It's been no secret to anyone who's paid attention that JuJu Smith-Schuster wouldn't be back in 2021.
The writing has been on the wall, and it was written by Kevin Colbert in the form of drafting James Washington, Diontae Johnson and Chase Claypool in all three NFL drafts since Smith-Schuster was selected in 2017.
But the most recent of those picks, Claypool, has flashed the most potential in a rookie season with 62 receptions for 873 receiving yards and nine receiving touchdowns, including two more touchdowns on the ground. That's the most receptions and receiving touchdowns of any rookie drafted by Colbert, and the second-most receiving yards of any rookie only behind Smith-Schuster.
If Claypool is going to take the next step in his career, there are key elements to his game he can improve that will make him the primary threat in the Steelers' passing game for years to come.
Claypool's physical traits are obvious assets with a 6-foot-4, 238 lbs. frame combined with a 4.42 time in the 40-yard dash at the NFL Scouting Combine. He quickly put that to good use as a deep threat for the Steelers, leading the team with 14.1 yards per reception, and an average of 13.3 air yards per reception.
That speed was on display from the second game of the season when he put up this 84-yard touchdown, beating the press coverage of Michael Ojemudia. You can notice that once Claypool got into his route how naturally he wins the footrace, tracks the deep ball from Ben Roethlisberger and runs to the end zone:
But as a rookie, Ojemudia isn't one of the best at press coverage.
Claypool showed all season that once the ball was in his hands, he was extremely dangerous. That's what led him to recording 1.8 average yards after catch above expectation, the fifth-highest in the NFL. But his biggest problems came when more talented cornerbacks found ways to disrupt Claypool's routes and the timing between him and Roethlisberger.
Plenty of Claypool's biggest plays came when he created enough separation to avoid combat catches in traffic. But watch what happened when Marlon Humphrey pressed Claypool at the line. It kept the rookie from getting a clean release into his route. Notice how although Claypool did get a small window of separation, Humphrey's press slowed him down enough so that the two-time pro bowl cornerback could break up the pass:
Other times, Claypool was unable to get into his route at all because of the press.
Watch how Tre'Davious White completely overpowered Claypool at the line towards the bottom of the formation, knocking him over and ending his route before it could even begin. Claypool was unable to protect his frame or fight off White's aggressive press:
Of course, White and Humphrey are among the best of the best.
Beating top cornerbacks will have to be something Claypool gets used to doing if he's the Steelers' primary receiver. Especially with Smith-Schuster going to another team in free agency, teams will focus more attention on Claypool as he makes more plays.
But it's not that Claypool doesn't have the skills to beat those cornerbacks, as he flashed it at times in 2020. Here's one of the better examples when he took on Darius Slay after the Eagles switched the three-time pro bowl cornerback to cover Claypool after he gave the Eagles trouble all game.
But watch how Claypool cleared Slay's attempt to press him at the line and you can see he had a more complete release off the line that kept his frame clean. The key is for the receiver to keep the cornerback from getting a hand to the receiver's chest to jam his progress while still working into his route. You can see Claypool bursted off the snap, and got into his break inside of Slay, using his hands to keep Slay's hands off him:
It was an impressive play for how he won in a tight space.
But Claypool must make that ability to beat the press and get into his route a consistent factor. He can't beat every cornerback all the time, but if he makes it a consistent factor in his game, opponents will have to change their approach against him.
Showing the ability to win such a matchup is a very good sign for a rookie, even if it's not polished to be a consistent factor in their game. All players go through learning curves and adjustments that take time to adapt to the NFL, especially when applying different techniques and practices to make them staples in a player's reputation.
A perfect example can be seen in T.J. Watt's career. As a rookie he burst onto the scene with two sacks in his first NFL game, when he showed several different pass rush moves to beat defenders. But as his rookie season wore on in 2017, Watt's lack of comfort and experience with a variety of pass rush moves led to him relying on a very limited set of moves as a rookie. But in 2018, let alone 2020, Watt learned how to make those moves a regular part of his arsenal.
If Claypool can do the same in figuring out ways to counter press coverage and different techniques from cornerbacks, it will make him that much more difficult to cover.
Especially if he becomes proficient in beating press coverage, Claypool's speed will force teams to give more of a cushion in coverage. If he's consistently beating the press, then cornerbacks won't have room to recover and his speed would allow for more big plays like the 84-yard touchdown against the Broncos.
Claypool looks to already have a good sense of how to make plays when given a cushion from cornerbacks. Here's a skinny post he ran against the Browns in the playoffs that took advantage of deep zone coverage that gave up inside leverage and allowed him to run free:
Those situations could happen more often if teams learn to not press Claypool.
Having that kind of threat consistently on the field would make the opponents game plan for Claypool in a way that could take attention away from Johnson, Washington and Eric Ebron, as well as whatever new version of the Steelers' run game emerges from additions in free agency and the NFL Draft.
It's also important to remember that all of Claypool's initial progress last season happened without a rookie camp, mini-camp, preseason or even a normal training camp because of the pandemic. Should he take advantage of those opportunities this offseason, he could be much further ahead of his game than last year.
