Buccaneers: Concerning future for former playoff star

Will Scotty Miller still be on the Buccaneers by the start of the 2022 season?

It looked like the Buccaneers were coming into the 2021 season with one of the best wide receiver corps in the NFL. The top three of Mike Evans, Chris Godwin, and Antonio Brown is hard to compete with, but the depth of Scotty Miller, Tyler Johnson, and Jaelon Darden also drew plenty of praise.

All three of the depth receivers looked like they had the juice to take over that third spot throughout the last two seasons.

Darden had a dominant preseason and impressed everyone with versatility in the offense and on special teams. It looked like he had a very bright future ahead, but it seems like expectations were a little too high for the rookie.

Tyler Johnson also had a lot of hype, but it was more understandable after a decent rookie season and a few key catches in the playoffs. Based on size and need, some fans are still holding out to the hope that he may be the number three guy for the Bucs next season.

Finally, we arrive at Scotty Miller, who had one of the biggest catches for the Buccaneers over the past few seasons. The touchdown reception against the Packers in the NFC Championship was likely the most important play of those playoffs for Tampa, and Miller’s good regular season showed plenty of chemistry with Brady as a deep threat.

Miller probably had the most excitement surrounding his future after several explosive plays, but it seems like the Bucs may have a different plan in mind for their third spot.

As fans celebrated the Breshad Perriman touchdown last night to win the game over the Bills, it is worth noting that not only did Miller not make any catches during the game, but he was actually a healthy scratch.

Despite playing for the Bucs for several years, Tampa still had more faith in Perriman to take over the third role after just a few weeks rather than Miller, and it seems unlikely that this will change in Miller’s favor when Antonio Brown returns.

This is not to say that Miller doesn’t bring anything to the table now, but the staff is clearly putting their faith elsewhere. Perriman’s prominent role over the first few weeks came as a bit of surprise given his lack of production, but that monumental catch against the Bills should justify a similar number of snaps going forward.

Bucs fans may love Scotty Miller, but last night proves that his time being close to a significant role in Tampa is coming to a close, and it becomes even more likely that the team will address the position again in the 2022 NFL Draft.

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