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Steelers Want WR Markus Wheaton To Improve His YAC In 2015

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I dedicated one of my Thursday posts to a few receiving stats from the Pittsburgh Steelers 2014 season and in it I included the average yards after catch numbers. If you read that post, you probably noticed that wide receiver Markus Wheaton had a very low YAC average last season and come to find out, head coach Mike Tomlin has been emphasizing that very point to the Steelers third-year player this past week during the team’s first week of OTA practices.

“He’s always on me about my run after (the catch), my YAC,” Wheaton said, according to Mike Prisuta of steelers.com. “He wants us to finish, that’s what he’s trying to push. And I think he gets his point across very well.”

According to our charting from last season, Wheaton registered 2.96 yards after the catch on his 53 receptions in 2014 and the numbers that Pro Football Focus have are very similar to ours. In fact, as you can see in the table below, Wheaton ranked near the bottom of the league last season in that stat when compared to other receivers that registered 40 or more receptions, according to PFF’s numbers.

While Wheaton’s play last season definitely improved, it was still very inconsistent. 53 receptions is nothing to sneeze about, however, but it is obvious that the Oregon State product needs to take yet another step in several areas of his game in 2015 with YAC being one of them and it sounds like he’s doing just that.

“He’s been on me for a good minute now trying to get me to take that next step,” Wheaton said. “I’m working on it.”

2014 WR YAC Stats Per PFF (Minimum 40 Catches)

Name Team TA Rec. % Ct Yds Yds / Rec. YAC YAC / Rec. TD
DeSean Jackson WAS 87 56 64.4 1169 20.9 476 8.5 6
Jarius Wright MIN 60 42 70 588 14 336 8 2
Golden Tate DET 136 99 72.8 1331 13.4 709 7.2 4
Randall Cobb GB 125 91 72.8 1287 14.1 603 6.6 12
Kendall Wright TEN 86 57 66.3 715 12.5 376 6.6 6
Andrew Hawkins CLV 101 63 62.4 825 13.1 404 6.4 2
Demaryius Thomas DEN 178 111 62.4 1619 14.6 668 6 11
Jeremy Maclin PHI 140 85 60.7 1318 15.5 511 6 10
Jordan Matthews PHI 98 67 68.4 876 13.1 399 6 8
Mohamed Sanu CIN 97 56 57.7 790 14.1 334 6 5
Eddie Royal SD 86 62 72.1 778 12.5 366 5.9 7
Jordy Nelson GB 146 98 67.1 1519 15.5 558 5.7 13
Alshon Jeffery CHI 135 85 63 1133 13.3 483 5.7 10
Julio Jones ATL 156 104 66.7 1593 15.3 552 5.3 6
Odell Beckham Jr. NYG 129 91 70.5 1305 14.3 481 5.3 12
Larry Fitzgerald ARZ 100 63 63 784 12.4 333 5.3 2
Pierre Garcon WAS 99 68 68.7 752 11.1 351 5.2 3
Doug Baldwin SEA 90 66 73.3 825 12.5 342 5.2 3
Sammy Watkins BUF 124 65 52.4 982 15.1 341 5.2 6
DeAndre Hopkins HST 120 76 63.3 1210 15.9 390 5.1 6
Marques Colston NO 96 59 61.5 902 15.3 298 5.1 5
Cecil Shorts JAX 102 53 52 557 10.5 271 5.1 1
Anquan Boldin SF 121 83 68.6 1062 12.8 403 4.9 5
Brandon LaFell NE 114 74 64.9 953 12.9 362 4.9 7
Antonio Brown PIT 178 129 72.5 1698 13.2 615 4.8 13
Julian Edelman NE 124 92 74.2 971 10.6 445 4.8 4
Jarvis Landry MIA 105 84 80 755 9 407 4.8 5
Steve L. Smith BLT 130 79 60.8 1068 13.5 375 4.7 6
Harry Douglas ATL 72 51 70.8 556 10.9 241 4.7 2
Chris Hogan BUF 58 41 70.7 433 10.6 193 4.7 4
Andre Johnson HST 141 85 60.3 936 11 384 4.5 3
T.Y. Hilton IND 123 82 66.7 1346 16.4 366 4.5 7
A.J. Green CIN 109 69 63.3 1041 15.1 312 4.5 6
Eric Decker NYJ 110 74 67.3 962 13 328 4.4 5
Jerricho Cotchery CAR 72 48 66.7 580 12.1 210 4.4 1
Reggie Wayne IND 110 64 58.2 779 12.2 272 4.3 2
Dez Bryant DAL 135 88 65.2 1320 15 373 4.2 16
Wes Welker DEN 64 49 76.6 464 9.5 202 4.1 2
Andre Holmes OAK 91 47 51.6 693 14.7 195 4.1 4
Miles Austin CLV 67 47 70.1 568 12.1 191 4.1 2
Keenan Allen SD 112 77 68.8 783 10.2 311 4 4
Dwayne Bowe KC 90 60 66.7 755 12.6 239 4 0
Michael Crabtree SF 102 68 66.7 698 10.3 266 3.9 4
Allen Hurns JAX 91 51 56 677 13.3 201 3.9 6
Emmanuel Sanders DEN 140 101 72.1 1409 14 381 3.8 9
Brandon Marshall CHI 101 61 60.4 721 11.8 228 3.7 8
John Brown ARZ 94 48 51.1 696 14.5 179 3.7 5
Greg Jennings MIN 88 59 67 742 12.6 209 3.5 6
Torrey Smith BLT 89 49 55.1 767 15.7 170 3.5 11
Kenny Britt SL 81 48 59.3 748 15.6 167 3.5 3
Nate Washington TEN 71 40 56.3 637 15.9 139 3.5 2
Calvin Johnson DET 124 71 57.3 1077 15.2 241 3.4 8
Mike Wallace MIA 108 67 62 862 12.9 224 3.3 10
Robert Woods BUF 98 64 65.3 697 10.9 208 3.3 5
Rueben Randle NYG 122 71 58.2 938 13.2 227 3.2 3
Brandin Cooks NO 65 53 81.5 550 10.4 171 3.2 3
Allen Robinson JAX 76 48 63.2 548 11.4 154 3.2 2
Kenny Stills NO 80 63 78.8 931 14.8 190 3 3
James Jones OAK 108 73 67.6 666 9.1 215 2.9 6
Riley Cooper PHI 91 55 60.4 573 10.4 159 2.9 3
Markus Wheaton PIT 83 53 63.9 644 12.2 154 2.9 2
Malcom Floyd SD 86 52 60.5 856 16.5 137 2.6 6
Kelvin Benjamin CAR 142 73 51.4 1008 13.8 177 2.4 9
Mike Evans TB 116 68 58.6 1051 15.5 162 2.4 12
Roddy White ATL 122 80 65.6 921 11.5 185 2.3 7
Vincent Jackson TB 138 70 50.7 1002 14.3 159 2.3 2
Michael Floyd ARZ 93 47 50.5 844 18 106 2.3 6
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