Antonio Brown, Markus Wheaton could be this year’s dynamic WR duo
Throughout the week, I warned a a couple of ardent fantasy football players that Pittsburgh Steelers second-year wide receiver Markus Wheaton could have a breakout season a la Chicago Bears stud Alshon Jeffery did last year. While Jeffery is the superior player, Wheaton is an excellent talent in his own right, and he was the top deep threat in the 2013 NFL Draft class and should have been selected a round higher than he was. After spending most of his time in 2013 on the bench, Wheaton was set to take on a massive role in the Steelers talented, underrated offense this season.
He certainly took a big role in today’s game and came away with a monstrous performance opposite of “Z” receiver Antonio Brown, who established himself as one of the league’s elite last season. Wheaton could be one of the best vertical threats in the game this year, especially since he’s the “X” and has the strong arm and improvisational talent of Ben Roethlisberger to lean out. The former Oregon State standout turned seven targets into six receptions and 97 yards, as Roethlisberger absolutely ripped a Cleveland Browns secondary that was supposed to be one of the best in the league. But Joe Haden, Justin Gilbert, Tashaun Gipson, and new strong safety Donte Whitner had absolutely no answer for Big Ben, Brown, Wheaton, or even deep-camp sleeper Justin Brown, whom astute observers can recall hearing plenty of positive buzz about.
The Steelers have Lance Moore and Heath Miller to move the chains, but this offense is going to be based around Roethlisberger’s borderline-elite talent, and the explosiveness of his wide receivers. Antonio Brown showed off the ability to move the chains and be a staple No. 1 guy in the offense in his breakout 2013 season, but he’s shown throughout his career that he is a dynamic wideout (just check out his play on returns). He was even more of a playmaker than Wheaton today, as he finished with a whopping 23.2 yards per reception by turning six targets into five catches for 116 yards, including a 35-yard touchdown. Now that’s efficiency.
Despite the huge days by the skill-position trio of Brown, Wheaton, and Le’Veon Bell (he dominated the Browns defense as a rusher and pass-catcher, showing off the all-around ability that has made him the three-down RB ahead of talented RB2 LeGarrette Blount), the Steelers nearly blew the game due to some shoddy defense. Brian Hoyer heated up as the game wore on, and the Browns absolutely smashed the Steelers on the ground with the duo of Ben Tate and Terrance West, who was downright special in his debut.
These sorts of high-scoring games will be commonplace for the Steelers, because they are a different team than the ground-and-pound Steelers that we have come to be familiar with. This team’s strength is on the offensive side of the ball, where explosive pass-catchers like the Browns, Wheaton, and perhaps rookie Martavis Bryant lie. The Steelers are going to give up more points than usual and clearly have weaknesses at cornerback, but they are going to put plenty of points on the board. Wheaton could be this year’s Jeffery in fantasy football, and while Brandon Marshall is a different class of receiver, Antonio Brown is clearly elite in his own right.