Who is our best offensive player?

other teams would kill for ben or pouncey, or heath,or brown for that matter right now. i'm glad they are ours and hope they all end here too.

 

Ben is easily the best player on this offense. It's interesting to read the arguments, but it's not even debatable.

There are several tight ends in this league who are better than Heath Miller: Rob Gronkowski, Jimmy Graham, and Jermichael Finley to name a few. Even at his age, Tony Gonzalez might even remain a better tight end than Heath. Their speed and athletic ability creating mismatches for linebackers trumps the blocking excellence that Heath brings to the table. After years of begging for a return to a fullback/running game offense, everyone now wants to keep up with the rest of the league and the wide open pass-happy offense of teams like Green Bay, Detroit, New England, New Orleans, and the rest. Well, one of the components is that stud tight end that can blow past linebackers. Heath has disappeared from the passing game in recent years (we all know it's because he has to stay in and block -- no need to bring that up). He has dropped some passes and has fumbled quite a bit in the red zone (and at big times) as well.

 

Rob Gronkowski had a better year than Heath. Jimmy Graham had a better year than Heath. But we'll see where they are in 8 years and if they are STILL a mainstay for their team then I will say they are better than Heath. I would actually say the best tight end in the league is Antonio Gates. He literally IS his teams best offensive player. But my whole thing was to make the argument that Heath is a total jack of all trades more than ANY of the guys you just mentioned. As far as any guy in the league that's an all around gamer like Heath is the only one I can really think of is Jason Witten. Let Jimmy Graham go out and try to protect Brees from Lewis or Suggs and then tell me if he's better than Heath. And as far as Gronkowski goes he's playing in a 2 tight end set which opens the field alot more for him. Heath doesn't have that luxury.

 

I felt the same way about the "fumbles in the red zone" thing. Actually with Hines gone Heath is easily our most sure handed receiver.

 

Anyone that doesn't say Ben is crazy.

Ben is a better QB than Heath is TE.

 

Looking in the dictionary, "best" has multiple definitions.

If we go with "highest standing" I would have to go with Pouncy. He may be the best center when healthy and Ben is not the best QB.

If we go with "most deireable" I would have to go with Ben. A very good QB trumps a great C any day in that regard.

 

But what's the difference between saying that "Ben is the best player on the offense", and saying "the QB is the best position of the offense"?

 

True (my earlier example of Smith and the Panthers, for example). But I dunno... I think the importance of the QB position might get in the way of comparing other players here.

Having said that, i tihnk the other contenders have been listed... Heath and Pouncey, mainly.

 

NO not most talented by far... most important? YESSSSSSS by a long shot
HINES

 

Not to be Debbie Downer but you may want to look at the bigger picture and possibly for another job. When Supervisors have these little meetings and they start to give the Team Player philosophy then the next thing you know there are drastic cuts in the workforce. Believe me I know from experience. One of my old company's paid an outside source 2 million dollars to create a compassionate team player workforce and the next thing you know half of us were all sent packing.

As for the best player on offense for the Steelers I will say Pouncy all the way. Sometimes it's the person without all the stats that makes the entire unit work. That doesn't just apply to sports either.

 

I love Heath Miller and if you're talking about all around, on and off the field, Miller is the best. His integrity cannot be questioned and he is the most talented tight end the Steelers have ever had. I go all the way back to the Randy Grossman, Larry Brown, Bennie Cunningham days. He's as good a blocker as was Bruener and a better receiver, and he's as good a recever as was Green, and a better blocker. He's the complete package and I can't wait to see what he can do under Haley's system!

As far as the on-field best player and catalyst that determines the success of the offense, it may be Ben. He is, after all, the QB and it all originates with him. He's been a very good playmaker but I think his game can be better once he learns that film study and pre-snap preparation AND good decision making is vital to be considered an elite QB over the long haul. Haley will be very good for Ben.

 

It has to be Ben. How many years were there between Bradshaw and Ben when we had other good offensive players but still couldn't win the big one? Granted I think we may have won the last one if Pouncey was able to play.

 

Well I'm glad to see that most folks are coming around to Ben. There was just a post that TTF put up the other day and there were people on there trashing him bad. Seems that maybe some of the posts on there must've persuaded them.

 

i loved those guys. even mularky. i didn't think they used bruener properly or enough. come to think of it , we have always had good TE's. i think we have a few more right now.

here is another angle. Kicker. he's the team scoring leader.

 

Well, I didn't structure the sentence the way I wanted it to. I meant to say that he's fumbled several times at inopportune times (including the red zone). That still would have received the same response from some of you but, just off the top of my head, his fumbles killed us at Kansas City (in the OT loss a couple years ago during our awful streak), the Monday nighter at New Orleans a couple years ago was an absolute killer, and his fumble last year on the Thursday night game against Cleveland (in the red zone, I believe) nearly cost us that game as well. A lot of turnovers, at very inopportune times, for a guy that doesn't see the ball too often combined with the fact that he has become a complete non-factor in our passing game has left me completely bewildered as to why anybody would have the audacity to refer to this guy as one of the greatest tight ends of all time.

I don't even think he's clearly the best tight end in franchise history. I don't perceive him to be any better than Mark Breuner. Breuner was an extraordinary blocker and had great hands but played in a run-first offense paving the way for Foster, Bam, etc, and then had to kick Kordell's poor throws. Breuner was easily as good as Heath and can lay claim to the same argument that Heath's biggest supporters love: "he wasn't a focal point of the passing game, he was used more for blocking." I also think Eric Green may very well have been our best tight end ever. He played in 2 Pro Bowls in only 5 seasons (Heath has only made one Pro Bowl in 7 years). Had he not been suspended for the '92 season, he probably would have made 3 Pro Bowls. And lest we forget Elbie Nickel . . . a 3-time Pro Bowler (who has more receiving TD's than any tight end in franchise history).

I don't know what's a bigger stretch: considering Heath Miller to be the greatest offensive player on this current roster or claiming he is, without a doubt, the best tight end in franchise history (when neither his stats, nor his accolades, support it).

 

What? Heath Miller is now the number two tight end in team history in receiving yards and will in all likelihood own all of the Steelers tight end records when he retires. How can you say that his stats don't support him being the best tight end in franchise history?

 

I just honestly think that when you look at what offensive player does the absolute most or just CAN do the absolute most it is definitely Heath. I think Heath is better than Mendenhall, Wallace, Brown, Redman, Sanders, Cotcherry, Johnson, Starks, Foster, Pouncey, Legursky, Essex, and Kemo. Heath is a better ALL AROUND player than every one of those guys. Let Wallace pass protect. Let Brown try and stop Lewis or Suggs from getting to Ben. Come on man to say that Heath is not our best tight end is just ridiculous. BA didn't use tight ends and Haley will. If I'm not mistaken didn't he bring Leonard Pope with him? Yes Ben probably is better than Heath after I hear everyone's argument. I just would'nt want to have a knee jerk reaction and say that Ben was our best player JUST because he's our qb. That was why I originally made the statement to my Supervisor.

 

Don't forget, Heath hasn't even been voted to a single Pro Bowl, except for one in which like 3 guys dropped out ahead of him, either for injury or the Super Bowl. Doesn't count in my book, because he was something like 5th in voting in the conference. He'll never make it to one on his own, or make it to the top 100 list, unless some numbers on a computer screen change (a great way to judge talent!). I still think he has the most talent for his position on the roster. I acknowledge he's a tight end, so you have to keep his position's importance in mind -- like saying Shane Lechler is the best player on the Raiders -- but in that regard I definitely think he's the best.

 

Big Ben will be even better this year behind a bonefide line.This will be a special year for the steelers and steelernation.

 

eric green, i remember the catch and the run to the sidelines and out of bounds to get oxygen because he couldn't make it to the EZ. i believe that was his last year here. he was just bigger than the rest of the boys. larry brown started at TE and then switched to LT and was very good at that spot too. bruener was a good player until the injuries started. heath does what he does. he is a value to this team by a long shot. that was the original take on this thread, not pro bowls. his value to the team. since the line is looking up, this year , we may see his true worth as a receiver. heath is all true TE, not H-back, not WR/TE, not TE/FB. he's been used to much as TE/T.

 

I love Heath Miller as a player and as a person. Total disclaimer here, Heath and I were born in the same hospital/town, me a few years earlier than him, and I followed his career closely throughout HS and college. He was raised about 20 minutes from where I was raised in SWVA and we actually drive by his parents' home to visit friends. You can't find any dirt on this guy or anyone that would ever say anything bad about him.

My favorite Heath story is this. When he was in HS he led the Honaker Tigers to the VA state championship game as a QB. During one of the playoff games, he completed a pass to his receiver who proceeded to show up the defensive back in a way that Mr. Miller deemed inappropriate. Heath sprinted to him on the field, grabbed him by the facemask and told the receiver that if he EVER did anything like that again he would never be thrown another pass! He meant every word of it too! Heath is not one to get fired up easily but he cannot stand showboating and that's one thing that will set him off and get you on his bad side in a hurry.