The Steelers plan to ease Sammie Coates into their offense has now been fast-tracked due to the year long suspension of third-year wideout Martavis Bryant. The second year wideout from Auburn, Coates will definitely see an increased role in the Steelers offense in 2016 and there are reasons to be excited.

The one catch for 11 yards that Coates posted during his rookie season is by no means an indicator of his skill but more of the Steelers philosophy to developing wide receivers. A philosophy that has seen wide receivers such as Antonio Brown, Emmanuel Sanders, Mike Wallace and Santonio Holmes rise through the system. All the wide receivers above were delayed a year before becoming key pieces to the offense and just like Antonio Brown replaced Mike Wallace who replaced Santonio Holmes, Sammie Coates is following suit with replacing Martavis Bryant. Thankfully Coates will have the advantage of not having to do this on his own, as Markus Wheaton & new signing Ladarius Green figure to help out the offense. So just what can Steelers fan expect from Sammie Coates?

History shows us that the Steelers philosophy of developing wide receivers typically works in their favour. Barring injury, five out of the six receivers listed up above saw an increase in their receptions and yardage in their sophomore year. This data tells us that Sammie Coates can expect to see his yards increase by 380 yards and his receptions rise by 24, this would put him at 25 receptions for 390 yards with 15.6 yards per catch. The problem with this is that the data includes Emmanuel Sander’s injury plagued 2011 season which did not give him a fair chance to prove himself. So how would the data differ minus Emmanuel Sanders?

Minus Emmanuel Sanders, we see the yardage increase by about 100 and an extra five receptions to the average. Now this would put Sammie Coates at 31 receptions, 480 yards and 15.5 yards per catch. Perhaps, these numbers seem underwhelming for Steelers fans but consider these numbers alongside an offense that already features Antonio Brown, Markus Wheaton, LaDarius Green, Le’Veon Bell and DeAngelo Williams almost makes you wonder Martavis who?

Sammie Coates definitely has the talent to produce these numbers as Steelers fans saw during his 61 yard performance against the Denver Broncos in the NFL Divisional Round following the absence of Antonio Brown. Coates looks to be the latest offspring of the Steelers philosophy of developing wide receivers, a philosophy that just can’t seem to fail. Just like the receivers before him, Sammie Coates will be given every opportunity to grasp the 31 reception, 480 yard benchmark set out for him.