Steelers select Notre Dame WR Chase Claypool with 2nd-round pick
Adding to their arsenal of young wide receivers, the Pittsburgh Steelers selected Notre Dame’s Chase Claypool with their second-round draft pick Friday night.
Claypool was taken No. 49 overall. The Steelers didn’t have a first-round pick after trading it to Miami last year to acquire safety Minkah Fitzpatrick.
Claypool was the 11th wide receiver taken in the draft. Six went in the first round, and four went in the second before the Steelers finally got a chance to make a selection.
Claypool wasn’t expecting to be coming to Pittsburgh.
“I had no clue the Steelers would take me,” he said.
Aside from a conversation with coach Mike Tomlin at the Senior Bowl, Claypool said he had little interaction with the Steelers. Offensive coordinator Randy Fichtner was scheduled to attend Notre Dame’s pro day, but it was canceled because of the coronavirus outbreak.
That partially explains why Claypool figured he would go elsewhere to begin his pro career.
“(Pittsburgh) would have been my last guess,” Claypool said.
Claypool, a native of British Columbia, was Notre Dame’s leading receiver as a senior, catching 66 passes for 1,037 yards and 13 touchdowns. He averaged 15.7 yards per catch, and his touchdowns ranked in the top 10 nationally.
General manager Kevin Colbert and Tomlin took notice of Claypool’s work during the week of Senior Bowl practices. It went beyond what he did in wide receiver drills.
“The work he did on special teams really stood out,” Colbert said. “Of course, we knew about his receiving, but when we saw him up close working the way he did in the special teams part of practices, it showed the competitiveness this young man has — to go along with his size, his speed and his receiving abilities.”
Claypool also made an impression at the NFL Combine when he ran the 40-yard dash in 4.42 seconds. Not bad for a player who carries 238 pounds on a 6-foot-4 frame.
“He is one of those rare types who has the combination of size and speed,” Fichtner said.
Fichtner also was impressed by Claypool’s 80-inch wing span.
“He wins an awful lot of one-on-ones,” he said. “I don’t remember not seeing him win a one-on-one, contested play.”
The coronavirus pandemic robbed teams of personal visits and trips to college pro days, but it afforded Tomlin the chance to study more film of the draft’s top prospects. Claypool stood out there, too.
“As I started to study his tape after that exposure,” Tomlin said, “it was consistent as well.”
Claypool’s size makes him an ideal candidate to produce in the red zone. The Steelers had the worst red-zone touchdown percentage in the NFL last season.
“He finds a way to average a touchdown in about every game he plays,” Fichtner said.
Claypool also spent all four seasons on Notre Dame’s kick coverage units, and his special teams abilities could help ease his transition into the NFL.
“No job is too small for him,” Fichtner said. “He can block, and he gives an effort when the ball isn’t coming to him.”
It marks the fourth consecutive year the Steelers took a receiver in the second or third rounds.
The previous three — JuJu Smith-Schuster, James Washington and Diontae Johnson — are considered the top three at the position’s depth chart headed into the 2020 season.
The pick snapped a seven-year run of the Steelers using their top draft pick on a defensive player.
The last time the Steelers used their top pick on offense was in 2012, when guard David DeCastro was selected No. 24 overall.
The previous time the Steelers took a wide receiver with their top pick was Santonio Holmes in the first round (No. 25 overall) in 2006.
The second round began with wide receivers Tee Higgins and Michael Pittman Jr. going off the board. Laviska Shenault went No. 42 overall, and Penn State’s KJ Hamler was taken at No. 46.
“I knew this was pretty deep draft for wide receivers,” Fichtner said. “You hope potentially one of them will be there. Chase was there, and I’m glad he was.”
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