Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver Sammie Coates may lack the polish of a high-end, top of the rotation pass-catcher, but it seems he may be in line for some serious snaps now that Steelers "star"-in-the-making Martavis Bryant has reportedly been suspended for the first four games of the 2015 NFL season after violating the league's policy on substance abuse. This is because Coates, an athletic speedster at Auburn drafted in the third-round this past April, was actually drafted by Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin and GM Kevin Colbert with Bryant's looming suspension specifically in mind, per a report from Gerry Dulac of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
According to Dulac, Tomlin, Colbert and the entire Steelers organization were aware of Bryant's failed drug tests and coming suspension "at least as far back as the spring." A team source suggested to Dulac that Coates' selection came as a direct result of the fear that Bryant would have another violation, which, of course, Bryant apparently did, meaning he's now set to miss the first four weeks of the coming season. While it's troubling that Bryant has apparently failed numerous drug tests during his one short season in the league, it's impressively shrewd - and also a little questionable - that the Steelers simply went ahead and drafted his potential replacement in case the former Clemson standout continued to go against the law of the league.
Still, there's no denying the intelligence that went into the decision to draft a player eerily similar in size and skillset to Bryant. Coates, 6-foot-2, 212-pounds, ran a 4.43 40-yard dash and posted a 41-inch vertical. He's got explosive athletic ability to spare and has shown that already this preseason with a handful of truly impressive catches.
That being said, against the Buffalo Bills, Bryant made three receptions for 138-yards, one of which was a 39-yard touchdown, along with drawing two pass-interference penalties. While Coates is clearly talented and could, given time and the right development trajectory, potentially replace Bryant's expected production in the Steelers offense, it certainly seems farfetched to think that he'll be able to do that from Day One. Instead, it's more likely that Markus Wheaton, along with Antonio Brown, will take on a larger role with Bryant sidelined. Considering running back Le'Veon Bell is also facing a two-game suspension to start the season, Ben Roethlisberger will be dealing with a weapon shortage at the outset of the 2015 NFL season which may very well make it difficult for the team to get things started off on the right foot.
