Sammie Coates fits Pittsburgh Steelers profile

By Kevin Parvizi | May 1, 2015

The Pittsburgh Steelers look like big winners so far in the 2015 NFL Draft, as they scooped up uber-athletic edge rusher Bud Dupree outside of the top 20 picks in the first round before wisely plucking underrated and undersized cornerback Senquez Golson, who has plenty of shutdown potential. If Golson were taller he would have been a first-round pick. The Steelers used the 87th pick in the draft on Auburn Tigers product Sammie Coates to further boost their wide receiver corps.

Coates is yet another vertical threat for Ben Roethlisberger to have some fun with, and it’s going to be a joy to watch the Steelers explosive offense making it rain downfield. Martavis Bryant emerged as an excellent deep threat as a rookie, Antonio Brown can do absolutely anything, I still believe in Markus Wheaton, and Coates looks like he could be a No. 3 receiver as a rookie with Wheaton’s stock starting to slip after he once showed plenty of promise.

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In my view, Coates is the third best deep threat in this class behind Phillip Dorsett and Devin Smith, who were first and second round picks respectively, and it will be interesting to see how often the Steelers use him in his first season. Coates is a nice value pick at No. 87 overall in the third round, because some people saw him as one of the second-round wide receivers because of his ability to burn defenses downfield with relative ease.

The problem with Coates is his lack of consistency, but I don’t think that’s something the Steelers are worried about at all. I mean, they drafted clear deep threat Bryant in last year’s draft despite his rawness and lack of polish at route-running, and that worked out splendidly for Kevin Colbert (he who does not care to even mock your mocks).

We’ll see if the same holds for Coates, who was used extremely often by Auburn as a deep threat and will hold that same role in Pittsburgh. It’s amazing how much this team emphasizes the deep ball, though that’s obviously no accident with Big Ben at quarterback. I love how the Steelers combine the dangerous deep ball with an elite running back in Le’Veon Bell, and the Steelers continue to build one of the NFL’s most explosive offenses.

Coates, of course, will have to prove to both the Steelers and Roethlisberger that he has good enough hands and is a reliable route-runner if he wants to be a big part of the offense in his first season. Otherwise, he could be the No. 4 receiver which isn’t a bad place to be as a rookie deep threat, but I’m sure he feels he’s capable of even more after being graded as a second-round pick by more than a few draftniks.

There are several receivers in this class who have a sick combination of hops and long speed, and Sammie Coates is one of those guys, which is yet another similarity of his with Bryant. I’m pretty excited to see how this offense looks next season with this Madden-esque collage of deep threats, though I do worry that Coates could flame out if he doesn’t fix his drops.

I also worry that the Steelers need to change their approach and pick different style wide receivers, but perhaps they see something we don’t; if they can’t defend it, then keep doing it. This plays to their strengths, and Coates’s athleticism could make him special. This pick is very much open to criticism, but I think it’s a decent selection and like his odds to beat Wheaton.

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