Without any significant needs, the Pittsburgh Steelers had the freedom to select their top player on their board when they went on the clock with the No. 49 pick overall. The front office decided to make a position of strength a little stronger with the selection of former Notre Dame wide receiver Chase Claypool.
Here are four things the pick means for the Steelers.
More four-wide receiver sets
Where Claypool can excel in the NFL is by taking advantage of mismatches. There’s no better way to get a guy who is 6-foot-4 and nearly 240 pounds into a favorable matchup is to force a sub-package defender to try and cover him. With JuJu Smith-Schuster, Diontae Johnson and James Washington to spread things out, Claypool could really exploit those looks.
A more efficient red-zone offense
Pittsburgh was dead last in red-zone touchdown percentage in 2019 at a miserable 35 percent rate. The signing of tight end Eric Ebron and the selection of Claypool gives Roethlisberger a couple of massive targets to be sure the Steelers come away with touchdowns in the red zone.
The end of Ryan Switzer
With Claypool on the roster, someone has to go. We love Ryan Switzer and he seems like a great teammate. But the wide receiver depth chart is a numbers game. After seeing Johnson replace Switzer as a returner it’s hard to see Switzer sticking around with the Claypool pick.
Complications with the tight ends
It wouldn’t be hard to make a case that Claypool is more tight end than wide receiver. He definitely has the size of a modern NFL tight end. Perhaps the Steelers will try to convert him over fully and pair him up with Ebron and Vance McDonald to create a massive passing set out of 12-personnel.
