Steelers: Sammie Coates is making an early statement

Heading into his second NFL season, wide receiver Sammie Coates hasn’t wasted any time in making a statement at training camp.

Since training camp started, all the talk has been about wide receiver Sammie Coates. Heading into his second year, Coates has a lot to prove. The season long suspension of Martavis Bryant left a hole at the WR position, especially a receiver that can stretch the field. Don’t get me wrong, Markus Wheaton and Darrius Heyward-Bey are capable of stretching the field, but not consistently. We need a more consistent deep threat to give the opposing defense another player to worry about. The Steelers are looking for Coates to fill that role.

Sammie Coates was the next man up in the Divisional Round of the playoffs, against the Broncos, last season. Coates stepped in because Antonio Brown sustained a concussion the week before. In the playoff game in Denver, Coates hauled in two passes for 61 yards, one for 37 yards. Obviously, these numbers aren’t eye popping, and obviously Coates has to build on this.

Let’s take a look what people are saying about Sammie Coates at training camp:

As you can see, Coates is hungry to make an impact on this team, which makes me very happy. The second suspension for Bryant, obviously, upset me. So, seeing Coates making this kind of statement this early, makes me happy.

I don’t want to get ahead of myself, I understand that we’re talking about a few practices at training camp, but let’s just take all of this with a smile on our face and a grain of salt.