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Markus Wheaton - Underrated? (2 Viewers)

discountdoublecheck said:
Bryant is likely out for the year. Does Wheaton's role change? He did very little for the first four games with Bryant out last year. Then he had the Seattle game where they decided not to cover him. Is he sneaky great and undervalued (Emanuel Sanders). Or is he a guy that will struggle with more defensive attention (D. Adams). 
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The 200 yard game against Seattle was Week 12.  In the remaining 5 weeks of the regular season he was 19-275-3 (extrapolates to 60.8-880-9.6).  What he will do in 2016 has to factor in the involvement Lad Green and Sammy Coates.  Hard to predict.  But one thing that seems sure is that his numbers the four weeks with Bryant out last year to begin the season look irrelevant now, given that his involvement grew in the 2nd half of the season even with Bryant playing.

 
Bruce Hammond said:
The 200 yard game against Seattle was Week 12.  In the remaining 5 weeks of the regular season he was 19-275-3 (extrapolates to 60.8-880-9.6).  What he will do in 2016 has to factor in the involvement Lad Green and Sammy Coates.  Hard to predict.  But one thing that seems sure is that his numbers the four weeks with Bryant out last year to begin the season look irrelevant now, given that his involvement grew in the 2nd half of the season even with Bryant playing.
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That is a good point, he did well with Bryant in the lineup at the end of the season. Watching him play it just seems that he benefits from Brown/Bryant's talent and is forgotten by the defense. 

 
Bryant and Wheaton combined last season for 94/1516/11 on 171 targets. There is a lot of value to be had. Meanwhile, Brown had 193 targets, Miller had 81 targets, and the RBs combined for 73 targets.

Assuming Bryant's suspension stays at the full season and Roethlisberger, Bell, Brown, Wheaton, and Green all stay healthy, IMO you can assume something like this:

  • 180 Brown
  • 120 Wheaton
  • 100 Bell
  • 80 Green
  • 120 everyone else
Scaling Wheaton's numbers up from last season's 79 targets to 120 targets yields 67/1138/7.6. However, I suspect his catch rate will improve and his YPR will drop a bit.

Some will say Green and/or Brown will get a lot more targets, which would impact Wheaton. That is possible. I think 70/1000/6 is a reasonable expectation for Wheaton right now, with upside from there.

 
tangfoot said:
By YB, actually.
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I think enthusiasm needs to be tempered a bit on Coates ATM, whose ADP is 56.7 on fantasypros. Wheaton's is 45.8. 

Yes, Coates had a nice game in the AFC Divisional game. Yes, Coates has had a pretty nice camp thus far according to all reports. The truth of the matter is Wheaton (when healthy in camp) is the clear #2 and has a great rapport with Ben, whereas Coates has been cycling in with DHB (whom Ben trusts a great deal as well). Also, Wheaton finished last year on quite the hot streak when Ben was fully healthy again, AND those #'s were with Martavis in the mix.

Couple that with Coates' latest preseason showing with 4 targets, 2 lost fumbles and a dropped pass - I think alot of people are annointing him #2 WAY to fast and are completely dismissing Wheaton.

Now dont get me wrong, I think Coates will have a nice year, and maybe equal Wheaton in snaps at some point this year - but barring injury, Wheaton will get alot more looks from Ben and will be undervalued - and at Coate's current price (56.7), I'd rather have Funchess (58.2), Sanu (62.3), Boyd (67) or Fuller (61) - all clear # 2 options in the passing game at this stage of the game.

 
BobbyLayne said:
Pretty quiet on Wheaton this year. Guess everyone is expecting Coates will surpass him by YE?
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Even if Coates doesn't I'm still not excited about Wheaton this season. We saw how he fared in a full-time roll last season and it wasn't great. I'd be surprised if Pitt sees Wheaton (FA next season) as the long-term WR2 or WR3

 
I'm all in on Wheaton this year.  Coaching staff loves him. They were talking about him being a special player last year as he was breaking out.  They spoke the same way about brown before he became elite. 

 
maf005 said:
Even if Coates doesn't I'm still not excited about Wheaton this season. We saw how he fared in a full-time roll last season and it wasn't great. I'd be surprised if Pitt sees Wheaton (FA next season) as the long-term WR2 or WR3
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For the most part. But he was one of only 3 WRs to put up a 200 yard game last year. He was one of maybe a dozen or WRs who averaged 2.0 or better points per target last year.

Coates was great in OTAs and had some buzz which was tempered somewhat by the fumbles last week.

Anyway, I've just noticed Wheaton keeps going later and later in redraft mocks. Seems like he might be a good value play. You're probably drafting him as a WR5 so it's cheap.

(personally when I get to rounds 11-13 I'm starting to grab guys like Thomas, Dorsett and Coates.)

 
Markus Wheaton (shoulder) was limited to individual drills at Wednesday's practice.
Wheaton is dealing with soreness in his right shoulder but said he'll "for sure" be on the field Monday against the Redskins. The contract-year wideout played well down the stretch last season and should see an expanded role in 2016 with Martavis Bryant serving a year-long suspension.

 
 
Source: Chris Adamski on Twitter 
Sep 7 - 5:51 PM
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tombonneau said:
So what's the word on Wheaton? How bad is this shoulder injury?
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Per Dr Gene:

"...his Wednesday practice participation will be telling for his availability this week."

Per rotoworld:

Wheaton missed his second game in a row Sunday, but he said the injury did not play a role in the decision. "It's just a matter that I missed a lot of football," Wheaton said. "And so with that little bit of practice it was an easy call." Wheaton practiced in full early last week before being limited on Friday. Another week of full practices should have him ready for Sunday's matchup with the Eagles.

 
simsarge said:
Per Dr Gene:

"...his Wednesday practice participation will be telling for his availability this week."

Per rotoworld:

Wheaton missed his second game in a row Sunday, but he said the injury did not play a role in the decision. "It's just a matter that I missed a lot of football," Wheaton said. "And so with that little bit of practice it was an easy call." Wheaton practiced in full early last week before being limited on Friday. Another week of full practices should have him ready for Sunday's matchup with the Eagles.
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Thanks. He is a throw in on a deal as a WR downgrade (I'd be moving Marvin Jones) and just wanted to make sure I wasn't being sold a bill of goods. I already screwed myself once not paying attention to injured Steelers when I drafted Green so don't want to make that mistake twice. :)

 
tombonneau said:
Thanks. He is a throw in on a deal as a WR downgrade (I'd be moving Marvin Jones) and just wanted to make sure I wasn't being sold a bill of goods. I already screwed myself once not paying attention to injured Steelers when I drafted Green so don't want to make that mistake twice. :)
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Mike Tomlin was quoted during his press conference saying Wheaton is looking good and should be active this week.

 
maf005 said:
Even if Coates doesn't I'm still not excited about Wheaton this season. We saw how he fared in a full-time roll last season and it wasn't great. I'd be surprised if Pitt sees Wheaton (FA next season) as the long-term WR2 or WR3
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I'm not impressed with a bunch of their non-Antonio WRs for much of the game and then one of them shows a gift that blows me away. It could be hands or speed. 

IMO Wheaton is eh nothing special and then holy wow fast. He's got a sixth gear. He's not jogging or running slow to start so it seems impossible to run that much faster. Telling ya, the right highlight and Wheaton is the fastest guy in the NFL. 

I don't think Coates is better than when he first came to Pitt. I have this problem with a lot of NFL WRs. I think it's possible that their stellar college career was the peak.

The Steelers don't seem to have this huge interest in developing a #2 and/or they simply can't commit to one which makes it appear as such. They sure do draft some incredible athletes to play the #2 role.

Developing WRs is a lost art in the NFL. Titans released two awesome athletes that were second round gems- geesh Hunter would fit right in in Pitt as matter of fact. He is so big and so fast. The Vikings almost tripped over Diggs by not playing him for the first few weeks and then I swear they were surprised he was very good. Coradelle, Treadwell, Charles Johnson- I like each of them but what have they done? The Lions never really found that guy opposite Calvin. They signed Burleson to be a vet fill in and later on Tate too. Broyles was so good in college but such a flop. They never really had a gem opposite Calvin.

Steve Smith in Carolina. Did he play with Muhsin? Seems like he never had help. Kamar Aiken in BAL came out of nowhere last year and as they didn't even offer him a new contract initially, they sure didn't appear to appreciate a #2. Perriman is the solution....nope. Eagles went from Maclin to Matthews, where's the #2? 

Cincy didn't seem too worried about losing their two supposed real good WRs opposite Green.

KC just had Bowe and now they just have Maclin.

Cowboys had TO and then Dez.

The Giants just plugged in a rook whom was good right away. The Cards have only had success adding good right away type WRs. They haven't really developed much around Fitz. 

Post Calvin- the Lions went with Andre Roberts and Anquan Boldin. Sure thing veterans. Slower, less exciting, but they know what they've got in them.

Sorry so long, it's just...We might be in an era where WRs aren't developed anymore. I mean the one's there are coached, but there isn't this big push to get the job done. It seems to me like if an NFL team wants a big and fast WR then there are tons available from college. If you don't discuss route running, training, hands etc then yeah there is a plethora available. So I am anticipating Wheaton and Coates being given the DHB option- stay in your role at a reasonable price or we'll draft another prospect who will also be big and fast.

Big and fast is enough in most offenses. The OC admits his limitations and scripts accordingly. Bad teams struggle to rely on these bad WRs. Even worse teams tend to misread the benefit and just go with 2 and 3 TE sets. As long as it's heh he's not good but the D has to account for his blazing speed....OCs make it work.

Green Bay has had some excellent WRs and even added some more. They lost to Calvin and many of these one WR teams some and always seem to beat the one WR Bears. Can you really say they are better off by being one of the few teams that still develops WRs?

In this Pitt thread, Big Ben throws for a zillion yards and Bell runs for another zillion. Is GB really a better offense?

I don't think teams really develop #2s anymore

 
ESPN Bears reporter Jeff Dickerson listed Markus Wheaton among the starters at wide receiver in his mid-May projection.
Chicago does not have much on the roster behind Cameron Meredith and Kevin White, and Wheaton was given $6 million guaranteed on a "two-year" contract this offseason. That said, Wheaton is still recovering from a shoulder injury and has been mostly inconsistent throughout his career. After signing Dion Sims and drafting Adam Shaheen in the second round, the Bears could end up using a lot more two-tight-end sets this season.

 
 
Source: ESPN 
May 15 - 10:03 AM
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