5 things Steelers Chase Claypool has to improve upon in 2021

Contested catches

One of Claypool’s best attributes while at Notre Dame was his ability to make contested catches deep down the field. It almost came as a shock that Claypool tested as athletically as he did since he never consistently beat corners down the field. He was a deep threat, but like James Washington, he wouldn’t win with pure speed. Instead, he would use his size to physically catch passes over defensive backs.

Now, part of this was Ian Book and his inability to throw the ball deep. This made Claypool have to get more physical at the catch point since passes were typically thrown a little behind him, not in front of him. With the Steelers, he is in a similar boat now. Yes, Roethlisberger has a better arm than Book, but he had struggled with the deep ball last year. The rest of the quarterbacks on the roster, besides maybe Dwayne Haskins, also lack an extremely strong arm. This means Claypool has to get better at winning contested catches.

He was fine at doing this last year, but he wasn’t anywhere as dominant as he was in college. Until the Steelers get an elite deep-ball thrower, Claypool will have to continue to improve his contested catches. An influx of speed, as would happen if he lost a little weight, could make him win down the field, but that won’t mean that the contested catch element would go away. Claypool has to keep on making those difficult catches down the field if he wants to take his game to the next level.