Markus Wheaton, WR Pittsburgh Steelers Fantasy Football Rookie Spotlight
Alex Dunlap, Rosterwatch.com

Height: 5’11”

Weight: 189 pounds

40-time: 4.45 40-time (Combine)

Drafted: 3rd Round

Competition for touches:
WR Antonio Brown
WR Emmanuel Sanders
WR Jerricho Cotchery
WR Plaxico Burress

Bill Byrne’s Scouting Report:

Wheaton’s calling card is his quickness.

His feet are usually a step ahead of his defender on virtually every route he runs. While he has a slight build and could stand to add some more muscle, Wheaton compensates with good use of his hands and quick footwork against more physical corners.

Wheaton has an especially strong swim move and the lateral agility to get off quickly and into his route. But he occasionally can be taken out of his route by a stronger defender. He has impressive body control and ball tracking skills, displaying the flexibility to catch balls thrown behind him or over his shoulder on deep routes He also has the ability to adjust to poorly-thrown passes. He recognizes zone coverage and will adjust his routes to find the soft spot.

Wheaton always knows where he is on the field and can get his feet down in bounds while tracking the ball. Wheaton has shown strong hands and is an outstanding pass catcher in traffic, but occasionally he will let the ball come into his frame as opposed to attacking it. He was a team leader and one of the hardest working players on the Beavers team. He was an extremely willing blocker, who looked to get out in front of the runner and was never afraid to take on a bigger defender.

Wheaton is one of the biggest playmakers at his position in this draft class and has the ability to be a threat at all levels of the passing game. He reminds me some of Antonio Brown.

Alex Dunlap’s Scouting Report:

Markus Wheaton is a quiet person who lets his play on the field do the talking.

Wheaton draws frequent comparisons to Pittsburgh Steelers WR Mike Wallace, and it is easy to see why. He says his favorite route is the 9 (or streak), and he has a gear coming out of the press that is hard to trail.

Wheaton is most like Wallace when the ball is in the air. He tracks the football like a computer, adjusting in any way necessary to make sticky-hands catches.

Wheaton is not a player who will blow you away with his power and strength. He had some of his roughest spells during practice while participating in press-man drills against physical North squad DBs like Desmond Trufant and Jordan Poyer.

But Wheaton’s home run-hitting ability was unrivaled by any WR on either Senior Bowl squad during practices. He’ll pose the same sort of threat at the next level.

Fantasy Outlook:

Wheaton is a high-upside speed burner that loves running the 9-route and can track the ball with elite focus while separating—no wonder he reminds so many evaluators of former Steeler Mike Wallace. Wheaton comes into an offense that knows how to utilize players with his skill set on the outside, and if he shows improvement getting off the press, he could pick up somewhere close to where Mike Wallace left off. Wheaton is one of the more underrated prospects in this draft, and the situation he fell to was optimal.