August 3, 2014
Column: What will Wheaton pull from hat? 23
Columns • Tags: Steelers
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DEJAN KOVACEVIC, DK ON PITTSBURGH SPORTS
LATROBE, Pa. — Maybe Markus Wheaton had lost a bet. Or maybe he just wanted to stay dry from the steady rain that soaked Saint Vincent College all Sunday long. Or maybe it was pure symbolism, a statement that he was ready to compete.
Whatever the case, the kid would not take off his helmet.
Chin-strap snapped up and all.
Why?
“Eh, I don’t know. It’s OK. I’m just leaving it on,” Wheaton was telling me nearly an hour after practice and, yes, the helmet stayed on through the whole interview.
It was all quite the sight, and not just Wheaton in isolation. This was one of those Mike Tomlin practices that punished as much as it reinforced. It was physical. It was a mental test, one drill added right after the previous had seemed like the last. It went 33 minutes longer than the two hours allotted and, when the final horn finally sounded, players were dragging, limping off the field. Most didn’t detour a single step in climbing the big hill up to the cafeteria to devour their dinners.
But not Wheaton and not any of the receivers. That’s life with the taskmaster Antonio Brown, of course. If A.B. hangs after practice, so do you. And so, while the rest of the roster trudged off, there they all were at the far end of Chuck Noll Field, A.B., Lance Moore, Justin Brown, Martavis Bryant, Wheaton and the rest, flicking footballs at each other in a quadrant, challenging each other to make catches high and low, one-handed, over-the-shoulder, whatever. There was laughter and joking aplenty, but there also was no mistaking the intensity applied to actually catching the ball.
Only Wheaton was still wearing a helmet, by the way. Heck, A.B. had gone shirtless by that point, eager to dry off.
While this was happening, Tomlin, meeting with a small scrum of us media types at the near end zone, was asked about Wheaton and responded with more than the standard gusto: “He’s been impressive. He has. You see him working out here, not just in practices but in the morning, out into the evening. He’s just taken a really professional approach. I think he understands what we expect from him and the gravity of it.”
Even with his back to those receivers, the coach nailed it in every way.
Wheaton is preparing himself. He isn’t taking for granted that he’ll be the starting outside receiver opposite A.B., and he’s placing zero stock in the the Steelers’ first official depth chart that was issued Sunday morning and had No. 11 at No. 1 in that slot.
“It doesn’t mean anything,” he’d say. “We haven’t even played a preseason game yet.”
Wheaton is making an impression on all concerned, not just with his extra work but between the whistles. Ben Roethlisberger says he’s “looking really good.” Lance Moore says “the future’s really bright with this young man.” Tomlin, who isn’t big on complimenting youngsters in any setting, turned the volume up to 11 after one drill Sunday when Wheaton came down with a Bruce Gradkowski bullet in the flat, whirled, cut to the inside and burst into the clear. The coach shouted: “That’s the run after, one-one! That’s the run after!”
Wheaton is grasping that gravity thing, too …
Let me be blunt on this count: No one in this camp, not in any capacity, is under greater pressure. If Wheaton, the Steelers’ third-round pick a summer ago and an afterthought in the season that followed with six catches and a badly broken finger, can’t produce — and I mean produce immediately — this offense is pretty much cooked. I really believe that. Defenses will double-team A.B. without fear, thus stripping away the Steelers’ most formidable weapon in a way never seen while Emmanuel Sanders, Jerricho Cotchery and Hines Ward were here.
Wheaton gets that completely. Just ask him about pressure, a concept most athletes shun akin to vampires and crosses.
“There’s pressure on everybody, whether you’re Ben or Troy Polamalu or an undrafted free agent coming in here,” he’ll say. “I know there’s pressure on me here, and I accept that. It’s a good pressure. I feel like I can feed off it. I can embrace it.”
So do the Steelers. Be very sure of that. While so many of us — I was hardly an exception — urged them to go receiver in the first round of this most recent draft, the thinking among the higher-ups was that Wheaton deserved a shot.
It was a gamble, especially in light of having the franchise quarterback and precarious depth at receiver, but maybe they’ll be right.
For one, Wheaton had a three-catch performance in Week 4 last season vs. the Vikings in London, the first hard sign he was gaining Roethlisberger’s trust. But he was inactive the next four games because of the finger — which required multiple procedures and still looks a mangled mess — then made three more catches against the Lions in Week 10 before falling out of the picture.
For another, there’s pedigree. At Oregon State, he caught a school-record 227 passes over 49 games, including 16 for touchdowns. He ran and returned the ball, too, averaging 77 all-purpose yards per game.
For yet another, it was right around this time a year ago that Wheaton first started turning heads, first showed that mix of track-star speed, soft hands and a smart football sense. Some of his teammates were forecasting instant stardom.
Maybe, indeed, the Steelers will be right.
All that’s evident for now is that Wheaton is doing his part, and that’s been a real pleasure to watch.
Fact is, Wheaton could take his depth-chart assignment and essentially etch it in stone, if only because of his competition. Justin Brown has been terrific all offseason, but he’s no immediate threat. Bryant, the fourth-rounder this year, might someday offer Roethlisberger that coveted big target, but he’s raw. Darrius Heyward-Bey can blaze by any of them, but he’s had a history of stone hands and now is out with a concussion.
Still, you can’t even get Wheaton to acknowledge he’ll break out of the first huddle Sept. 7 vs. the Browns.
“I see the opportunity that’s there, it’s wide open for me to take that spot, and I look forward to it,” was the best I could get. “But all of us are putting in this extra work. We’re all pushing each other to get better.”
With that, the interview ended and Wheaton heeded the pleas of a group of fans to sign autographs. He climbed a grass hill and did so for the next half-hour.
The helmet was still on.
I asked if he’d take the thing off to eat, at least.
“Oh, definitely,” he answered with a grin. “Absolutely.”
Yeah, right. Here’s hoping they weren’t serving corn on the cob
