How Are The Pittsburgh Steelers So Good At Drafting Stud Wide Receivers Who Also Happen To Be Ego Maniacs?

So this happened after the game in the locker room. Just your routine Pittsburgh Steeler wideout taking personal responsibility for a tough loss, not playing up to par, absorbing shrapnel for his rookie qb, coaching staff, teammates, and being a great role model per usual emphasizing the famous adage, "There's no I in team".

Just kidding. Chase Claypool comes from a long line of Steelers head case wide receivers who could care less about anybody but themselves. Calling out his coaching staff and rookie QB in his team's locker room, fresh off a tough road loss is just how it's done in Steel Town.

My question is how? And why?

Make no mistake, Chase Claypool is a fucking freak show. 

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It seems every player Pittsburgh drafts to run routes and catch balls ends up being one. 

Not just good, but elite wide receivers.

Steelers GM Kevin Colbert (who just retired) deserves all the credit in the world for this.

According to SteelersDepot.com:

So right away, all I can really say is wow! It turns out that this is narrative is based in some pretty solid reality. Over those 22 drafts, the Steelers have selected WRs who rank second in total receptions, first in total yards, and second in total TDs. Steelers' drafted WRs totaled 4,665 receptions for 63,937 yards and 403 TDs. That alone pretty much verifies that the Steelers have been great at drafting WRs. A couple of other commonly "known" facts are that the Ravens and Patriots struggle to draft wide receivers, and here you have evidence to back that up, with both teams in the bottom of the rankings with the Ravens 30th in yards, and the Patriots 31st. The difference here isn't small either; the Steelers totaling over three times the yardage as last place Washington.

More work is required though; after all if you have to throw a ton of draft capital at the position to get that sort of return, it's not necessarily a product of good drafting as it is volume. The Steelers used 23 draft picks on the position, which put them only at 15th-most. With some teams spending considerably less draft picks (the Chargers and Colts only used 15 selections on wide receivers), we need to break it down by draft investment. I took two approaches, one just by the total number of draft selections, and the other by the pick's trade value according to the trade chart. The latter is probably more meaningful, since investing a bunch of sixth-round picks is pretty different than using a couple of first-rounders.

I mean those numbers are fucking absurd. And when you factor in Pittsburgh is only in the middle of the pack in terms of draft capital actually spent on selecting WRs, that rate that they're hitting on these guys is even more impressive. Also consider they're a perennial playoff team, so they're drafting late in rounds, truly finding value. 

Here's the full list:

2020 - Chase Claypool (2nd round)

2019- Diontae Johnson (3rd round)

2018- James Washington (2nd round)

2017- JuJu Smith-Schuster (2nd round)

2016- Demarcus Ayers (7th round)

2015- Sammie Coates (3rd round)

2014- Martavis Bryant (4th round)

2013- Markus Wheaton (3rd round)

2013- Justin Brown (6th round)

2012- Toney Clemons (7th round)

2010- Emmanuel Sanders (3rd round)

2010- Antonio Brown (6th round)

2009- Mike Wallace (3rd round)

2008- Limas Sweed (2nd round)

2007- Dallas Baker (7th round)

2006- Santonio Holmes (1st round)

2006- Willie Reid (3rd round)

2005- Fred Gibson (4th round)

2002- Antwaan Randle El (2nd round)

2002- Lee Mays (6th round)

2001- Chris Taylor (7th round)

2000- Troy Edwards (1st round)

2000- Malcolm Johnson (5th round)

2000- Plaxico Burress (1st round)

Now of the players in that list, especially the highlighted ones, there are a few normal, level-headed guys. But there are some real loose cannons in there. Even by NFL standards, we're talking fucking lunatics.

Obviously Antonio Brown takes the cake, but Plaxico was also off his rocker while Martavis Bryant and Santonio Holmes also had their moments. 

The difference is those guys at least contributed on the field. Holmes won a fucking Super Bowl hauling in one of the greatest catches ever as a matter of fact.

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Aside from the highlight reel snags Claypool has made, he really doesn't have a leg to be standing on right now bitching and moaning about targets. And not to mention, but, self-awareness bro. Ever heard of it?

Does anybody want to tell Claypool that this may not have been the most opportune time to bitch about not getting enough chances to turn on his afterburners on some fly patterns? Considering this was a critical mistake in the game he JUST played?

I'm no Jerry Thornton, but pretty sure that's a go route Chase. And pretty sure you couldn't keep your footing and it resulted in the easiest INT of the season for the Miami secondary.

You've got a green offensive coordinator, Matt Canada, who has been calling plays for  so far. You've got a rookie QB who's trying to build his confidence, your team has actually been overachieving so far this year, and this is how you choose to contribute to the cause?

For a guy who's as respected and revered as Mike Tomlin is around the league, the amount of drama that comes out of that locker room every year is kind of nuts.

p.s.- thanks Jay. Never forget