Four decades ago, a pair of Hall of Fame receivers competed as teammates on the Pittsburgh Steelers. Today, that seems to be happening once again in the Steel City between Antonio Brown and Martavis Bryant.

Bryant, Pittsburgh's home run threat who is in the middle of his second season with the Steelers, isn't short of confidence. In fact, in a recent interview, Bryant said that he considers himself to be the best wide receiver in football, which includes being better than his teammate, Brown, who has caught more passes for more yards that any receiver in football since 2013.

"I rank myself No. 1. I don't rank myself behind anyone," Bryant said. "Not even A.B. He's my teammate, but I consider myself better. You can't go in with that mindset and think someone is better than you."

Bryant went on to say that his relationship with Brown has been a positive one since Bryant joined the Steelers after being drafted out of Clemson in 2014. After missing the team's first six games with an injury, Bryant made an immediate impact on the team last season, catching nine touchdown passes in his final 11 games, including the post season. In just their first season together, Brown and Bryant showed glimpses of what they could eventually become the best 1-2 wide receiver punch in the NFL, something that could be solidified with a big game this Sunday against the Seahawks' Legion of Boom.

"He's never gotten on me about anything," Bryant said of Brown. "Just when I had got into trouble, I let him down a little bit."

Since Bryant's return from suspension-he missed the season's first five games while serving a suspension and suffering a knee injury during his first two weeks back with the team-Bryant has continued his dominance on the field, while reportedly being a changed man off of it. He has five touchdown catches in five games this season, including his six-catch, 167-yard, two touchdown performance in his first game of the season, a 25-13 win over the Carnivals back in Week 6. In Pittsburgh's Week 10 win over the Browns, Bryant was just as dominant, catching six passes for 178 yards and a 32-yard touchdown pass in the Steelers' victory.

The 6'4, 211-pound Bryant has been everything Ben Roethlisberger hoped he would be when he asked for the team to draft him a tall receiver prior to the 2014 Draft. Bryant has been one of the big play threats in the league during his first two seasons, averaging nearly 21 yards per reception thus far. But while he's made it look easy, Bryant said that there were several facets of his game he needed to work tirelessly on during his transition into the NFL.

"My hardest thing was getting better at route running," Bryant said. "Everybody definitely knows it if you mess up and you're not in the right place, where you're supposed to be. You're always on an island, so when the ball's in the air, everybody in the stadium is looking at you.

"My coach, Richard Mann, (is) doing a great job with me working on my technique. Being a student of the deep balls and just studying film and just correcting my mistakes and what I do in practice."

Along with his practice habits, Bryant also credited his still-growing relationship with Big Ben as a reason for his quick success. Bryant said he and the Steelers' franchise quarterback gained a quick rapport with each other, which has become evident with their strong chemistry on the football field.

"Last year, when I started making plays in the game... (Roethlisberger's) trust really, really increased during the offseason," Bryant said. "And especially after I got in trouble and I went down and got help and everything ... he really looked at me as maturing into a man."

While Bryant matures as a man, he's continued his evolution as one of the best receivers in football. The best receiver in the NFL is on the other side of the field in Brown, and together, the two will try to do something that Lynn Swann and John Stallworth did back in the 1970s, and that was to use their collective skills to help make the Steelers' a dynasty.

Having Brown beside him may also push Bryant to accomplish his other goal in the NFL, something he hopes to achieve after his playing days are over.

"(I want) to be one of the dominant deep threats in the NFL," Bryant said, "and one of the best receivers to ever play the game."