Wheaton wants to prove he's ready

Quote :

Teresa Varley
Steelers.com

On Tuesday Coach Mike Tomlin hinted at rookie receiver Markus Wheaton seeing more playing time moving forward, possibly as early as this Sunday against the Chicago Bears at Heinz Field.

“I like what I am getting from him,” said Tomlin. “He has played some. He hasn’t been a target a lot. Hopefully that will increase as we move forward.”

The next day quarterback Ben Roethlisberger spoke highly of Wheaton, crediting the rookie with quickly picking up the offense.

“He is doing great,” said Roethlisberger. “He’s a smart guy. He has a good understanding of the offense. He doesn’t really make mistakes. If he makes mistakes, it’s not really running the wrong route. It’s more depth here and there, or what we call giving too much flavor at the top of routes, trying to shake too many guys like he is in college. For me, he is more than ready to get in and start doing some stuff for us.”

And today, offensive coordinator Todd Haley said Wheaton is prepared to play, it’s just a matter of getting him opportunities, something that has been an issue because of the lack of production on offense.

“The problem with some of that is when you are running 55 or 56 plays a game there are limited opportunities to get anybody in the game,” said Haley. “We’ve been working him hard. He is up to speed. Where he can help us, we will get him in there. But we need to stay on the field and move the chains. We need to create more opportunities to get guys in there.”

http://www.steelers.com/news/article-1/Wheaton-wants-to-prove-hes-ready-/a26885c6-d48f-4ad2-bbaa-79f191905255

I'm a little confused by Haley's logic. They need to stay on the field and move the chains to get an opportunity for Wheaton? How about giving him an opportunity ... and maybe he can help the offense stay on the field and move the chains.  

I'm not sure why the offensive unit seems to be in a state of confusion. Haley's offense, when he was in Arizona, was a great combination of playcalling and execution. Remember in Arizona it wasn't their inablity to score as much as it was their defense holding offenses to scoring less.

But I honestly believe that we have as much talent on our offense as the Cardinals did in 08, but now it appears that we want to handcuff this offense. I have noticed one thing, and it's that our offense performs better when we are in a no huddle. Why? Is it because Ben is calling the plays or because it doesn't give the defense a chance to react? I've also noticed the if Ben tries to stay in the pocket, he takes more damage as suppose to moving the pocket where he's more of a threat - so why aren't the coaches doing paying attention?

Give him a chance!

In 1995, we had a lot of weapons, so we used them in the form of 5-receiver sets.

Thigpen, Johnson, Slash, Mills, Hastings all on the field at the same time making plays ... it was awesome.

Wheaton showed during the preseason that he's a threat. He can't help if he's standing on the sideline. Get him on the field. Period.

stlrtruck wrote:

But I honestly believe that we have as much talent on our offense as the Cardinals did in 08, but now it appears that we want to handcuff this offense.

Not sure the Steelers have the offensive talent in the skill positions as the Cardinals had in '08. I think these guys in '08 would start on the '13 Steelers:

RB - Edgerrin James (and I'd take Tim Hightower over our current available backs)
WR - Larry Fitzgerald
WR - Anquan Boldin

If you brought over an '08 Fitzgerald and an '08 Boldin, Brown would go from your #1 to your #3 receiver.

Although I'd take Ben over Kurt, it's not like Warner was chopped liver. And I'd rather have their '08 offensive line than ours' at this point.

But I do like that the Steelers talent is young and I think they can win with these guys. And improve through this year.