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Very few reasons to be excited about anything emerged from the PIttsburgh Steelers and Washignton Redskins' matchup in the third week of preseason. Before the game, there were a handful of intriguing players to monitor. Le'Veon Bell was finally going to feature as the Steelers' feature back after months of anticipation and an injury or two. Prospective Robert Griffin III replacement Kirk Cousins was to get an extended look against one of the more complex defenses in the NFL. Alas, Bell suffered a foot injury on his first series and Cousins soon followed him to the sideline with a leg injury of his own.
Without Bell and Cousins, the appeal of the game was somewhat diminished, but that doesn't mean it wasn't worth watching.
Specifically, Steelers wide receiver Emmanuel Sanders. The 26-year-old was targeted twice, catching both passes for a total of 39 yards. That coming after he caught three passes on three targets for 27 yards against the New York Giants. Of course, it's still only the preseason, but for many reasons, Sanders should be on the respective radars of every fantasy owner.
Most know the former SMU product as the heir to Mike Wallace's starting spot in Pittsburgh, but few recognize just how high his potential is with the Steelers. Although it's hard to fathom at this point, but Sanders was actually selected three rounds ahead of teammate Antonio Brown back in the 2010 NFL draft. It's not that rare for higher picks to bust with perceived lower rung players flourishing in their spot, but that wasn't the case for Brown and Sanders. Both battled each other for the final active roster spot on gamedays during their rookie seasons, but eventually Sanders became a prominent part of the offense while Brown mostly only played on special teams.
A big reason that Sanders was able to transition quicker to the NFL than Brown was because he came out of college as a more refined player. Brown has worked and developed to become the starting caliber receiver he is today, but he never truly overtook Sanders. At the end of their rookie seasons, Sanders was expected to play an important role as a mismatch option against the Green Bay Packers in the Super Bowl. Alas, a severe foot injury sidelined him and issues with his feet would continue to affect his play into the next season.
His absence, along with injuries to others, allowed Brown to establish himself ahead of the 2011 season. Once Sanders began to get back into rhythm at midseason, a family bereavement took him away from the team and another injury caused him to miss time after he returned. Sanders was fully healthy for the most part during last season, but his involvement on offense limited his impact as a fantasy receiver. Sanders played inside in three wide receiver sets and only occasionally rotated into the starting lineup as an outside receiver.
He finished the season with 44 receptions, 626 yards and one touchdown. However, his limited statistical impact was largely a result of his usage and opportunities opposed to his level of talent. Sanders was targeted 72 times last season, with 51 of those targets deemed catchable passes. He caught 45 of those passes, 44 officially as one was negated for a penalty, giving him a catch percentage of 88.24. As important as his ability to consistently catch the ball is his ability to make different kinds of receptions.
Sanders caught 24 passes into his chest last season, but 20 of those came when he was open and the other four came in situations when he was catching the ball close to a defender over the middle of the field. Seventeen times Sanders made hands catches, with four receptions coming when his arms were fully extended. He didn't drop a single pass that he brought into his chest and three of his five total drops came when he was fully extended and trying to snatch the ball out of the air with his hands.
That context is important because it speaks to Sanders' versatility and ability to produce in a variety of situations.
As he did so often last season, Sanders is lined up in the slot here against the Denver Broncos. The Steelers are facing a third and 12, something that the Broncos will set up to stop by dropping their defenders into deep zones.
Sanders runs an in route just passed the first down marker. He is running directly into the path of the Broncos' middle linebacker who has dropped slightly deeper than his outside linebacker teammates who are also in position to cover Sanders. The Steelers receiver should have nowhere to go from here and his case for a reception isn't helped when he slips as he comes infield.
Slipping ultimately helps Sanders because he recovers his position much quicker than the middle linebacker who reacted to his fall by losing his balance. Even with that however, quarterback Ben Roethlisberger is throwing into a tight window because of the outside linebacker coming infield. Roethlisberger makes a very accurate throw, but it still requires Sanders to show excellent body control, focus and hands to bring the ball in.
Considering he has literally just bounced off the ground without time to reset himself, what he does from this moment on is complete instinct.
He isn't distracted by the defenders around him as he keeps his eye on the football, but most importantly, he maintains his balance with his footwork. Often, receivers in this situation will flatten out their body to try and stretch as far as possible back towards the football. Sanders instead brings his right foot back towards the football as he extends his arms, allowing him to maintain better balance and a more comfortable shape to control the football.
Ultimately, Sanders catches the ball away from his body with his hands as he falls to the ground. The linebacker isn't able to hit him because he is on his knees. He is still dragging off Sanders body making it tougher for him to come away with the reception, while the other linebacker's attempt to play the ball didn't affect him in the slightest.
Sanders made his living over the middle of the field last season. Playing in the slot for a team that had just watched Hines Ward walk off into the sunset meant that was always going to be his role. Sanders had all the receiving ability of Ward, if not more in comparison to Ward when he was closer to retiring, but the real question was whether he could replicate his toughness. While he did have three fumbles, one of which came when he wasn't touched, he showed off the requisite resiliency to make receptions over the middle and the bravery to consistently run through his routes.
There are many receivers in the NFL today who can make plays as a slot receiver, but then struggle on the outside. Often receivers who exclusively play inside don't have the long speed or size to play outside, but that is not the case with Sanders. He is a very gifted receiver technically and physically, which allows him to be effective from different spots on the formation. He wasn't drafted to be a slot receiver and has played outside a substantial amount during his career as a whole.
Sanders isn't exceptionally big, but he's not small either at 5'11" 180 lbs because he has a good build and wide wingspan. What will ultimately allow Sanders to play outside is his speed. In the slot against nickel cornerbacks and on screens, Sanders was very effective primarily because of his speed and decisive running style. Once he moves outside, the first thing he will have to prove he can consistently handle is press coverage.
On this play against the Washington Redskins, Sanders is playing in the slot, but DeAngelo Hall, a starting caliber cornerback, is lining up in press coverage over him. Sanders isn't ever going to use his bulk or strength to overpower defensive backs at the line of scrimmage, but so long as he is smart about it he can use his quick feet and agility to get into his routes.
Hall doesn't aggressively lock up to Sanders at the snap, which allows the wide receiver to immediately set up his release. Sanders' first move is to plant his right foot inside to push outside Hall's outside shoulder. This forces Hall to sit back slightly, but because Sanders comes back across his face, he is still in position to cover Sanders moving towards the sideline.
Importantly, Sanders has his arms extended and is engaging Hall as they move towards the sideline. This puts Hall off somewhat as his feet take him out of the play when Sanders plants his left foot to push back inside. These three movements allow Sanders to release inside while Hall drifts away from the play completely.
At that point, Sanders actually reverses the field again to take Hall even further away from the football. The pass that comes his way isn't perfectly accurate, but the receiver is able to snatch the ball out of the air with his arms fully extended before escaping down the sideline for a big gain. That big gain wouldn't have existed without a clean release at the line of scrimmage.
With his ability to release into his routes, the other big question is whether Sanders can beat defensive backs in man coverage down the field. Sanders clearly has the speed and quickness to get down the field, but when pitched against defensive backs with those same traits, his abilty to run subtle routes comes into question.
Sanders is lined up to the right side of the field with Corey Graham covering him. Graham isn't in press coverage, but he is only two or three yards off the receiver. This gives Sanders a free release into his route, but as soon as he gets passed the first down marker, Graham is tightly pressing himself to the body of the receiver.
As the red circle in the image above shows, Sanders immediately uses his right arm to fend off Graham's physical coverage. That gives him some leverage in how he is going to run his route because it is very difficult for referees to see that arm at that speed.
While he doesn't push off, Sanders extends his arm enough to lean into Graham and guide him towards the sideline. As soon as he achieves that, he begins to work his way into a post route running down the middle of the field. Sanders isn't spectacularly faster than Graham, but given this head start the defensive back has no hope of catching up to him.
The above angle doesn't do justice to the separation that Sanders has created because it looks like Graham is still in position to run with Sanders. Once Sanders sharpens his angle to run more across the field, the gap is really exposed.
Again, the pass isn't perfectly thrown, so Sanders can't run underneath it and continue to the endzone. Byron Leftwich does put enough on it for Sanders to still complete a relatively easy 37 yard gain however.
As a Steelers receiver who plays with Ben Roethlisberger, a key aspect of your play will always be how you react when the play breaks down. Much like Santonio Holmes was before him, Sanders is a very good receiver after the initial play breaks down.
Against the Denver Broncos in Week 1 of the season, Roethlisberger dropped back deep into the pocket before surveying the field. The Broncos were playing a zone coverage that countered the route combinations of the Steelers' receivers well. He hung at the top of his drop for a second or two before escaping to the right flat. He initially appeared to be moving towards the sideline, but he cut back around the corner as defenders pursued him. That gave him another pocket of space to survey the field. He pump faked before firing the ball towards Sanders down the left sideline.
Sanders initially ran a deep out route when he was covered. As Roethlisberger scrambled to the right, he ran behind the safety covering him towards the middle of the endzone. Before Roethlisberger looked to settle back in the pocket however, Sanders cut back towards the sideline again out of the defender's line of sight. That subtle move completely took the defender out of the play and gave Roethlisberger a wide window to throw into.
The play wasn't simple for Roethlisberger, because he had to extend it by avoiding so much pressure, however the throw was because Sanders made it simple for him. Throwing across your body is never something you really want to do as a quarterback, but in this situation there was no reason for Roethlisberger to worry about not seeing a defender because the space had been created by the sideline and there was a massive window to put the ball in.
Projecting forward into the coming season, the Steelers' two greatest issues in the passing game appear to be pass protection and the lack of a redzone receiving threat. There is nothing Sanders can do about the offensive line, but he will likely be looked to in the redzone more because of Heath Miller's uncertain status opening the year and Plaxico Burress' loss for the season through injury.
Sanders is only slightly taller than Antonio Brown, but he does have a longer reach. Brown will still be used in the endzone, but if the Steelers are looking to throw to bigger targets it will be down to Sanders and Jerricho Cotchery to be those players outside. Cotchery is 6'1" but primarily does his best work on the inside opposed to towering over defenders to make receptions in tight.
While it's not something Sanders has shown in the endzone repeatedly throughout his career, he does have that ability to make tough receptions at full extension with a defender close to him. The Steelers will be hoping he can translate those plays from further out the field to in tight. It will require him to show more toughness in different situations, but the skill-set is undoubtedly there and the opportunities should also come too.
Although Brown will undoubtedly be drafted much earlier than Sanders in any fantasy draft this season, and rightfully so, a case can be made that there is much greater value in selecting Sanders later on in the draft. He has all the upside of Brown in terms of fantasy, maybe even more, with the only real arguments against his floor being his health question marks.
When the New England Patriots made a restricted free agent offer to Sanders this off-season, the Steelers obviously thought enough of him to match it, but more importantly, his quarterback was one of those lobbying for the team to retain him. There is no question that Roethlisberger will look to throw Sanders way whenever an opportunity presents itself. According to numbers from Pro Football Focus, Sanders saw a target for every 6.44 routes he ran last season. For comparison sake, Wallace and Brown were targeted every 4.92 and 4.62 routes.
Roethlisberger isn't a quarterback who will focus solely on his best receivers, but moving up the pecking order on the depth chart should benefit Sanders and afford him enough opportunities to come close to 65 or 70 receptions and over 1,000 yards. Considering how far down the pecking order he is in fantasy drafts, that could make him a difference-maker by the end of the season.