Anthony Miller Flopped In Chicago And More Details Emerged Why

Plenty of draft picks qualified as disappointments during the Ryan Pace era in Chicago. Perhaps one of the biggest was Anthony Miller. The Bears had such high hopes for him. They traded up in the 2018 draft to grab him. Experts compared him to the likes of Antonio Brown with his speed, quickness, and dog mentality. Nobody wanted to make guarantees, but watching Miller on tape made it easy to feel like NFL success was in his future. His rookie year flashed that promise with seven touchdown receptions. Expectations were sky-high going into that next season. Then...nothing. Miller kind of plateaued at 656 yards, then regressed in 2020. He became a constant source of frustration with dropped passes and poorly-run routes. People couldn't understand what was wrong. Some blamed his inadequate coaching, and others pointed to the inconsistent quarterback play. While both didn't help matters, the reality was more straightforward. Miller himself was the problem. This interesting nugget from Dan Pompei of The Athletic reveals as much.

"Not much was expected of Mooney as a rookie, as Robinson and Anthony Miller, a second-round pick the year before, were supposed to be the producers. But as Miller drifted through meetings, Mooney kept raising his hand and asking pertinent questions. He started playing split end and took it upon himself to learn all three receiver spots. His diligence was rewarded with nine starts and 61 receptions, a Bears rookie record. What’s more, he won the respect of teammates, as they voted him the winner of the Piccolo Award."

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Anthony Miller apparently never embraced the work.

When it came to studying film and fine-tuning his route running, the receiver didn't cut the mustard. That would explain why the coaching staff grew increasingly frustrated with him by the start of 2020. It also explains why Darnell Mooney surpassed him so quickly in the wide receiver hierarchy. The coaches trusted him more because they knew he was working to understand what he was doing on every snap. That was no longer the case with Anthony Miller. While nobody would accuse him of being lazy, he never seemed to grasp the importance of details at his position. He dominated so much in college that he thought his style of play would work in the NFL. Defensive backs didn't need long to wake him up from that delusion. When the improvement didn't come, the frustrations mounted and finally boiled over with his now infamous thrown punch against the New Orleans Saints. An incident was made worse by the fact that he was warned all week not to do it. When coaches can't even trust you to follow basic instructions like that, your future with a team becomes short. It isn't a coincidence he is now fighting just to make the roster in Pittsburgh.