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Steelers large receiver Chase Claypool believes on the shut of the fifty fifth Tremendous Bowl, which will probably be contested Sunday between the Chiefs and Buccaneers, that the group standing amid all that flying confetti and holding up the Lombardi Trophy will probably be …
Wait. He’s allowed to have an opinion, proper?
In any case, he mentioned the Browns had been going to get “clapped” by the Chiefs within the divisional spherical of the NFL playoffs, and for that he was excoriated by many within the media and public — though that prediction turned out, roughly, to be appropriate. Maybe he shouldn’t even trouble with one thing as routine as a Tremendous Bowl decide.
“I believe Kansas Metropolis’s going to win. I simply suppose their firepower with Kelce, Hill and Mahomes is likely to be somewhat an excessive amount of to deal with,” Claypool instructed Sporting Information. “However clearly I wouldn’t be too shocked if Tom Brady pulls out a win.”
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Claypool simply as clearly hoped the Steelers can be again in Tampa, the location of the newest of their six Tremendous Bowl victories, to compete on this sport. And he had purpose to consider, with a lot of the common season full, that the group was able to getting there. The Steelers opened with 11 consecutive victories and had been in place to safe the No. 1 seed within the AFC, however they closed with 4 losses within the remaining 5 video games after which had been eradicated by the Browns within the wild-card spherical of the playoffs.
As an alternative of taking the sphere at Raymond James Stadium in some mixture of black and gold, he’ll watch from his dwelling on DAZN Canada, the streaming sports activities media supplier for which he has achieved a sequence of “Rookie Diaries” movies by means of his first yr within the NFL.
“I believe we had quite a lot of accidents to our group that took quite a lot of starters out,” Claypool mentioned. He didn’t point out the names, however they had been vital: linebackers Bud Dupree and Devin Bush, and even Bush’s substitute, Robert Spillane. “It’s robust to win within the NFL any sport, so if you happen to don’t have all of your guys there, it’s particularly robust.
“I believe we’ll be effective shifting ahead and use that as a studying expertise.”
Claypool instructed SN that he believes within the squad the Steelers have in place, though there are a lot of futures nonetheless to be determined. Wideout JuJu Smith-Schuster is a free agent, together with operating again James Conner and defensive backs Mike Hilton and Cam Sutton. And quarterback Ben Roethlisberger has indicated he desires to return, however Steelers president Artwork Rooney II has made it clear that it can’t be on the present value: a salary-cap hit of greater than $41 million.
Claypool doesn’t have the inside track on how that will probably be resolved.
“I do know simply as a lot as everybody else. I’m simply right here ready to see,” he mentioned. He and Roethlisberger mixed for eight touchdowns and 57 receptions within the common season, plus one other 5 catches and two touchdowns within the playoff sport. However that doesn’t imply he’s going to name up his QB and pump him for inside info.
“I’m solely a rookie so I can’t actually name him and ask him what he’s going to do. He’s been within the league for therefore lengthy,” Claypool mentioned. “I’m simply ready to listen to identical to everybody else.
“I believe he’s clearly a Corridor of Fame quarterback. And if you happen to’ve obtained a Corridor of Fame quarterback, you need him to remain so long as you possibly can.”
Claypool was chosen by the Steelers within the second spherical of the 2020 NFL Draft. He was the eleventh large receiver chosen. Many analysts had expressed the opinion that there have been 10 nice wideout prospects out there. He was not thought-about to be considered one of them.
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Which was odd, as a result of Claypool is 6-4, 238 kilos and ran a 4.42 40-yard sprint ultimately yr’s NFL Mix. He caught 66 passes for 1,037 yards and 13 touchdowns in his remaining yr at Notre Dame, and it’s not as if these numbers had been the product of a high-octane, throw-it-every-down offense.
“I wasn’t like a super-flashy participant in faculty,” Claypool mentioned. “I believe I simply did what wanted to be achieved. I broke out my senior yr there, and I didn’t have quite a lot of protection main as much as that. So I form of took some individuals without warning resulting in as late because the Mix. Individuals actually began taking discover on the Mix, however by then it’s form of late to construct that momentum.”
He turned out to be probably the most profitable receivers of the 2020 draft class. His 9 landing receptions ranked first amongst rookies; he ranked fourth in catches and yards and was chosen to the All-Rookie first group by the Professional Soccer Writers of America.
“I simply suppose preparation, and likewise speaking to the vets and asking for his or her recommendation all through the season — and little issues that I can do — actually helped me,” Claypool mentioned.
He’ll depart Canada someday within the subsequent a number of weeks to coach in Southern California in preparation for his second NFL season. There, he expects to go in opposition to established NFL defensive backs to proceed engaged on methods to succeed in opposition to them.
“There’ll be some coaching within the LA space and Orange County space,” Claypool mentioned, “and hopefully I’ll go in opposition to a few of them and work on the craft that approach.”
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