Sports blog information from USA TODAY.
We’re looking at every No. 30 overall pick selected since the 2000 NFL Draft and the Philadelphia Eagles’ chances of landing an impact player.
The Eagles need impact players on both sides of the ball, and with two first-round picks in this month’s draft, Howie Roseman will have another opportunity to add depth to a Super Bowl-caliber roster.
First-round picks are expected to be critical contributors.
The list of No. 30 overall selections has several misses, hits, and a few Hall of Fame-worthy performers.
With the NFL draft fast approaching, we’re looking at every player selected with the 30th pick since 2000.
4 former Steelers, three players and one contributor, were announced as 2022 inductees into the team’s Hall of Honor.
The Pittsburgh Steelers announced their Hall of Honor class of 2022 today.
As usual, the Steelers will enshrine the new class in an on-field presentation during the season — this time it’ll be versus the New Orleans Saints on Sunday, Nov. 13.
Congratulations to the four great men selected for the Hall of Honor Class of 2022 – Myron Cope, Sam Davis, Ray Mathews and Heath Miller. I had the pleasure and honor of coaching Heath and couldn’t be happier for him.
— Mike Tomlin (@CoachTomlin) July 30, 2022
The Steelers may have finally found someone to fill the 6-5 void left by legendary tight end Heath Miller.
The Steelers may have finally found someone to fill the 6-5 void left by legendary tight end Heath Miller. The truth is, though, until the 55th pick of the 2021 NFL draft, they hadn’t tried very hard.
Five tight ends have donned the black & gold since Miller announced his retirement five years ago. Jesse James and Zach Gentry were both fifth-round selections, and Nick Vannett, Vance McDonald and Eric Ebron were each acquired via trade or free agency.
None has come close to duplicating the talent and effort of Miller. If anyone can do it, though, it’s Pat Freiermuth. Like Miller, Freiermuth is a 6-5 vertical threat who can — and will — make the tough catches. He makes up for his lack of athleticism by being physical at the point of attack.
It’s too early in the offseason to say how the Steelers will use the rookie tight end. Generally, a player at that position comes along slowly in the NFL, which could be to Freiermuth’s advantage. The Steelers obviously believe that Freiermuth has a future catching passes — they wouldn’t have drafted him if they didn’t. While his hands are certainly reliable, Freiermuth’s route-running skills leave a lot to be desired.
With all of the receiving weapons and the addition of running back Najee Harris, the Steelers should have the luxury of giving Freiermuth time to sharpen his route-running skills while he acclimates to game speed.
Usage could be a different story once in the red zone — Freiermuth was a scoring machine at Penn State, and it would be a shame to waste that potential.
Miller wasn’t too shabby in the red zone either. By the time he retired in 2015, he had racked up 45 touchdowns to add to 6,569 yards on 592 receptions.
Only time will tell if Freiermuth is the next best (tight end) thing since Miller, but Pittsburgh is the right place to make it happen.
[vertical-gallery id=489274]
[lawrence-related id=489260]
Heath Miller’s sudden retirement from the Steelers and the NFL left a void that, to this day, hasn’t been filled.
Heath Miller’s sudden retirement from the Steelers and the NFL left a void that, to this day, hasn’t been filled.
Miller, who retired five years ago on Feb. 19, 2016, left an indelible imprint on Steelers history — a legacy that includes two Super Bowl wins and numerous franchise records.
If it hadn’t been for the career-changing switch from quarterback to tight end in his freshman year at the University of Virginia, Heath Miller would’ve never donned the Black and Gold.
Drafted with the 30th overall pick in the 2005 NFL draft, Miller’s impact was immediate. In his rookie season, Miller put up 459 yards and six touchdowns to help lead the Steelers to their first Super Bowl championship in 10 years. Of course, he would win a second Super Bowl three seasons later and appear in a third versus Green Bay in 2010.
Miller’s numbers were never gawdy — name a Steelers tight end whose were — and he never the best tight end in the NFL. But he was just right for the Steelers.
[vertical-gallery id=487016]
Over the course of an 11-year career, the two-time Pro Bowler became the most accomplished tight end in franchise history. His 6,569 yards receiving yards put him among elite company as one of only 12 tight ends to eclipse the 6,000-yard receiving mark. Those numbers also placed him fourth overall on the Steelers receiving yards leaderboard and first as a tight end. His career also produced 45 touchdowns, another franchise record for tight ends.
[lawrence-related id=390156]
Miller is likely Hall of Fame-bound. Though he didn’t make the HOF Class of 2021, he was nominated in his first year of eligibility.
There was no fanfare surrounding his retirement, no press conference. Instead, Miller released a statement announcing his retirement and posted a picture on Facebook with the phrase, “Thank you, Steeler Nation.”
“Today, I informed the Steelers of my plans to retire. I realize how extremely fortunate and grateful I am to have spent my entire career as a Pittsburgh Steeler. I would like to thank the Rooney Family, Kevin Colbert, Bill Cowher, Mike Tomlin, James Daniel and the rest of the Steelers organization for giving me the opportunity to live out my childhood dream. I will always cherish and value the special bonds that I formed with my teammates. It was truly an honor for me to take the field with them. I am also appreciative of my entire family and all of the coaches who helped me along the way. Additionally, I want to thank Steelers Nation, the best fans in the NFL.
“Lastly, I owe the biggest thank you to my wife, Katie, and our four children for their unwavering support.”
Five Pittsburgh Steelers are included in the Pro Football Hall of Fame Class of 2021 nominees.
BREAKING: The Modern-Era nominees for the Class of 2021 have been unveiled. The list is comprised of 130 players. Among the group are 14 first-year eligible players.
See all nominees: https://t.co/NlwbZvxoeD#PFHOF21 pic.twitter.com/2oIwVP7PAU
— Pro Football Hall of Fame (@ProFootballHOF) September 16, 2020
Five Steelers are among the modern-era nominees the Class of 2021, as announced by the Pro Football Hall of Fame on Wednesday.
“Selection Saturday,” where the modern-era finalists are selected from a pool of 15, will take place on February 6, the day before Super Bowl 2021. The class will be enshrined on Aug. 8, three days after the rescheduled Hall of Fame Game between the Pittsburgh Steelers and Dallas Cowboys.
Here are the Steelers who are potential finalists for the 2021 Class:
Last month, longtime Steelers scout Bill Nunn was named a contributor finalist.
[vertical-gallery id=458017]
[lawrence-related id=458755]
Do the Steelers need to draft a tight end?
With just days to go until the 2020 NFL draft, we are going to go through all of the Steelers positional units to review the current state of the roster, gauge draft need and talk about some approaches to addressing the need.
This time, let’s talk tight ends.
The Steelers currently have three tight ends on their roster. To everyone’s surprise, they signed Eric Ebron to a two-year contract in March. Ebron and Steelers vet Vance McDonald will be the starters.
The backup job belongs to Zach Gentry who was drafted in 2019. He has only appeared in four games and has one reception to his name.
Complimentary access to full Pittsburgh Steelers games on NFL Game Pass
The NFL has already provided sports fans a reason to go on during these unprecedented times by not delaying the start of the league year. Now it is taking things a step further with complimentary access to full broadcasts of regular and postseason games from 2009-2019. High five!
Complimentary access to #NFLGamePass now available to fans both in the U.S. and Internationally, providing access to past full regular and postseason game broadcasts, NFL Originals and more: https://t.co/3oCxfxli0A pic.twitter.com/uprADlRV9N
— NFL Media (@NFLMedia) March 18, 2020
The Steelers have so many amazing games in this 10-year span that it was a feat to choose just 10.
Forget about COVID-19 for a while with these must-watch games.
In his first of three 100+ yard games in 2017, WR JuJu Smith-Schuster went off for 193 on seven receptions and a TD. Pittsburgh squeaked past Detroit 20-15.
