In the span of a few months in 2015, Chase Claypool transformed from a total unknown to a Notre Dame commit with aid from a couple shares of his highlight tape. In a similar time frame four-plus years later, he morphed from tantalizing complimentary piece to obvious high-round draft pick and team MVP. Everything clicked for him.
He turned into pro.
And now he officially is one.
The Pittsburgh Steelers selected Claypool, a 6-4, 238-pound wide receiver, in the second round of the NFL Draft Friday night with the 49th overall pick. He joins Notre Dame teammate Cole Kmet as Irish players who became 2020 second-rounders. His selection marks consecutive years with a Notre Dame receiver picked in the first three rounds. Miles Boykin went in the third round to the Baltimore Ravens in 2019.
“When you look at this team, they’ve built it around so many different things,” NFL Network analyst Kurt Warner said on the draft broadcast. “They’re good up front on defense, they’ve got the secondary, they’ve got the offensive line, so I love that they added another weapon on the outside.
“They’ve got some good, young receivers to build around with him and JuJu Smith-Schuster.”
According to Spotrac’s rookie pay scale, Claypool will sign a four-year deal with a total value of $6.2 million.
Claypool was Notre Dame’s 2019 MVP, catching 66 passes for 1,037 yards and 13 touchdowns as a senior. He was the Irish’s first 1,000-yard receiver since Will Fuller in 2015 and the go-to target for the highest-scoring offense in head coach Brian Kelly’s 10 seasons at Notre Dame. A 33-game starter, Claypool finished his Notre Dame career with 150 receptions, 2,159 receiving yards and 19 touchdowns.
At the NFL Combine in late February, he ran a 4.42 40-yard dash and posted a 40.5-inch vertical jump, opening eyes and building off a positive showing at the Senior Bowl.
Claypool arrived at Notre Dame in the summer of 2016 from the far-flung Canadian town of Abbotsford, located in British Columbia on the Canada-Washington border, an alum of a high school football program that was defunct for 10 years in the early 2000s due to low numbers. At one point in high school, he envisioned going to college to play basketball. Portland State and Montana had offered him hoops scholarships.
An innocuous introduction and share of a highlight tape, though, ushered in the Power Five football interest and an entirely new path Claypool did not know was possible. He joined a prominent local seven-on-seven team. His coach compiled a highlight tape and sent it out. Claypool shared it on Facebook.
Notre Dame defensive line coach and then-recruiting coordinator Mike Elston saw it and offered. Washington, Rutgers, Michigan, Oregon and others did the same, noticing an athletic specimen. Michigan wanted him at tight end. Oregon saw him as a safety. By July, Claypool was a top-150 player. He committed to Notre Dame that month, not long after visiting for the annual Irish Invasion camp. It was a fast recruitment that started quite from scratch — Claypool had to ask his coaches if Notre Dame was usually good at football.
Claypool found a role as a freshman, mostly on special teams, where he had a Notre Dame-best 11 tackles. He caught six passes. He slid into the starting lineup as a sophomore opposite Boykin and finished second on the team in catches and yards.
The potential for stardom was always there, but not quite unleashed. All the athletic clichés applied. The challenge was shedding the idea that he could find another level of focus. He was a starter again in 2018, upping his season totals to 50 catches for 639 yards and four touchdowns.
Sensing one final chance at a breakout, Notre Dame’s offensive coaching staff moved Claypool to the boundary receiver spot Boykin vacated after the 2018 season. The goal was to use his massive frame and athletic ability to create more individual, winnable matchups.
“You’re going to see somebody that will round into the kind of physical player that he is, as he gets into more one-on-one and more change of direction football-related activities,” Brian Kelly said at the start of training camp.
Claypool became exactly that. He caught short passes and shedded defenders. Pro Football Focus credited him with 14 avoided tackles after a reception. He was a contested-catch and downfield weapon, earning PFF’s 11th-highest grade on passes thrown at least 20 yards past the line of scrimmage.
One of his best games was his last. Claypool caught seven passes for a season-high 146 yards in the Camping World Bowl win over Iowa State. He had 117 yards and four touchdowns in the win over Navy Nov. 16.
“I always knew that in my freshman, sophomore and junior year that I could be a lot better because I saw the growth over the years, even from high school,” Claypool said in December.
His stock soared at the combine, where he placed in the 98th percentile of SPARQ testing. He joined former Detroit Lions star Calvin Johnson as the only receiver at least 6-4 and 235 pounds to run a sub-4.45 40 in combine history. It cemented his status as a day two pick, at worst. Most mock drafts placed him anywhere from the mid-second to the late-third round.
Claypool went on the earliest end of that. In a historically deep class at his position, he was the 11th wide receiver drafted. He joins an already deep Steelers receiving corps that has three players age 24 or younger who had at least 550 receiving yards in 2019. Some analysts have also considered him a possible “move” tight end. Pittsburgh added former Colts tight end Eric Ebron in free agency.
“What a great pickup for Ben Roethlisberger coming back, to expand on that receiving group that they have,” analyst Michael Irvin said on the draft broadcast. “We talked about this all day — this is a big guy that can run … and he can go up and get the ball.
“Thirteen touchdowns last season for Notre Dame, the most since Will Fuller had 15 back in 2014. This man is a touchdown machine.”
Claypool is the sixth Notre Dame receiver drafted since 2010, joining Boykin, Will Fuller (first round, 2016), Michael Floyd (first, 2012), TJ Jones (sixth, 2014) and Equanimeous St. Brown (sixth, 2018).
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