It’s best not to expect anything from Steelers rookie class this year

The 2020 offseason has thrown a curveball in the plans of NFL teams. Here’s why we shouldn’t expect many contributions out of the Steelers rookie class this year.

NFL fans get excited about potential rookie contributions each year. Every once in awhile a rookie, like T.J. Watt, for example, will come in and show you which direction the future of your team will be heading. Unfortunately, we won’t get a good feel for that when it comes to the Pittsburgh Steelers rookie class in 2020.

There is plenty of reason to be excited about a player like wide receiver, Chase Claypool. At 6’4” and 238 pounds, Claypool’s athletic testing was off the charts with a 4.42 40-yard dash time at the NFL Combine to go with his 40.5” vertical jump. In addition, Claypool displayed soft hands plus body control in college and improved from a statistical standpoint every year at Notre Dame.

Steelers fans shouldn’t count on Claypool in 2020

Unfortunately, there is plenty of reason to expect growing pains for Claypool and his Steelers draft mates upon their entry to the NFL. Under normal circumstances, it would be hard enough for Claypool to make an immediate impact. The Steelers are three deep at wide receiver with players like JuJu Smith-Schuster, Diontae Johnson, and James Washington, and they signed pass-catching tight end, Eric Ebron this offseason. In addition, players like James Conner, Jaylen Samuels, and Vance McDonald could all very well garner more targets than the rookie in 2020.

However, add in the fact that rookie minicamps and preseason games were taken away this year, and padded practices have been reduced, and there is even more reason to believe that Claypool’s impact will be minimal.

But it’s not just him. third-round draft choice, Alex Highsmith, will have quite the uphill battle. The rookie edge defender is transitioning from a non-Power 5 school in Charlotte, and his transition to the Pros will be far from easy. Likely sitting behind Ola Adeniyi on the depth chart in 2020, he would need an injury to occur to either Bud Dupree or T.J. Watt this year just to find himself in the outside linebacker rotation.

It also doesn’t help that the Steelers didn’t have a first-round pick this year. Though they wouldn’t take the Minkah Fitzpatrick trade back for a second (as they shouldn’t), it’s hard to expect a lot of rookie production in a year where Pittsburgh is shorthanded on draft selections and missing their top pick. Even the players Kevin Colbert ends up drafting in the middle of the first round don’t always make an impact as rookies. So how much contribution should we expect from their mid-second round pick in Chase Claypool?

With no preseason games this year, it’s going to take the veterans long enough to get up to speed on the football field as NFL teams look for a hot start out of the gate. With just 16 games in the regular season, the Steelers can ill-afford to work on developing their young rookies when so much is at stake.

Perhaps players like Chase Claypool and Alex Highsmith could make second-year leaps with the Steelers in 2021. But as of now, it’s best to go into the season not expecting much from Pittsburgh’s rookie class this year.