Abbotsford鈥檚 Chase Claypool is set to make his National Football League regular season debut on one of its grandest stages - Monday Night Football.
Claypool and the Pittsburgh Steelers open the 2020 season in one of the league鈥檚 most spectacular venues - MetLife Stadium to take on the New York Giants.
The game kicks off at 4:10 p.m. local time.
Training camp reports suggest that Claypool should see some significant playing time in his rookie season.
Steelers wideout takes us inside the NFL's COVID-19 protocols on this week's episode of Rookie Diaries.
鈥� DAZN Canada (@DAZN_CA)
Chris Simms, an NFL for NBC Sports, stated that the Abbotsford Senior Secondary School grad is turning heads in camp.
鈥淟ove the buzz on Chase Claypool from Steelers camp,鈥� Simms wrote. 鈥淰ery few wide receivers I鈥檝e ever seen look like he does with the physical ability that he has. Built like Brandon Marshall, but faster and more explosive. Superstar potential.鈥�
Love the buzz on Chase Claypool from camp. Very few WR I've ever seen look like he does with the physical ability that he has. Built like Brandon Marshall, but faster & more explosive. Superstar potential.
鈥� Chris Simms (@CSimmsQB)
My pre-draft breakdown on him:
from a fan wondering the role he will play for 2020. The website referred the fan to comments made by Pittsburgh quarterback Ben Roethlisberger, who was very complimentary of his new teammate.
鈥淚 always get caught trying to spread too much praise on rookies, because I want them to sneak up on other people, but it doesn鈥檛 look like Chase is going to be able to sneak up on anybody right now because people are talking about him and deservedly so,鈥� Roethlisberger said. 鈥淗e鈥檚 just making plays. I think the plays that he鈥檚 making are impressive, but I think, to me, what鈥檚 more impressive is that he doesn鈥檛 ask a lot of questions, which means he knows his stuff. I can change a play with a hand signal or call a different play at the line of scrimmage, and I always check him like, 鈥楢re you good?鈥� He鈥檚 like, I got it. That鈥檚 very impressive from a quarterback perspective, because as much as we鈥檝e thrown at him, he鈥檚 able to digest it. I鈥檓 not saying he doesn鈥檛 make a mistake, but when he does make a mistake, he鈥檚 not making the same mistake twice. I just think that鈥檚 really impressive.鈥�
The Steelers finished the 2019 season with a record of 8-8 and missed the playoffs.
Following Monday鈥檚 game, Claypool and the Steelers host the Denver Broncos on Sept. 20, welcome the Houston Texans on Sept. 27 and then travel to Nashville to take on the Tennessee Titans on Oct. 4.
The 2016 ASSS grad was chosen by Pittsburgh in the second round, 49th overall back in April鈥檚 NFL Draft.
Claypool had a storied run with the Abbotsford Panthers senior varsity football team, leading the club to a provincial final game in 2015 and also being named the AA football player of the year that season.
He went on to produce excellent numbers over four years with the Notre Dame Fighting Irish and capped off his college career by winning the Camping World Bowl MVP award back on Dec. 28, 2019.
