Even though Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver Markus Wheaton has only played three years in the league the former third round draft pick out of Oregon State already knows that his quarterback Ben Roethlisberger loves to do certain things on particular down and distances. During a recent interview with John Clayton of ESPN, Wheaton revealed one of things and it shouldn’t come as surprise if you’ve been following the team closely over the years.
“When I got in, it’s always been 3rd and 2 throw the ball deep,” said Wheaton, who is entering the final year of rookie contract this season. “Ben loves the deep ball obviously on 3rd and short when the defense is least expecting [it]. I’m sure that they expect it from us now, but it’s something that we’ve continually connected on, and that’s been a a huge part of our game. 3rd and 2, picking up a chunk is kind of demeaning for the defense. It hurts the defense when you go deep on 3rd and 2, so it’s been a big part of our game and I know Ben loves it.”
The stats certainly back up Wheaton’s comments. During the last three seasons, no quarterback in the league has thrown deep down the field more than Roethlisberger as he has attempted a total of 20 passes of more than 15 yards when faced with 3rd downs of 3 yards or less. Roethlisberger connected on 11 of those 20 pass attempts for a total of 453 yards and 2 touchdowns.
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http://www.steelersdepot.com/2016/06...eep-3rd-short/