Steelers All-Pro Miles Killebrew Ready for New Kickoff Challenge
All-Pro Steelers special teamer Miles Killebrew says that under the new kickoff rules, technique will be key to success.
Early on in Miles Killebrew’s NFL career, he became a special teams ace for the Detroit Lions. Killebrew plays on all four phases of special teams, meaning that he plays on both sides of punt and kickoff coverages, field goals and extra points. Special teams is the thing that got Killebrew to college and it is what helped him carve out a long career in the NFL.
“I wouldn’t have made it to college without special teams,” Killebrew said. “My coach told me he never seen someone put kickoff for their first 10 plays on their highlight film. He was like ‘we got to have you here’. I’ve always enjoyed it. I’ve always taken a lot of pride in. It’s something I’ve always known I could be good at.”
Entering the 2024 season, Killebrew is the most experienced player on the special teams unit and takes pride in his play at the position. Since signing with the Steelers in 2021, his four blocked punts are tied for the league leaders among teams, not just players.
While he will continue to shine on punt coverage, Killebrew is expecting to be apart of some “fireworks” on the kickoff coverage team. Under the new kickoff rules, the Steelers’ special teams captain is expecting to see a lot more scoring and bigger plays on the kickoff.
“It almost turns into a glorified stretch play,” Killebrew said. “I think you’re gonna see a lot of explosive plays this year. I think there’s gonna be a lot of touchdowns because once you get past that first layer, there’s no one else there. You don’t have the time for safeties to fold behind. There’s not multiple layers with guys running down the field at different speeds. It’s gonna be a very impactful play, and I think you’re gonna see a lot of explosiveness come from that area of the game.”
As everybody in the league adjusts to the new rules, the one thing sticking out to Killebrew about how to be good under the new rules is elite technique. Killebrew said under the old rules, some players could survive with bad technique because of their speed but under the new rules, that type of player will be exposed.
“Technique (in coverage) is going to be paramount,” Killebrew said. “I think a lot of times guys could get away from technique with just speed or pure aggression because there was time and distance to do so. But now it’s gonna be all technique because it’s gonna be close-quarters combat right now. You’re not gonna be able to hide behind speed.”
With his new two-year contract, Killebrew will continue to lead the Steelers special teams unit. The All-Pro will serve as a depth safety and play on all of the special teams units in 2024.
28 • Miles Killebrew, Safety, Southern Utah
6-foot-2, 222 pounds, 31 years old, 9th Season
Acquired: The Steelers signed Miles Killebrew after his contract with the Detroit Lions expired following the 2020 season. After his first season with the Steelers, he re-signed with the team for two more seasons and then after last season, he re-signed for another two seasons.
Last season: Miles Killebrew had a game-changing blocked punt that resulted in a safety in the Steelers’ Week 5 win over the Baltimore Ravens. Killebrew also had a partially blocked punt against the New England Patriots in Week 14.
In total, Killebrew registered 26 combined tackles, blocked two punts and forced one safety last season.
Career:Â The Detroit Lions drafted Miles Killebrew with the 111th pick in the fourth round of the 2016 NFL Draft. Killebrew played in all 16 games in his rookie season and recorded his first career interception against Drew Brees in Week 13 of the 2016 season.
Killebrew made his first career start at safety in Week 3 of the 2017 season and went on to have his most productive season in his career, defensively. In 2017, Killebrew played in 16 games for the Lions while starting three of them. He finished with 38 tackles, one interception, and one forced fumble.
After his second season, Killebrew started to play special teams more and more as he eventually made it his calling. Since entering the NFL, Killebrew has played 2,254 special team snaps and recorded 48 solo special teams’ tackles which both rank third in the entire league during that span.
Killebrew played his first five season in Detroit before signing with the Steelers before the 2021 season. During his first season in Pittsburgh, Killebrew blocked two punts.
In 2022, Killebrew did not create nearly as much chaos on special teams as he did during his first season apart the Steelers. Killebrew registered 290 special team snaps last season but recorded only four tackles with those opportunities.
In his career, Killebrew has played in 129 games with five starts. In total, Killebrew registered 88 tackles, six passes defended, two interceptions, and one forced fumble.
| Year | GP | Team | Tackles | INTs | FFs | PFF Rating |
| 2016 | 16 | DET | 28 | 1 | 0 | 60.4 |
| 2017 | 16 | DET | 38 | 1 | 1 | 57.9 |
| 2018 | 16 | DET | 7 | 0 | 0 | 60.0 |
| 2019 | 15 | DET | 20 | 0 | 0 | 50.3 |
| 2020 | 15 | DET | 12 | 0 | 0 | – |
| 2021 | 17 | PIT | 13 | 0 | 0 | 64.1 |
| 2022 | 17 | PIT | 4 | 0 | 0 | 70.5 |
| 2023 | 17 | PIT | 26 | 0 | 0 | 64.1 |
College: Miles Killebrew committed to Southern Utah University out of high school and redshirted as a freshman in 2011. As a redshirt freshman, Killebrew started all 11 games of the season at strong safety. He finished tied for first on the team with five pass breakups and third in tackles with 69. Following the season he was named as an honorable mention All-Big Sky and was a nominee for the Jerry Rice award, the top newcomer at the FCS level.
In 2013, Killebrew finished with 54 total tackles and was named an honorable mention All-Big Sky for the second straight year.
As a redshirt junior, Killebrew played in all 12 games of the season and finished second on the team with 101 total tackles. He also recorded two tackles for loss, three interceptions, and seven passes defended.
| Year | TKLs | INTs | PBUs |
| 2011 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2012 | 69 | 0 | 5 |
| 2013 | 54 | 0 | 2 |
| 2014 | 101 | 3 | 7 |
Salary cap and future: The Steelers re-signed Miles Killebrew to a two-year, $6.5 million contract following the 2023 season. He is entering the first year of the deal and will cost $2.255 million against the team’s cap space. Killebrew’s 2024 cap hit is comprised of a $1.21 million salary and a $1.045 signing money.
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