Imagine how good this offense would be with Martavis Bryant

Seriously. Coates although he's not fully polished is on pace for a 1000 yard season, and is becoming a dynamic playmaker. Who the heck do you cover? lol

I'd settle for green coming back healthy

Coates would not get the opportunities if Bryant is there. The suspension is the best thing to Coates development.

Coates has virtually replaced the exact same production of Bryant.

Yeah, imagine if Coates could catch a football consistently.

As good as the team has looked this season in all but the Philly game, it's hard to imagine what Bryant, Coates(with a year of experience), Brown and Bell (if he's back thru franchise or contract) would be like on the same field. Throw a healthy Green in too for good measure.

LambertWardSteel wrote:

As good as the team has looked this season in all but the Philly game, it's hard to imagine what Bryant, Coates(with a year of experience), Brown and Bell (if he's back thru franchise or contract) would be like on the same field. Throw a healthy Green in too for good measure.

Steelers will have that lineup next year. Of course unless Bell and and Bryant smoke during the Draft, which i have pretty much prepped my brain for and would have no emotional response either way.

OX1947 wrote:

LambertWardSteel wrote:

As good as the team has looked this season in all but the Philly game, it's hard to imagine what Bryant, Coates(with a year of experience), Brown and Bell (if he's back thru franchise or contract) would be like on the same field. Throw a healthy Green in too for good measure.

Steelers will have that lineup next year. Of course unless Bell and and Bryant smoke during the Draft, which i have pretty much prepped my brain for and would have no emotional response either way.

Nothing like having Cheech & Chong on the same team.
I believe Bell will straighten out, not to high on Bryant though. I believe he has a one way street straight out of the league.

Coates needs to learn to catch the difficult pass. He's not at Bryant's skill level yet. Bryant was great after the catch also. I'm hoping Bryant can get right and come back but I don't hear anything encouraging. With Bell staying healthy and Green joining the team later, we'll be good. If Bryant can come back next year that's a bonus.

2017-2018

AB -1
Bryant -2
Coates -3

Steeler-in-west wrote:

Coates needs to learn to catch the difficult pass.

Coates needs to learn to catch the easy, routine pass. His drops were of very catchable passes. He has shown the ability to make very difficult receptions.

Counting on Martavis Bryant to exorcise his weed demon and reclaim WR position #2 seems like a very long shot to me. I don't see how you can have faith in the guy with his record.
I'm not expecting it at all and I'm happy with Sammie developing nicely and settling into the #2 position.

As a side note, the Steelers are installing a Jugs gun in Sammie's apartment.

FrancoLambert wrote:

Counting on Martavis Bryant to exorcise his weed demon and reclaim WR position #2 seems like a very long shot to me.  I don't see how you can have faith in the guy with his record.
I'm not expecting it at all and I'm happy with Sammie developing nicely and settling into the #2 position.

As a side note, the Steelers are installing a Jugs gun in Sammie's apartment.

I agree 100%. Plan for life without Bryant, so if he beats the addiction its a bonus to the receiving corps. Good chance he becomes a Josh Gordon copycat.

Coates isn't a natural hands catcher and likes to let the football get into his body. Jugs machine in his room and 100 catches a day from Zach Mettenberger should be prescribed.

Coates second TD catch was with resistance. I'm sure he will fix the issue.

Serious question: Is it possible for receivers to get better at not dropping balls? I always just assumed that by the time they got to the pros their hands were what they were. Admittedly, I don't know much about much.

Rhyno wrote:

Serious question: Is it possible for receivers to get better at not dropping balls? I always just assumed that by the time they got to the pros their hands were what they were. Admittedly, I don't know much about much.

Yes, its practice and mindset of how to train your hand-eye coordination to catch a football. Jerry Rice had trouble with Steve Young's left handed spin of the football, so he had a left handed 49ers assistant throw him hundreds of footballs to get better at it.

I know some who paint the tip of a football white and use that to track the football with their eyes as its being thrown to them in practice. Below is a video of Raymond Berry who used to catch 100 footballs a day after practice in every possible location he could imagine. At the 2:30 mark is video of him catching passes from Unitas after practice.

Think of Eli Rogers first NFL TD. It was a slant to Coates that bounced off Coates chest into Rogers hands. Think of that same game Coates dropping a bubble screen. Watch some receptions from last weeks win and you see that Coates lets the ball to his body often, because he isn't a natural hands catcher.

I saw Coates catch with his body at the Senior Bowl Practices, I saw it at the NFL combine, I've seen it in his 2 seasons as a Steeler. He needs to practice catching with his hands until its second nature and believing he can be a great hands catcher. Auburn ran the football behind Trey Mason and Cameron Artis-Payne a lot, so Coates didn't catch a lot of footballs. He can get better, but don't be mistaken....he doesn't have great hands currently.

Rhyno wrote:

Serious question: Is it possible for receivers to get better at not dropping balls? I always just assumed that by the time they got to the pros their hands were what they were. Admittedly, I don't know much about much.

Hell yeah. It takes practice and concentration to get better at anything.

Chronic fumblers use a variety of tricks and exercises to get better at protecting the ball.

Here's my un-scientific approach....have Sammie Coates stand about 10 yards from a Jugs passing machine....turn it up to maximum force....and have him practice catching balls until his hands are sore.

Repeat each day..... after practice. He'll get better.

FrancoLambert wrote:

Rhyno wrote:

Serious question: Is it possible for receivers to get better at not dropping balls? I always just assumed that by the time they got to the pros their hands were what they were. Admittedly, I don't know much about much.

Hell yeah.  It takes practice and concentration to get better at anything.

Chronic fumblers use a variety of tricks and exercises to get better at protecting the ball.

Here's my un-scientific approach....have Sammie Coates stand about 10 yards from a Jugs passing machine....turn it up to maximum force....and have him practice catching balls until his hands are sore.

Repeat each day..... after practice.  He'll get better.

I think his issue is a concentration one. He's good at catching the difficult passes, but struggles with the easy ones that should be automatic. When it comes to easy passes, he's probably already thinking of what he's doing next rather than focusing on catching the ball.

Fire Arians wrote:

FrancoLambert wrote:

Rhyno wrote:

Serious question: Is it possible for receivers to get better at not dropping balls? I always just assumed that by the time they got to the pros their hands were what they were. Admittedly, I don't know much about much.

Hell yeah.  It takes practice and concentration to get better at anything.

Chronic fumblers use a variety of tricks and exercises to get better at protecting the ball.

Here's my un-scientific approach....have Sammie Coates stand about 10 yards from a Jugs passing machine....turn it up to maximum force....and have him practice catching balls until his hands are sore.

Repeat each day..... after practice.  He'll get better.

I think his issue is a concentration one. He's good at catching the difficult passes, but struggles with the easy ones that should be automatic. When it comes to easy passes, he's probably already thinking of what he's doing next rather than focusing on catching the ball.

Nah, its just that he looks like he feels more comfortable catching the ball in his body instead of reaching out and getting it. The 72 yard pass was dropped perfectly into his hands. One in the right flat the announcers pointed out was a "self-defense catch".

Mike Mayock said at the combine, "the knock on Coates is drops and double-catches". Its still going to be the knock unless he puts in a ton of work.

I also heard during the game he had a laceration on his hand. Don't know if it was bullshit but it may have hindered him a bit.

OX1947 wrote:

I also heard during the game he had a laceration on his hand. Don't know if it was bullshit but it may have hindered him a bit.

He must have had a laceration on his hands all thru college too. Coates had a drop rate of 19.1% while at Auburn.

El-Gonzo Jackson wrote:

OX1947 wrote:

I also heard during the game he had a laceration on his hand. Don't know if it was bullshit but it may have hindered him a bit.

He must have had a laceration on his hands all thru college too.  Coates had a drop rate of 19.1% while at Auburn.

It sucks watching the drops, but on WRs capable of the plays like Coates/Bryant make, do you give a pass and allow a higher drop percentage? In baseball you put up with strikeouts from power hitters because you know that any swing of the bat could produce instant results.

OX1947 wrote:

Coates has virtually replaced the exact same production of Bryant.

I agree, and Coates is bigger and more physical.

Fire Arians wrote:

When it comes to easy passes, he's probably already thinking of what he's doing next rather than focusing on catching the ball.

I'd say that's a fair assessment.

I'd love it if Martavis were around but honestly his absence has been great for the development of Sammie Coates who only seems to be getting better with more and more opportunities. Coates still needs to work on his hands a little bit but he's got the tools to be just as good as Bryant. That being said it would be scary if we had Bryant and we could be alternating him and Coates in with fresh legs. I'd love to see some 4WR or 5WR sets with Brown, Bryant, Coates, DHB, and Wheaton on the field. No defense in the league could cover them all. I'm hoping that Bryant has learned his lesson this time around and that he'll be back as a better person and professional next season.

Right now I'm just wanting Green to get healthy because I want to see what that guy can do. Not to knock on James/Grimble, but if we had a TE that could stretch the field consistently, how are defenses going to cover us?

LambertWardSteel wrote:

El-Gonzo Jackson wrote:

OX1947 wrote:

I also heard during the game he had a laceration on his hand. Don't know if it was bullshit but it may have hindered him a bit.

He must have had a laceration on his hands all thru college too.  Coates had a drop rate of 19.1% while at Auburn.

It sucks watching the drops, but on WRs capable of the plays like Coates/Bryant make, do you give a pass and allow a higher drop percentage? In baseball you put up with strikeouts from power hitters because you know that any swing of the bat could produce instant results.

   Nice analogy.  

If the WR is a "home run hitter" I think you would have a "double standard" on how many drops you put up with before benching a player or reducing his snap count.

LambertWardSteel wrote:

El-Gonzo Jackson wrote:

OX1947 wrote:

I also heard during the game he had a laceration on his hand. Don't know if it was bullshit but it may have hindered him a bit.

He must have had a laceration on his hands all thru college too.  Coates had a drop rate of 19.1% while at Auburn.

It sucks watching the drops, but on WRs capable of the plays like Coates/Bryant make, do you give a pass and allow a higher drop percentage? In baseball you put up with strikeouts from power hitters because you know that any swing of the bat could produce instant results.

I think you look at the fact that Ted Ginn Jr. has been in the NFL for 10 seasons and you have your answer.

Coates has suspect hands like Ginn. That should not be a surprise to anybody, as all the draft evaluators and anybody that saw him play before he was a Steeler pointed that out. I believe they hope he can be coached up and that the big plays outweigh the big drops.