As each skill position player on offense works to build chemistry with Tom Brady, it’s Scotty Miller that’s been one of the first receivers on the Bucs to hit it off with the six-time Super Bowl champion.

Miller has entered year two with a new sense of confidence now that he’s comfortable with all of the playbook, his mind is at ease, and he is able to just play his game.

“I am so much more confident this year than I was last year,” Miller said. “Last year coming in, the biggest thing was that I was thinking so much. I’d get in a huddle and so much is going through my brain trying to figure out where I go, where I line up, who I’m hot off of, so many things going through my head and I couldn’t just be me, just ball out and be confident. This year I get in the huddle, it’s easy to understand where I go with my assignment and then I’m just free to be myself and make plays out there.

“I would say that’s the biggest thing, just being in the same system for a second year and understanding the terminology more fluently has been huge. Also I got to stay here in Tampa this offseason so I got used to heat workouts here with the guys, spent a lot of time with Chris [Godwin], picking things up from his game, he’s one of the best receivers in the game. There’s just so many different things that have helped me that I know I’m gonna be a way better player than I was last year.”

Miller has made crucial physical adjustments for this year’s training camp, bulking up to around 175 pounds this year playing about 15 pounds lighter a season ago. That added muscle is important for a receiver who will see a healthy amount of snaps on the outside, allowing Miller to contend with bigger, longer corner in press man coverage at the line of scrimmage.

“The thing that’s really shown up for me with Scotty, number one, coming in as a rookie it’s always hard, it’s challenging,” Bucs wide receiver coach Kevin Garver said on Tuesday. “The one thing I noticed from him last year during the season that I liked is that he still tried to play fast through everything. Even though he wasn’t always right with technique, seeing coverages and all those things, he played fast. That’s usually one of the harder things to get rookies to do, but I think that helps him moving into his second season.

“But the one thing that stood out to me [this year] was his releases at the line. He’s a lot more patient as a releaser at the line of scrimmage. It doesn’t mean you’re slow, it just means you take a little more time to set up the defender. Instead of always just taking this wide release and getting pushed out of bounds, I think those are the things he’s really starting to learn and it’s really helping him as it relates to press coverage.”

Bruce Arians has been very impressed so far from what he’s seen from Miller, who is right in the competition for the third wide receiver behind Mike Evans and Chris Godwin. The Bucs head coach has consistently remarked than Miller, despite his size and physical comparison to Julian Edelman, brings more versatility to the position than many smaller receiver because of his ability to play inside and outside thanks to his 4.3 speed.

“What has stood out about [Miller] is he’s put on some weight,” Arians said on Tuesday. “He’s gotten stronger and his speed is showing up every single day. He’s not Edelman because he’s real fast. He plays in the slot some, but he plays outside more. Julian’s pretty much a slot guy and we don’t put guys in just one position.”

Miller is optimistic he can keep weight on this season to play with more physicality than he has in the past. Watching his tape last season, it was clear that Miller’s ability to get off of press coverage and physically contend with cornerbacks down the field was going to be the difference between a top three receiver and a fringe roster player.

“So last year there was probably some games where I was dipping into the 160s, which I don’t like saying,” Miller admitted on Tuesday. “It was just tough to keep the weight off, a lot of different things, rookie year, a lot of things I had to adjust to so I lost a little bit of weight. But now I’m probably consistently above 175, so I’m trying to stick around 180. If I can do that then I’ll be playing around 10-15 pounds more than I was last year. I think that’ll just give me a huge advantage in every aspect of my game.”

It was Miller and Brady that combined for the highlight play in training camp early on, connecting on a 90-yard touchdown pass after Miller caught an arcing throw from Brady about 50 yards down the field. Miller only had 23 targets last year, but eight of them were 20 yards or more down the field, boosting his average depth of target to 17.6 yards, one of the highest marks in the league.

“That was pretty cool,” Miller said. “That was a fun one. I love going deep, that’s my favorite thing so when I heard the play call I got excited and I got a good look for it from the defense. He just put that thing perfect, he couldn’t have handed it off to me better from 40-50 yards down the field, whatever it was. It was exciting, I love making those types of plays, like I said, anytime I can do that I’ll be ready for it.”

Outside of the bombs down the field, Miller credits the Berkeley Prep practices for establishing a strong connection quickly with Brady that has translated over to training camp.

“I think it’s been good,” Miller said. “We built it up this offseason a little bit, we were working out trying to get on the same page because we didn’t have the chance to do OTAs and stuff like that. But I think we meshed well together right away and I’m just trying to learn as much as I can from him, he’s trying to help us all because he has so much knowledge. I’m just trying to catch onto everything he’s been telling me with so many receivers that are similar to me, so many great receivers in general, so I’m just trying to learn from him and I think if I’m on the same page as him I’m gonna be in a good spot.”