Big Day vs. Seahawks Proves Markus Wheaton Still Has Value for Steelers

Prior to Week 12, Pittsburgh Steelers receiver Markus Wheaton had mostly been an afterthought on his team's high-powered passing offense. Even though quarterback Ben Roethlisberger (and, when called upon, his understudy Landry Jones) has done a good job of spreading the football around this year, Wheaton's number was called far fewer times than had been anticipated.

Wheaton's disappearances was so marked that it seemed like the Steelers could have been planning to move on from him during the offseason. It would not be an expensive move and with rookie Sammie Coates waiting in the wings and the Steelers' history of moving on from receivers with little fanfare, Wheaton's job security in Pittsburgh looked rocky. 

But Wheaton's performance in Week 12's 39-30 loss to the Seattle Seahawks underscores just how useful he can be as part of Pittsburgh's offense. It just takes the right situation, but Wheaton is capable of shining in his own right.

It was a given that the top members of Seattle's vaunted secondary would be shadowing the likes of Antonio Brown and Martavis Bryant. For the most part, that strategy paid off for the Seahawks. While Bryant and Brown were targeted 13 and 12 times in the game, respectively, Bryant was held to five catches for 69 yards (and a long of 40 yards) while Brown had six grabs for 51 (and a long of 15).

But Richard Sherman and company had no answer for Wheaton, mainly because "and company" simply aren't the same quality of player. With so many resources being spent on keeping Brown and Bryant in check, safety DeShawn Shead was often lined up against Wheaton, and it was a matchup the Steelers exploited.

Wheaton, like Bryant, saw 13 targets on Sunday. But unlike Bryant, he pulled down nine of them, for 201 yards and a 69-yard touchdown catch in the fourth quarter. He had another long reception of 41 yards that led to a DeAngelo Williams rushing touchdown in the first half. Nearly half of Roethlisberger's 456 passing yards belonged to the plays he made with Wheaton.

	Tgts.	Rec.	Rec.%	Yds.	YPR	TD
Weeks 1-11	32	16	50.0%	273	17.1	1
Week 12	13	9	69.2%	201	22.3	1

Those 201 yards are nearly equal to Wheaton's entire 2015 production up to this point. Prior to Sunday, Wheaton had caught only 16 of the 32 passes thrown his way, for 273 yards and a touchdown and had three dropped passes, according to Pro Football Focus (Brown, meanwhile had five on the season before Week 12, on nearly three times as many targets).

While this production was a direct result of the near-shutdown job Sherman, Earl Thomas, Kam Chancellor and others did on Bryant and Brown, it wasn't just Wheaton's status as a lower-on-the-totem-pole receiver that allowed him to make so many plays.

It was also the years of work Wheaton and Roethlisberger have put in paying off. Coates, inactive on Sunday, wouldn't have made the same impact in the same situation, simply because he's not to that point in his career or his development as a professional wideout in Pittsburgh's system.

John Froschauer/Associated Press

Simply put, when the Steelers needed Wheaton, he delivered. Until and unless Coates or someone else can prove capable of taking on the same role, Wheaton's Week 12 may have made a strong case as to why the Steelers could choose to keep him around, if only for one additional season when his rookie-year deal expires.

When Brown and Bryant are neutralized (or unavailable for any reason), Wheaton does have enough talent to make up for their figurative or literal absences. Granted, Wheaton has not been consistent this year and he's certainly still a No. 3 wideout in Pittsburgh's offense. But he's clearly capable of doing as he did on Sunday; not many teams' third receivers can boast the same thing.

The Steelers needed Wheaton on Sunday and he did not let them down, despite the losing outcome. Just that value alone could convince the Steelers Wheaton is not yet as expendable as he has seemed at times this year.