In a season where the Pittsburgh Steelers offense was a former shell of itself, the one bright spot I kept coming back to was the play of then-rookie wide receiver Chase Claypool. Pittsburgh couldn’t find a way to generate any sort of rushing attack and very little deep passing but this didn’t stop Claypool from showing the type of physical gifts that should put him among the top outside receivers in the NFL in 2021.
Our friends over at Touchdown Wire put out their Top 11 outside receivers recently and seeing Seattle Seahawks wide receiver D.K. Metcalf, who checked in at No. 10. This got us digging into some comparisons between the two and it really gets you excited to see if Claypool can have a breakout sophomore campaign the way Metcalf did.
Physically, both guys cast a striking shadow. Claypool is actually a bit bigger than Metcalf and we saw him use that physical advantage early in the 2020 season. Metcalf has a slight advantage in terms of long speed but at this point it is negligible.
As a rookie, Metcalf hauled in 58 receptions, 900 receiving yards and seven receiving touchdowns. By comparison, Claypool had 62 receptions, 873 receiving yards and nine receiving touchdowns.
When you look at the makeup of the Seahawks offense in 2019 you see that Metcalf took advantage of opportunities when they presented themselves, showcased his ridiculous physical tools and earned the opportunity to be featured more the following season. This is exactly what Claypool did last season and given the other weapons he has on offense, should be able to at a bare minimum mimic the jump Metcalf had from year one to year two.
