{"id":130,"date":"2016-08-24T21:40:01","date_gmt":"2016-08-25T01:40:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonprofootball.com\/?p=130"},"modified":"2021-03-08T17:18:23","modified_gmt":"2021-03-08T22:18:23","slug":"pittsburgh-steelers-2016-breakout-player-markus-wheaton","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/2016\/08\/24\/pittsburgh-steelers-2016-breakout-player-markus-wheaton\/","title":{"rendered":"Pittsburgh Steelers 2016 Breakout Player: Markus Wheaton"},"content":{"rendered":"

The\u00a0Pittsburgh Steelers are poised to be one of the most explosive and potent offenses in the NFL, and a lesser known wide receiver will break out\u00a0in 2016. \u00a0He wears number 11 and his\u00a0name is Markus Wheaton<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Pittsburgh Steelers 2016 Breakout Player: Markus Wheaton<\/h2>\n

Wheaton over Coates?<\/h3>\n

After a very productive, yet under-the-radar season in 2015, Markus Wheaton<\/strong> is ready to break out\u00a0for the Pittsburgh Steelers<\/strong> in his fourth professional season. \u00a0A lot of national pundits and fantasy experts are high on second-year receiver Sammie Coates<\/a><\/strong>, and rightfully so.\u00a0 His performance in the Steelers<\/strong> Divisional round loss in Denver showed the enormous potential the Steelers<\/strong> coaches saw in Coates when they drafted him 87th<\/sup> overall in the third round of the 2015 NFL Draft.<\/p>\n

With that being said, can a receiver (Coates) who spent the majority of the season on the practice squad and only playing in two games in 2015 (three receptions for 72 yards), make a huge<\/em> step forward and help make up for the yearlong suspension of Martavis Bryant<\/a><\/strong>?<\/p>\n

Sammie Coates<\/strong> will make an impact for the Steelers<\/strong> in 2016, but not the type of impact Markus Wheaton will have on the offense in 2016.<\/p>\n

The Proof Is In The Stats<\/h3>\n

Let\u2019s take a look and analyze Markus Wheaton\u2019s 2015 campaign.\u00a0 Wheaton ended 2015 with 44 receptions on 79 targets, for 749 yards and five touchdowns. That\u2019s good for 17 yards per catch average, and a touchdown every nine receptions.\u00a0 Decent statistics for an NFL receiver, right? Breakout star potential?<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s what the statistics don\u2019t tell you about Wheaton\u2019s 2015 campaign. Markus Wheaton emerged as a dependable and reliable option for Ben Roethlisberger<\/a><\/strong> late in the season when the Steelers<\/strong> needed him the most. Wheaton consistently pulled down tough catches vs. big opponents in big time games.<\/p>\n

Take a look at Wheaton’s\u00a0<\/strong>2015 season and you will see consistently tough catches being made against some of the best pass defenses and pass defenders in the NFL (New England<\/strong>, Seattle<\/strong>, Denver<\/strong>, and Cincinnati<\/strong>). On top of Wheaton\u2019s consistency was his dependability.\u00a0 Of his 44 receptions, a remarkable 32 receptions were for first downs!\u00a0 That\u2019s one of the best averages in the NFL. Oh, and he only had two dropped passes in 2015.<\/p>\n

Wheaton is also beginning to build a repertoire with quarterback Ben Roethlisberger who\u00a0is widely considered one of the best at extending plays and avoiding pressure.\u00a0 This gives his receivers the necessary time to shake their defenders and get open for a first down or a \u201cbig splash play\u201d as Mike Tomlin<\/strong> likes to call them.<\/p>\n

The connection Roethlisberger and Wheaton began to develop and display in the second half of the 2015 season was very exciting to watch and should have Steeler fans more than excited for the 2016 season. After the Steelers Week 11 Bye, Wheaton had 28 of his 44 receptions, 476 of his 749 yards and four of his five touchdown\u2019s. He also averaged 17 yards a catch during that stretch. \u00a0This includes games against the NFL\u2019s No. 1 and two pass defenses in the Broncos<\/strong> and Seahawks<\/strong>, respectively.<\/p>\n

Wheaton\u2019s best game of his career came against the Seahawks where he torched the Legion of Boom to the tune of nine receptions (on 13 targets), for 201 yards and a TD. \u00a0Of those nine receptions, many were caught Wheaton made after the play broke down and Roethlisberger was scrambling.<\/p>\n

Wheaton\u2019s second best game of his career (not statistically, but overall) came against the No. 1 pass defense in the NFL, when he consistently beat one of the best slot corners in 2015 (Bradley Roby<\/a><\/strong>), for six receptions, 62 yards and a touchdown in the Steelers<\/strong> victory.<\/p>\n

With the yearlong suspension and uncertain future of playmaker Martavis Bryant, multiple players will need to step up to make the Steelers the best offense in the NFL, and Markus Wheaton could take the biggest step. \u00a0Add in the\u00a0scorching end to 2015, and his blossoming relationship with Ben Roethlisberger, he has the potential to be one of the best No. 2 receivers in the NFL. \u00a0And lastly, with\u00a0all-world wide receiver\u00a0Antonio Brown<\/a><\/strong> garnering double teams week after week, and Markus Wheaton\u2019s consistency and dependability at an all-time high, I can\u2019t wait to see #11 light up opposing defenses for a career year.<\/p>\n

Prediction:\u00a0 65 receptions, 950 yards, 8 TD\u2019s<\/strong><\/p>\n

Main Photo:<\/p>\n

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Embed from Getty Images<\/a><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n

\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The\u00a0Pittsburgh Steelers are poised to be one of the most explosive and potent offenses in the NFL, and a lesser known wide receiver will break out\u00a0in 2016. \u00a0He wears number 11 and his\u00a0name is Markus Wheaton. Pittsburgh Steelers 2016 Breakout Player: Markus Wheaton Wheaton over Coates? After a very productive, yet under-the-radar season in 2015, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1627,"featured_media":206,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"1","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[82,84,83],"class_list":["post-130","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-steelers","tag-markus-wheaton","tag-martavis-bryant","tag-sammie-coates"],"modified_by":"David Latham, Managing Editor","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/130","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1627"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=130"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/130\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/206"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=130"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=130"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=130"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}