The Steelers landed a gem in Claypool from the 2020 rookie class. This is what he has to do this season to become an elite player.
The Steelers struck gold when they drafted the physical freak Chase Claypool in the second round of the 2020 draft. While the selection was a surprise to most fans, it paid dividends early as he took the league by storm. Heading into 2021, not much has changed for Claypool besides him having a full offseason to prepare himself for his sophomore season. While already on a good path, Claypool has the potential to be a great, game-changing receiver if he takes the necessary next steps.
What does this mean for the Steelers?
Claypool enters this season with certain expectations, and given the quality depth of this receiving room, he won’t be the lone target. While that will mean more single coverages for him, it will also mean that he will have to share his targets with the rest of the room. So no, don’t expect Claypool to go off for 1500 receiving yards due to the fact that he simply won’t have those targets. What he can do is build off his impressive rookie season though, and to that point, he can give the Steelers confidence in their receiving room after 2021.
While he doesn’t need to complete all of these to improve, making some of these jumps could launch him into the next tier of receiving threat. Based on his physical attributes and skills, Claypool has a chance to become an elite player, but it will take some development on his end. Thus, these are the five things Claypool can do to make him a more elite player in 2021.
Lose some weight
Let me make this clear upfront, Claypool is in no way overweight or out of shape. Heck, one of the reasons he was launched up draft boards was because he was such an insane athlete at his size. While that makes him look good in shorts though, playing at 240 pounds as a pro really isn’t necessary. If he could shed 5-10 pounds this offseason, it could go a long way in improving his game overall.
Yes, he ran fast at his current weight, but imagine if he had just a bit of extra speed. How potent of a weapon would be if he could take the top off a defense a little quicker or break away from defensive backs just a second sooner. While there are plenty of ways he can train for that scenario, shedding a couple of pounds could give him a slight edge in that department.
Again, this shouldn’t be a drastic weight loss program here. Just get him down to 230ish pounds perhaps. It wouldn’t be a huge difference, but for a receiver who is hyped as a deep threat, that extra speed could be the difference in some deep plays. The physical freak attribute to him doesn’t disappear with a slight change in weight either. While it won’t make a huge difference, shedding a little weight and ideally having just a slight influx of speed should make him an even more potent deep threat.
Disappearing in games
This one can likely be attributed to him being a rookie last season, but Claypool started the year off hot, faded in the middle-late portion, before ending his rookie year on a high note. Between weeks 11-16, Claypool only registered 22 receptions for 272 yards and one touchdown. While those numbers are far from horrible, it certainly seemed like he was phased out of the offense for a while after a hot start to the season.
Now, all of this wasn’t solely on him. This same stretch of games also happened to coincide with Ben Roethlisberger’s personal struggles last year. The offense was predictable, and the deep pass was almost nonexistent. That said, Claypool saw his snap total go down during this stretch. He went from averaging just under 70 percent of the offensive snaps down closer to 60 percent. More than likely, Claypool was wearing down and hitting the rookie wall.
If Claypool wants to become one of the best players in the game, he can’t hit that wall again. Sure, every receiver has rough patches, but a six-game stretch where your role fades isn’t a good sign. Again, he was a rookie, and the entire Steelers offense was in a slump then, but he needs to make sure he can continue to play at a high level every week for this offense. He has a full offseason now to prepare himself, so he can’t be in multi-week slumps heading into 2021.
Drops
Once again, let’s get this straight right up front: Claypool was not the Steelers’ primary drop issue at receiver in 2020. That was Diontae Johnson and Eric Ebron. That said, he was credited for six drops in 2020 and had a drop percentage of 5.5 percent. That isn’t as bad as the 13 drops and 9 percent drop rate from Johnson, but the age-old saying applies here: one drop is too many drops.
Now, that isn’t to say that Claypool has to catch every pass thrown his way. Some passes that are credited as drops aren’t easy to bring down and human error is always going to rear its ugly head. That said, if Claypool wants to ascend into the upper tier of receiver, he needs to keep his drops to a minimum.
Again, a drop here and there, while frustrating, doesn’t mean that Claypool is washed up and a failure. He just needs to keep his numbers either where they were at in 2020 or even drop them a little. Just as a reference to some of the elites in the NFL in 2020, DeAndre Hopkins had two drops (1.3 percent), Davante Adams had one (.7 percent), and fellow rookie Justin Jefferson had two (1.6 percent). Again, Claypool doesn’t have to hit those numbers, he just has to make sure that he can limit his drops if he wants to be an elite receiver going forward.
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.
Overall play style
The difference between being a good receiver and an elite one is being able to be used in a variety of ways. During his prime, Antonio Brown was unstoppable as a deep threat, at running medium routes, and with his short game. No matter the occasion, Brown could be a target. Right now, Claypool is a good deep threat given his size and athleticism, but he needs to become a better overall receiver in all facets of his game.
Now, Claypool showed some talent elsewhere besides his deep game. He turned a couple of short passes into long gains and was even effective as a runner when sent in motion. He is on the right track to be an overall threat, but he needs to make a few more developments in order to be more than just a deep threat for the Steelers.
Now, considering how deep and balanced the Steelers receiving room is, Claypool doesn’t have to make these jumps to still be successful. If he is to become a top receiver in the league though, he will need to become a dominant threat all over the field. Route running will have to improve overall as well as his presence in the short and intermediate fields if he wants to be considered elite. Claypool has the ability to make that jump this season, but he will have to become a better receiver all over the field to make that jump.
Claypool is set to improve his craft during his sophomore season with the Steelers. While he could remain on the course and become a quality deep threat, Claypool has a real chance to become an elite receiver. He has steps that he has to take this year to get to that point. Claypool has the talent to start in this league, but now he has to prove that he can be one of the best in the league by making these improvements.