Steelers select Markus Wheaton in the third

[steel50]

Im a Steelers fan completly...and i dnt miss games...but Steeler fans are being decieved
The Steelers Nation has fallen in love with speed just because Mike Wallace....but Speed isnt everything ask
Hines Ward...The Steelers should have picked Stedman Bailey from West Virginia, he reminds
Me so much of Hines ward...gd hands gd route running...and is very elusive after the catch...i think the Steelers
Made a wrong desicion...which has me question there scouts..the last couple years...becuase we have had some major bust
In last couple of drafts. Trust me Stedman Bailey is gonna be alot better then Wheaton...check his tape out on uyou tube

i agree i think bailey has a chance to be a productive WR in the nfl but i feel wheaton was a steal and going to be great for us. i am glad they took him

[Mister Pittsburgh]

He looks stiff and like he catches with his body too much. Looks fast though. Reminds me of Wallace, like a one trick pony type.

[Shawn]

He looks stiff and like he catches with his body too much. Looks fast though. Reminds me of Wallace, like a one trick pony type.

He isn't. He can run all the routes, and has a more complete game.

[flippy]

He does remind me some of Wallace, too. Except that he catches more with his hands, at least in the vid. Looks like an excellent pick.

He looks like he has Wally shins and eats up yardage the way that Wally does when he runs. He kinda looks like a cross between Wally and Manny. He really cuts hard on a couple of the routes I've seen.

[steel50]

He isn't. He can run all the routes, and has a more complete game.

i agree
he needs to work on hands but i feel runs all routes and is not stiff

[SteelSpain]

[flippy]

I hope he gets the chance to run a 100 M a couple times this year. I think that's about the distance from the back of the endzone to the other endzone on a KR.

[SteelSpain]

I hope he gets the chance to run a 100 M a couple times this year. I think that's about the distance from the back of the endzone to the other endzone on a KR.

Almost, 99 M (1 yard = 0,9 M)

[hawaiiansteel]

Draft provides some helping hands for Steelers offense

April 30, 2013
By Ed Bouchette / Pittsburgh Post-Gazette



Markus Wheaton, the Steelers' third-round pick, claims to run a 4.3 40.

What's left of the Young Money Crew will merge with the New Young Money Crew and a couple of geezers, and somewhere in there the Steelers will find themselves a receiving corps for 2013.

Ben Roethlisberger will have new targets to break in this spring and summer. The Steelers apparently liked the formula that delivered Emmanuel Sanders and Antonio Brown in the 2010 draft so much that they tried it again over the weekend.

They drafted receivers in the third and sixth rounds. They went for speed in the third round with Markus Wheaton of Oregon State, and height in the sixth round with 6-foot-3 Justin Brown of Oklahoma via Penn State.

"We look at Markus Wheaton as a speed receiver that can get deep," general manager Kevin Colbert said.

"Justin Brown [was an] opportunity to add a big receiver."

Neither Colbert nor Mike Tomlin or anyone else knows quite how either will fit, but if Wheaton has the kind of speed he and they say he does, then he could become a more polished Mike Wallace, the Steelers' third-round draft choice in 2009.

Wheaton says he has run a 4.3 in the 40 (Wallace was sub-4.3), but he ran a 4.45 at the combine. Offensive coordinator Todd Haley said that was a good thing, just as it was when Jarvis Jones ran a slow time at his pro day.

"When you have guys that you like, you aren't rooting for them to run fast and get a lot of attention," Haley said. "I know it probably hurt his feelings and made him feel bad, but we were happy because when you put on the tape, he plays fast. He's a fast player and quick. He will be an exciting guy to have around."

The Steelers had planned to move Emmanuel Sanders to Wallace's split end spot (where he backed him up). Wheaton's speed suits that as well and he has experience playing in the slot, too. They can mix and match with Brown, Sanders and Wheaton, provided the rookie develops quickly enough.

The Steelers also have veterans Jerricho Cotchery and Plaxico Burress.

"We have a nice mix right now of inside and outside guys," Haley said. "To have a guy that, especially early, is contributing on special teams and knows multiple positions including inside and outside spots, I think that's a big positive with Markus."

Wheaton caught a school-record 227 passes in his career, although not anywhere near the big-play numbers in college that Wallace produced with the Steelers. Wheaton averaged 13.2 yards per catch at Oregon State.

The Steelers, though, think he comes in as a more well-rounded receiver than Wallace, whom Tomlin kept calling a "one-trick pony" in his first few years.

"I saw Mike as more of an outside receiver, outside the numbers," Haley said. "This guy has played the slot a bunch when he wasn't outside. He is a little wider base [than Wallace], a little more running back build, in my opinion. The speed comparison -- it's hard for anyone to run faster than Mike, but this guy does play fast."

Wallace caught 39 passes as a rookie in 2009 for 756 yards for a team that started two 1,000-yard receivers, Hines Ward and Santonio Holmes, and had opened up its passing game. Wallace started five games that year.

With Holmes gone, Wallace became a starter in 2002 and had his best season with 1,257 yards, 60 receptions, 10 touchdowns and a 21-yard average per catch.

The Steelers matched the one-year, $2.5 million contract Sanders signed with New England, and Colbert said they will talk to him about a long-term deal this summer. Sanders' agent said while they are open to signing a new contract, they want a substantial one. That, and the drafting of Wheaton and Brown, might indicate the Steelers are aware Sanders could depart in free agency in 2014.

Brown transferred from Penn State last year and did not have to sit out a season because of the NCAA ruling after its sanctions against Penn State that allowed transfers to play immediately.

Brown caught 35 passes in 2011 at Penn State and then thrived in the high-octane Oklahoma offense with 73 receptions from quarterback Landry Jones, drafted in the fourth round by the Steelers. Brown also returned punts for the Sooners with a 13.6-yard average and one touchdown. The Steelers think he has a higher-than-average chance of making the team than the usual sixth rounder because of his additional play on special teams.

"I just feel really good about what I saw on tape," new Steelers receives coach Richard Mann said about Brown. "I am a big film guy. He is a big guy. He is very productive. I think he has good toughness and that's part of being a good receiver. He can catch the football."

[URL]http://www.post-gazette.com/stories/sports/steelers/draft-provides-some-helping-hands-for-steelers-offense-685579/#ixzz2S495L08x[/URL]

[hawaiiansteel]

Receiver Wheaton could make biggest splash among Steelers’ rookies

By Alan Robinson
Published: Thursday, May 2, 2013



Oregon State receiver Markus Wheaton outruns Arizona State defender Chris Young on his way to a touchdown during the first half of their game Saturday, Nov. 3, 2012, in Corvallis, Ore.

Jarvis Jones could come in and start immediately. Le'Veon Bell could come in and start immediately. But Markus Wheaton could be the rookie from the Steelers' Class of 2013 who makes the biggest impact.

Forget the comparisons to Mike Wallace, the receiver he might replace — if not in the lineup, then as the Steelers' best deep threat. While Wheaton is exceptionally fast, especially after making the catch, he is not Wallace-fast.

He won't have to be to still be effective in Todd Haley's offense, which values quick throws to receivers who run precise routes to get open in heavy traffic.

“Markus Wheaton is a very good route runner who is coming into the NFL and will be ready to play right away,” ESPN draft analyst Mel Kiper Jr. said.

Wheaton, the leading receiver in Oregon State history, fell to the Steelers in the third round partly because of his 4.45 time in the 40 at the NFL Scouting Combine. Jones, the Georgia outside linebacker, slipped to No. 17 overall partly because of his 40 time, too.

Wheaton says he had run in the 4.3s during other workouts, just not the one that counted.

“I know it probably hurt his feelings and made him feel bad, but we were happy because, when you put the tape on, he plays fast,” Haley said of Wheaton, who caught 91 passes for 1,244 yards and 11 touchdowns last season. “He's a fast player and quick. He's an exciting guy to have around.”

Haley also called Wheaton “a versatile, good, polished” player. And while Wallace had game-changing speed, the word “polished” wasn't used to describe him coming out of Mississippi, also as a third-round pick.

That route-running ability and Wheaton's dependable hands could be more assets for the Steelers from the start in a year in which the top four picks — Jones, Bell, Wheaton and safety Shamarko Thomas — could make major contributions.

“A little different skill set than Mike other than the speed,” Haley said. “I saw Mike as more of an outside receiver outside the numbers. This guy has played the slot a bunch when he wasn't outside. He is a little wider base, a little more running back.”

Wheaton had 18 catches for 20 yards or more last season, yet also ran for 631 yards and five touchdowns during a career in which he caught 227 passes.

His ability to line up as the ‘X' receiver, which Wallace played almost exclusively, but also as the “Z” receiver and in the slot is certain to be utilized by new receivers coach Richard Mann, who is strong on fundamentals and technique.

“He was in the slot. He was in the backfield,” Haley said. “That tells us he's a smart guy. Any time a coach feels comfortable moving a guy around a bunch like that, that's good.”

Wheaton said he can envision himself “anywhere” in the Steelers' offense because “I like being all over the place. The defense can't plan for you when they don't know where you're going to be.”

Wheaton and 40 other Steelers rookies and first-year players will start a three-day minicamp on the South Side on Friday. The group includes the team's nine draft choices, the undrafted rookie free agents and nine first-year players who previously signed an NFL contract but did not accrue pension time.

There will be two quarterbacks — fourth-round pick Landry Jones of Oklahoma and undrafted rookie Caleb TerBush of Purdue. And Ryan Clarke, a running back from West Virginia.

[URL]http://triblive.com/sports/steelers/3954424-74/wheaton-steelers-receiver#ixzz2SFGBqt6X[/URL]