Chase Claypool picked up a shoulder injury in practice on Friday. Mike Tomlin calls him day to day, so it doesn't sound like a big deal. But coupled with some online highlights of second-rounder George Pickens making plays, it does make for some extra intrigue surrounding the rookie.
The Georgia wideout is big (6-3, 195) with good speed (4.47), and looked like a nice value when Pittsburgh grabbed him in the second round. Diontae Johnson is in a contract year, and the Steelers aren't considered likely to pay up for the kind of money top wideouts are getting this year (it's also yet to be determined if Claypool is a franchise wideout himself). So Pickens might very well be the No. 1 here a year from now.
The Claypool injury raises the question of whether Pickens can make an immediate impact. Pittsburgh has sometimes brought wide receivers along slowly (Antonio Brown caught 16 passes as a rookie), although another recent rookie, second-rounder JuJu Smith-Schuster, went over 900 yards his first season. Of course, that was with Ben Roethlisberger at quarterback. This year it will be some combination of Mitch Trubisky and Kenny Pickett.
Since 2000, there have been 105 wide receivers drafted in the second round, including supplemental pick Josh Gordon. That includes seven players in this year's deep draft class, one of whom (WanDale Robinson) we discussed yesterday, and Pickens.
Of those 105, 12 have put up top-30 PPR numbers in their rookie seasons. Odds are a little better for Pittsburgh wideouts, given that both Claypool and Smith-Schuster have done it since 2017.
Table shows the best of those rookie seasons (top-60 performances) from second-round wideouts the last 20 years. Candidates to join that group this year: Pickens, Robinson, Kansas City's Skyy Moore, Green Bay's Christian Watson, New England's Tyquan Thornton and Cincinnati's Alec Pierce. (The seventh second-rounder, Houston selection John Metchie, is stepping away following a leukemia diagnosis last week.)
| 2ND-ROUND WIDE RECEIVERS, ROOKIE SEASONS, 2000-PRESENT | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pk | Year | Player | Tgt | Rec | Yds | Avg | TD | PPR | Rk |
| 54 | 2003 | Anquan Boldin, Ariz. | 165 | 101 | 1377 | 13.6 | 8 | 290.7 | 3 |
| 47 | 2016 | Michael Thomas, N.O. | 121 | 92 | 1137 | 12.4 | 9 | 259.7 | 7 |
| 42 | 2008 | Eddie Royal, Den. | 129 | 91 | 980 | 10.8 | 5 | 231.9 | 14 |
| 62 | 2017 | JuJu Smith-Schuster, Pitt. | 79 | 58 | 917 | 15.8 | 8 | 197.7 | 20 |
| 51 | 2019 | A.J. Brown, Ten. | 84 | 52 | 1051 | 20.2 | 9 | 217.1 | 22 |
| 49 | 2020 | Chase Claypool, Pitt. | 109 | 62 | 873 | 14.1 | 11 | 216.9 | 23 |
| 42 | 2014 | Jordan Matthews, Phil. | 103 | 67 | 872 | 13.0 | 8 | 202.2 | 25 |
| 33 | 2020 | Tee Higgins, Cin. | 108 | 67 | 908 | 13.6 | 6 | 196.6 | 28 |
| 64 | 2019 | DK Metcalf, Sea. | 100 | 58 | 900 | 15.5 | 7 | 193.1 | 29 |
| 63 | 2014 | Jarvis Landry, Mia. | 112 | 84 | 758 | 9.0 | 5 | 189.4 | 30 |
| 58 | 2011 | Torrey Smith, Balt. | 95 | 50 | 841 | 16.8 | 7 | 180.0 | 30 |
| 49 | 2008 | DeSean Jackson, Phil. | 120 | 62 | 912 | 14.7 | 4 | 186.8 | 30 |
| 36 | 2019 | Deebo Samuel, S.F. | 81 | 57 | 802 | 14.1 | 6 | 191.1 | 31 |
| 52 | 2001 | Chris Chambers, Mia. | 90 | 48 | 883 | 18.4 | 7 | 177.2 | 33 |
| 40 | 2016 | Sterling Shepard, NYG | 105 | 65 | 683 | 10.5 | 8 | 184.4 | 36 |
| 33 | 2008 | Donnie Avery, St.L. | 102 | 53 | 674 | 12.7 | 4 | 151.3 | 39 |
| Sup | 2012 | Josh Gordon, Cle. | 96 | 50 | 805 | 16.1 | 5 | 160.5 | 41 |
| 62 | 2004 | Keary Colbert, Car. | 92 | 47 | 754 | 16.0 | 5 | 154.4 | 41 |
| 44 | 2011 | Titus Young, Det. | 86 | 48 | 607 | 12.7 | 6 | 148.2 | 45 |
| 63 | 2002 | Antonio Bryant, Dall. | 93 | 44 | 733 | 16.7 | 6 | 157.3 | 45 |
| 42 | 2020 | Laviska Shenault, Jac. | 79 | 58 | 600 | 10.3 | 5 | 157.1 | 46 |
| 59 | 2011 | Greg Little, Cle. | 119 | 61 | 709 | 11.6 | 2 | 145.4 | 47 |
| 35 | 2005 | Reggie Brown, Phil. | 79 | 43 | 571 | 13.3 | 4 | 124.6 | 49 |
| 34 | 2021 | Elijah Moore, NYJ | 77 | 43 | 538 | 12.5 | 6 | 138.2 | 50 |
| 40 | 2018 | Courtland Sutton, Den. | 84 | 42 | 704 | 16.8 | 4 | 136.3 | 50 |
| 52 | 2006 | Greg Jennings, G.B. | 104 | 45 | 632 | 14.0 | 3 | 126.2 | 53 |
| 62 | 2002 | Antwaan Randle El, Pitt. | 65 | 47 | 489 | 10.4 | 3 | 133.6 | 55 |
| 47 | 2018 | Christian Kirk, Ariz. | 68 | 43 | 590 | 13.7 | 3 | 123.5 | 58 |
| 47 | 2002 | Andre Davis, Cle. | 72 | 37 | 420 | 11.4 | 7 | 121.7 | 58 |
| 56 | 2019 | Mecole Hardman, K.C. | 41 | 26 | 538 | 20.7 | 7 | 123.5 | 59 |
| 40 | 2015 | Dorial Green-Beckham, Ten. | 67 | 32 | 549 | 17.2 | 4 | 112.9 | 59 |
| 41 | 2013 | Robert Woods, Buff. | 85 | 40 | 587 | 14.7 | 3 | 120.3 | 59 |
| 51 | 2018 | Anthony Miller, Chi. | 54 | 33 | 423 | 12.8 | 7 | 120.3 | 60 |
--Andy Richardson