Pittsburgh Steelers: Is Markus Wheaton The One to Break Out?

With Martavis Bryant suspended for at least a year, the attention has turned to the other young receivers on the Pittsburgh Steelers, specifically No. 3 wideout Markus Wheaton and No. 4 man Sammie Coates.

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Truth be told, new tight end Ladarius Green stands to receive the most targets behind Antonio Brown for the Pittsburgh Steelers, but if there’s anyone on the roster who can match the playmaking ability that Bryant brought to the table, then it’s Markus Wheaton. Though Coates performed admirably in the playoff game against the Denver Broncos and was a standout deep threat at Auburn, it was Wheaton who finished the season with six straight 40-yard, three-catch games.

Three catches and 40 yards is nothing special, and it would be considered a poor day for a player like Martavis Bryant, let alone someone of Brown’s caliber. However, it’s important that Wheaton put together six straight games in which he was more than just, well, the kid in the back of the room saying “present” at attendance and then putting his head down to sleep.

In his first season, Wheaton was a non-factor in every sense. As a second-year pro, he averaged just 40 yards per game. Now, averaging 46.8 as a third-year pro isn’t much of a step up, but it must be kept in mind that Wheaton had just one game with three catches in his first ten games of the 2015 season.

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Basically, Wheaton had a nightmare start to the season in the Davante Adams realm of incompetent wide receiver play, before turning it into a salvageable campaign. Consistency is the key for Wheaton, because he can’t afford to have stretches of games where disappears for just one or two catches; this has happened far too often in his first three seasons.

In Week 12, Wheaton was left open by a Seattle Seahawks defense preoccupied with Brown and the more touted weapons on the Steelers offense, but an aggressive Ben Roethlisberger helped fire the former Oregon State star to a 9/201/1 line, easily the best of his career.

Whether it was a confidence boost, more respect from Roethlisberger, or an actual on-field improvement from Wheaton, his numbers were respectable thereafter. Two touchdowns in a season were his previous career high, and he had four of his five TDs in 2015 in those final six games.

As a whole, Wheaton averaged a robust 9.48 yards per target, mostly because he finally looked like the deep threat the Steelers wanted when they drafted him in 2013. Remember, Wheaton ran a 4.45 forty at the Combine and was one of the top performers in the bench press, 20-yard shuttle, and 60-yard shuttle; the former high school track star may be undersized at 5’11”, but he is not short in the talent department.

Unfortunately, he could never get open frequently enough to show his speed and agility, as they were marred by his lack of strength that led to timid routes. Perhaps the confidence helped increase his effectiveness by allowing to play with more authority, and he is definitely someone who can seize an opportunity with Bryant out.

Though Bryant is an excellent deep threat who averaged over 15 yards per catch in 2015, Wheaton was actually the Steelers leader in YPR with a 17.0 clip.

Roethlisberger recently said the obvious; the Steelers young wideouts must step up with Bryant out, as per the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette’s Ray Fittipaldo. We have seen countless times that Roethlisberger is willing to give young, fast receivers a chance to shine, and it is worth noting that Wheaton will be just 25 when his fourth season gets underway.

"“We learned how to communicate with each other, more so me communicating with him and giving him what he wants. I’m learning how to just be who I need to be when it comes to what Ben wants me to be.”"

The quote above is from that Post-Gazette article, and it’s Wheaton talking about how he and Roethlisberger finally started to get their connection working at the end of the season. The numbers, particularly the rise in TDs, show it, and while Coates will have his say, Wheaton’s success down the stretch is evidence that he should be considered the favorite.

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Wheaton, however, is also the biggest wild card on the roster, because he was so high-variance last season. Not only was he a low catch rate, high YPR receiver who had a season that was a true tale of two halves, but he also catch just one-third of the passes thrown at him on third down (6-18). The Steelers have Brown, Green, and Le’Veon Bell as safety valves on third downs, but Wheaton’s poor third down numbers speak to the fact that Roethlisberger’s comfort level with him as a receiver could ultimately be key to his final stats.