The Pittsburgh Steelers are now into the regular season, following the most unique offseason in the NFL since at least World War II. While it didn’t involve a player lockout, teams still did not have physical access to their players, though they were at least able to meet with them virtually.
Even training camp looked much different from the norm, and a big part of that was the fact that there will be no games along the way to prepare for. Their first football game of the year was to be the opener against the New York Giants.
As the season progresses, however, there will be a number of questions that arise on a daily basis, and we will do our best to try to raise attention to them as they come along, in an effort to both point them out and to create discussion
Questions like, how will the players who are in new positions this year going to perform? Will the rookies be able to contribute significantly? How will Ben Roethlisberger look—and the other quarterbacks as well? Now, we even have questions about whether or not players will be in quarantine.
These are the sorts of questions among many others that we have been exploring on a daily basis and will continue to do so. Football has become a year-round pastime and there is always a question to be asked, though there is rarely a concrete answer, as I’ve learned in my years of doing this.
Question: How many snaps will Chase Claypool play on offense with Diontae Johnson back and after the bye week?
Two significant developments occurred between now and the last time Chase Claypool was on a football field. For one thing, the wide receiver room got healthier. Diontae Johnson missed most of the last game with a concussion, but he appears to be ready to get back on the field.
Secondly, the Steelers just finished their bye week, albeit an impromptu one. Even though it likely was not as productive as a bye week typically is because of the circumstances, it still should have provided the team, and the player, some opportunity to grow and to reflect upon his role within the scheme.
Claypool has played 103 offensive snaps so far this season, but 61 came in the team’s last game, the vast majority of which were after Johnson left the game in the second quarter with his concussion.
Basically, the question is how much of a featured player he is, after averaging about 21-22 snaps in his first two games, although his snap count did jump up by five (and by seven percent of the total) from week one to week two.
The Steelers have already made it obvious that Claypool is a part of their plans. The question is how big of a role he will have, and how quickly. Will he be functioning as the number three receiver, insofar as that is a meaningful distinction to make between himself and James Washington?
