Chicago Bears: 3 things Anthony Miller must prove in training camp

Chicago Bears wideout Anthony Miller must trust the system

An attribute that made him such a tantalizing prospect was Miller’s ability to create separation despite not having blazing speed. If you go back and look at Miller’s college highlight tape, you see a guy making plays all over the field. He had the ability to set up opposing cornerbacks with moves at the top of the stem of his route. This allowed Miller to create separation and break away from defenders to make  clean catches.

Miller was a walking highlight reel back at Memphis which is part of the reason the Bears invested so much into him by trading back up in the second round to select him. Unfortunately, Miller has not been able to showcase much of that at the next level.

Much of this has to do with the Bears offense that head coach Matt Nagy runs. Nagy runs a passing offense that is strict on the wide receivers running their given route regardless of if they are the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, or 4th option in the progression. For the most part, the routes ran are to set up the primary wideout on that play.

At Memphis, Miller likely used to a lot of freelancing. If he was not initially open on the play that is run, he was given the green light to break off his assignment and concentrate on getting open. That works in college, but likely does not fly in the pros where play-callers are faithful to their system down to every detail.

Miller has all the tools to be a threat each down for opposing defenses. He has to trust the system and fully become a team player. Let the big plays come to him and not make himself a target for coaches and fans by not sticking to his assignment.