Rookie Report Card: Week Seventeen

In my weekly column, we take a longer look at another two rookies.  I will compare their individual performances to date against my original expectations of them.  Let’s continue the 2013 series by looking back at Oakland Raiders surprising tight end Mychal Rivera and the oft-injured Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver Marcus Wheaton. How they play their games could decide what their teams do in the draft and in free agency.

Mychal Rivera, TE OAK
Here is what I saw in college from Rivera: First, I am ashamed to say he did not make my top seven rookie tight ends list in March as he looked more like a tweener who might not find his spot in an offense.  Rivera is very athletic, uses his hands to secure the pass and does not body catch.  Even though the young tight end has a quick first step, he is not the fastest guy nor is he the biggest as he is on the small side of NFL tight ends at 6′ 3″ 245 lbs.

Rivera is a raw prospect that is not much of a blocker, so he might play a move tight end in the NFL.  He runs smooth, crisp routes with quick feet and has good leaping ability to get the ball at its highest point.  At Tennessee, he ran almost the same routes the wide receivers did.

This is what I saw from Rivera against the Broncos:  The rookie tight end kept his tradition as being a dependable receiving option first as fourth year primary blocker tight end Jeron Mastrud started the game.  When Rivera was on the field, he was used a lot in motion starting off in the slot and would occasionally line up in the traditional tight end spot beside the offensive tackle.  There seemed to be a few mix-ups due to Terrelle Pryor starting at quarterback as both Rivera and wide receiver Rod Streater almost ran into each other as each thought the pass was meant for them.

The rookie is not much of a blocker, but he would make sure he helped when another receiver caught the ball or when Pryor scrambled out of the pocket.  Rivera impressed getting off the line of scrimmage using swim moves and would get to full speed quickly in his routes.   The tight end broke free from his coverage down the field a few times, but was largely unseen by Pryor. He took his lumps too when a linebacker knocked him around  within five yards of the line of scrimmage.

Rivera had a bobbled pass as the rookie dove to the ground with the ball, but ended up fighting it out of his hands.  His other two targets were both receptions for first downs, one was a nice crossing route, and the other one was quite impressive.  On that catch, he snuck behind the defense on a wheel route and hurdled over a defender to get the Raiders in the red zone.  He appeared to be a little shaken up by the play and got replaced by fellow rookie tight end Nick Kasa, who ended up scoring a nine yard touchdown.  Rivera is still the tight end to own in Raiderville as Kasa’s touchdown catch was his first reception of the year out of five tries.  The Raiders might be overhauling, but Rivera could be a good deep TE2-3 depending on roster size.

Markus Wheaton, WR PIT
These are some of the observations of Wheaton during his time in college: Wheaton was the main cog of the Oregon State offense despite only being 5′ 11″ and 182 lbs. He lined up in the slot a lot while carrying the ball on a few reverses to keep the defense on their toes. He is very quick and agile as he took good angles to make the most out of his touches. The Beaver plucked the ball at both the highest point and the lowest point.

His toughness was clear as the wide out was a willing blocker, took a few big shots and kept competing despite not being a big physical guy. Wheaton got rattled with his quarterback as there were some passes thrown behind him. He had his own issues as he missed a pass that could have went for a touchdown early in the game as well as a deep target in the lights. I hope he can bring it all together so he can become fantasy relevant as the talent is there.  Wheaton is a top seven wide out in his class.

Here is what I gleamed during Wheaton’s game against the Browns: There wasn’t a lot to get from his lack of time on the field this past Sunday as he did not receive a single pass attempt.  The talented and highly heralded rookie wide receiver had an abysmal 13 targets for the season and only caught six of those for 64 yards. While his injury status from Week Six thru Week Nine was out due to a broken finger, Wheaton recovered in time from that injury only to break a different finger.  To make matters worse, Jerricho Cotchery, who is 31 years young, kept the third receiver job throughout the year never letting it go.

As luck would have it, Cotchery suffered a shoulder injury in the third quarter.  So the rookie would have an opportunity to play, well not just yet, second year receiver Derek Moye (6′ 5″ 210 lbs. receiver out of local Penn State) who had four targets before this game started came in instead.  Moye got targeted twice but did not make a catch.

Wheaton was on the field for the almost the entire fourth quarter as either the third or fourth receiver.  He mainly lined up in the slot and was an effective blocker in the run game.  To the untrained eye, this was a wasted year for the rookie.  The Steelers organization is usually quite slow to feature rookies and this might be to your benefit in dynasty circles.  Most owners like shiny new players and you could get Wheaton at a lower cost because of it.  Emmanuel Sanders is an unrestricted free agent in 2014 and was almost signed as a restricted free agent last season by New England.  Cotchery is a year older, so look for Wheaton to step up and put this injury plagued year behind him next season.

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