Tyquan Thornton

[upstater1]

Why are the Steelers better at drafting WR's than the Pats? I had some time to kill and I'm tired of hearing about of hearing this debate, so here you go:

Since 2000, the Steelers have drafted 25 WR's to the Pats 18 (I eliminated Slater). Yes, Edelman counts.
60% of the Steelers picks to WR's have been in rounds 1-3 to 44% of the Patriots. That comes out to 15 players from rounds 1-3 for the Steelers to 8 from the Pats. That's almost twice as many picks in rounds 1-3 for the Steelers.
Out of 23 drafts, 82% of their drafts the Steelers took at least one WR to the Pats 60%.
The average round when the Steelers took a WR was 4.89 to the Pats 5.9.

So there you have it, this is why the Steelers have had more success than the Pats - the Steelers just try harder. On the flip side, the Steelers have drafted quite of few of DB's and they haven't hit on ONE aside from Polamalu.

The thing about these numbers is that there was a time in the first 10 years that the Patriots drafted WRs at the same rate as the Steelers.

We hit on Deion Branch but failed with Bethel Johnson and Chad Jackson.

The one thing the Patriots do is constantly draft WRs in the 6th and 7th, at a much greater rate than the Steelers do, whether we're talking about David Givens, Braxton Berrios, Julian Edelman or Jeremy Ebert!

My concern is really the last 10 years when the Patriots have given up on drafting WRs in the 1st 3 rounds, while the Steelers have done it more than any other team in the NFL.

 

[denverpatsfan]

Hoping for a breakout game from TT on Thursday....

 

[Nunchucks]

Thorton looked good in TC and preseason. He is a Porsche being used like a demolition derby car. It's the routes he is being asked to run.

 

[PatsFan2]

Hoping for a breakout game from TT on Thursday....

I compared T Thornton to Green Bay's Christian Watson minus the body I think they have the same Elite deep speed. Watson have arrived in recent weeks still waiting for Thornton.

 

[captain stone]

I can't believe we didn't make a move at the deadline for Chase Claypool still on a Rookie contract.

Apparently we did, but da Bears' offer of a 2nd-rounder was too good for Sh!ttsdirt to pass-up... And I don't blame Bill for not going higher either.

EDIT: posted this before seeing 203's similar response, sorry.

 

[Bruins29]

You ain't telling me but the homers would come with their rebuttals.

better to be a homer than a vile POS like you

 

[203Pat]

It's facts. Not an argument. Markus Wheaton who you cite as being much better than Harry had 110 receptions in his entire 6 year career. So I'm not seeing this as much better based on the numbers. N'Keal has 2 1/2 years to catch 50 balls which would beat Wheaton's numbers.

Here are the facts:

In the last 10 years, the Steelers have taken 8 players in the 1st 3 rounds.

The Patriots have taken 3.

Worse, in the years between Dobson and Harry, we didn't take a single receiver in the 1st 3 rounds. 2011 to 2019, we only took Dobson. That's it. ONE RECEIVER.

Harry is hanging on by a thread and has already been a healthy scratch for the Bears. If he gets another 50 catches in his career I would be shocked. Wheaton was no stud but he had a two year stretch with almost 100 catches, 1400 yards, and 7 TDs and he also contributed on special teams throughout his career.

For years we didn't really need to draft elite skill position players because we had the greatest QB of all time who could elevate the Brandon Lafell's and Chris Hogan's of the world so I don't really fault Bill too much for investing those resources elsewhere (although down the stretch it lead to the end of the run). Now when we need to find an elite receiver for Mac we may need to keep going back to the well until we find some water. Joe Burrow had a solid rookie year then got an elite wide receiver in Jamar Chase and ended up taking his team to the Super Bowl. Kirk Cousins who we just saw the other day got an elite wide receiver last year and now that offense looks pretty good at 9-2. While I think those guys are both better than Mac I think their physical skillsets aren't too far off so honestly we need to start taking more shots on blue chip receivers if it means moving up or paying up.

 

[203Pat]

Thorton looked good in TC and preseason. He is a Porsche being used like a demolition derby car. It's the routes he is being asked to run.

This is why I am still holding out hope. The offense is a mess and they don't seem to be finding ways to get him open or in space. I don't know why we cant run a bubble screen or some drag routes if they see man coverage. They need to utilize his speed.

 

[crawhammer]

Harry is hanging on by a thread and has already been a healthy scratch for the Bears.

Harry's rookie season:
7 games
12 receptions
105 yards
8.8 Y/R
2 TDs
50.0% catch%

Thornton's rookie season:
7 games
10 receptions
86 yards
8.6 Y/R
1 TD
47.6% catch%

 

[upstater1]

Harry is hanging on by a thread and has already been a healthy scratch for the Bears. If he gets another 50 catches in his career I would be shocked. Wheaton was no stud but he had a two year stretch with almost 100 catches, 1400 yards, and 7 TDs and he also contributed on special teams throughout his career.

For years we didn't really need to draft elite skill position players because we had the greatest QB of all time who could elevate the Brandon Lafell's and Chris Hogan's of the world so I don't really fault Bill too much for investing those resources elsewhere (although down the stretch it lead to the end of the run). Now when we need to find an elite receiver for Mac we may need to keep going back to the well until we find some water. Joe Burrow had a solid rookie year then got an elite wide receiver in Jamar Chase and ended up taking his team to the Super Bowl. Kirk Cousins who we just saw the other day got an elite wide receiver last year and now that offense looks pretty good at 9-2. While I think those guys are both better than Mac I think their physical skillsets aren't too far off so honestly we need to start taking more shots on blue chip receivers if it means moving up or paying up.

I mean, I'd love to upgrade our receiver position. I'm just saying that throwing 2 picks at it every year may not be the best way to do it. I don't think this is a matter of scouting either.

I'm pretty sure the steelers were going to take Tyquan anyway

 

[skinnydog]

I mean, I'd love to upgrade our receiver position. I'm just saying that throwing 2 picks at it every year may not be the best way to do it. I don't think this is a matter of scouting either.

I'm pretty sure the steelers were going to take Tyquan anyway

Pretty sure the Steelers are happy with Pickens

 

[BennyBledsoe]

Pickens' dad was also a hell of a good receiver, too. Carl Pickens, Cincinnati Bengals, for those unaware. Him and Darnay Scott were a pretty good tandem in the mid-90s.

 

[signbabybrady]

That's the point.

So if we were in the Steelers shoes and hadn't won in over a decade you'd just be happy to draft WRs better than the Patriots. It's a silly thing to fixate on and you know it.

 

[Bourne Again Christian]

Plus we will be comparing Pickett to Jones and Zappe for the next few years.

 

[Trolltolls]

Mac gotta be sick seeing all the young QBs with dynamic receivers. Fields is probably the only one with no great talent with him too. Mooney is probably better than anyone we have at WR tho which is sad.

 

[BennyBledsoe]

I always find that such a strange argument. "It's okay that we can't produce quality WRs since we've won a ton of Super Bowls. We definitely shouldn't strive to correct flaws."

I mean....why?

 

[BaconGrundleCandy]

Mac gotta be sick seeing all the young QBs with dynamic receivers. Fields is probably the only one with no great talent with him too. Mooney is probably better than anyone we have at WR tho which is sad.

Lamar

 

[PatsFan2]

So if we were in the Steelers shoes and hadn't won in over a decade you'd just be happy to draft WRs better than the Patriots. It's a silly thing to fixate on and you know it.

And you missed the point.

 

[PatsFan2]

Pickens' dad was also a hell of a good receiver, too. Carl Pickens, Cincinnati Bengals, for those unaware. Him and Darnay Scott were a pretty good tandem in the mid-90s.

I don't know why the Pats didn't draft him but they didn't draft A. J. Brown either nuff said.

 

[captain stone]

I mean, I'd love to upgrade our receiver position. I'm just saying that throwing 2 picks at it every year may not be the best way to do it. I don't think this is a matter of scouting either.

I'm pretty sure the steelers were going to take Tyquan anyway

No they weren't. They were targeting Pickens while blowing smoke up Bill's & Al Groh's kid's asses at the same time...

Chess vs one-legged hop-scotch.