Sammie Coates 'turned it up a notch' this offseason

Jeremy Fowler
ESPN Staff Writer

PITTSBURGH -- The Pittsburgh Steelers sound like they're expecting a second-year leap from wide receiver Sammie Coates, the third-round pick who played sparingly as a rookie.

Offensive coordinator Todd Haley spoke to the media this week during organized team activities and praised Coates' progress.

"He’s had a tremendous offseason,” Haley said. “A guy that any day you were in here, he was in here. You don’t see that with everybody, so you know he had turned it up a notch. I thought he finished the year in strong fashion; it wasn’t an easy year. It’s not an easy year for a guy that’s been playing in the NCAA at a high level to be running scout team. But as the year went on, I think everybody saw him growing and we saw it continue in the offseason and it's continued out here. He understands that there’s great opportunity.”

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Coates needs to make the leap this year if the offense is to meet high expectations

AB is simply the best but I am not sold on DHB as the number three receiver and Wheaton does not have the stretch the field talents Bryant did when his head was in the game

Atlanta Dan wrote:

Coates needs to make the leap this year if the offense is to meet high expectations

AB is simply the best but I am not sold on DHB as the number three receiver and Wheaton does not have the stretch the field talents Bryant did when his head was in the game

Exactly.

We'll need him to. With MB getting his stupid self suspended we're going to need a deep threat to keep offenses guessing. AB is great but he doesn't have that same long ball threat that Bryant had. Coates though, looks like he's got that ability from what I've seen vs Denver.