.)