Imagine how good this offense would be with Martavis Bryant

El-Gonzo Jackson wrote:

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.

Exactly. And the same goes for Bryant. We tend to forget he was still dropping those routine catches because we're remembering the big plays he made. We remember when he did a front flip in the back of the endzone while stuffing the ball up his a$$, but forget that ball hit him square in the hands and he made an easy catch very difficult.

El-Gonzo Jackson wrote:

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.

Your both correct. Coates has an issue with concentration. That issue leads to him not catching the ball properly. Instead of focusing on the ball through the catch (with his hands), he's allowing the ball to get into his body. It's what a receiver does when he can't get himself to follow the ball into his hands.

It also explains why in OTAs, training camp, and practices Coates makes dynamic receptions and reporters wrote articles on how much better he was catching the ball this year. When game time pressure hits, he isn't keeping that same focus he has when it's practice. See this article by Jerry Dulac at the Post-Gazette:

Sammie Coates has made all types of catches since the Steelers put on the pads and started doing something other than running around in shorts. He has made two-handed catches above his helmet, one-handed sideline grabs around a defender, even laid out his 6-foot-2, 215-pound frame to catch a deep ball in the end zone.

Read the rest of the article here.

When a guy can make catches in practice, you realize he knows how to catch the ball. But when he allows easy drops in the game, it's easy to see he lacks focus.

And on that 72 yard TD, I think Coates would tell you he ran that ball down. He was flying to catch that ball and score. Little more than it just dropping in his hands. Next Gen Stats

Kirk, I don't think Coates consciously" ran that ball down". The guy has issues tracking the football and that is also noted in his draft profile. He slows down on routes and misjudges the deep ball, which leads to overthrows. That is in his profile posted on the nfl.com website.

Coates physical ability and raw receiving skillset make him still a promising project going forward. The reality is that he doesn't catch with his hands and isn't the best at tracking the football. All that said, I somehow think he is on the roster in 2 years where Bryant smokes himself out of the NFL.

El-Gonzo Jackson wrote:

Kirk, I don't think Coates consciously" ran that ball down".  The guy has issues tracking the football and that is also noted in his draft profile.  He slows down on routes and misjudges the deep ball, which leads to overthrows.  That is in his profile posted on the nfl.com website.

Yet, he didn't do those things on that deep throw. I get your point, that was a well thrown ball. But I wouldn't understate Coates making a good play while running full speed. Hitting almost 22mph is hard to do. Making a catch while running that fast isn't easy. My point was that he caught it with his hands and had to run his butt off to catch that ball ... on a long throw. Last week he had to adjust to an under-thrown deep pass by Ben. He can catch, but his focus isn't always there, hence he drops these passes that seem to be easy.

El-Gonzo Jackson wrote:

Coates physical ability and raw receiving skillset make him still a promising project going forward.  The reality is that he doesn't catch with his hands and isn't the best at tracking the football.  All that said, I somehow think he is on the roster in 2 years where Bryant smokes himself out of the NFL.

Unfortunately, I agree. Bryant doesn't appear to have self control and is on the verge of missing out on millions if he can't get his act together.