When Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger takes the field this regular season, he’ll have a luxury he hasn’t had in quite some time — a big target in rookie wide receiver Chase Claypool.
Roethlisberger will be three seasons removed from the last towering receiver he had in Martavis Bryant. And we all know how that worked out. Just as the 6-4 receiver was coming into his own, he was suspended for violating the league’s substance-abuse policy in the 2016 offseason.
When Bryant returned in 2017, he put up a decent amount of yards in 15 games (603), but his touchdowns decreased by half (3) from the 2015 season (6). For his career in Pittsburgh, he logged 126 receptions on 224 targets.
Years prior to Bryant, WR Plaxico Burress was briefly on the receiving end of Roethlisberger’s passes. The 6-5 receiver recorded 38 receptions on 66 targets over a 15-game span.
Although Big Ben’s completion percentage average (64.3) ranks up there with some of the best QBs in the league, he has not always been pin-point accurate.
When Burress and Bryant were on the scene, however, Roethlisberger enjoyed completion percentages of 66 percent (2004), 67 percent (2014), and a career-high completion percentage of 68 percent in 2015.
Enter Chase “Mapletron” Claypool. His tight end-like measurables are impressive — 6-4, 238 lbs., 32-inch arms, just shy of 10-inch hands, and his NFL Combine vertical jump was 40.5. Arms and hands are comparable to Bryant (32-inch, 9.5-inch) and Burress (34-inch, 9.5-inch), but he’s the winner in the weight and vertical categories.
What could delay his impact is the talent ahead of him — Claypool will be battling JuJu Smith-Schuster, Diontae Johnson, and James Washington for offensive snaps. His biggest competition could be Washington, who will likely be playing in the same position (outside X receiver).
What will help Claypool make his mark is his overwhelming size and speed, which is unlike any receiver the Steelers have had since Bryant. His expansive catch radius and ability to win contested catches will be a QB’s dream come true.
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