Steelers might take another gamble
for parts of two seasons before the NFL suspended Bryant for one year after he failed multiple drug tests in the NFL. NFL commissioner Roger Goodell still hasn’t let the Steelers know if Bryant will be reinstated for the 2017 season.
Ever since that calculated risk the Steelers have found themselves chasing receivers in the draft. The Steelers knew Bryant might face a long-term suspension before the 2015 draft, which is why they invested a third-round pick in Sammie Coates. He was insurance against Bryant not being available.
Now due to nagging injuries dogging Coates, in addition to inconsistencies in his game, the Steelers are in the market for a receiver again next week when the NFL draft gets underway Thursday in Philadelphia.
So did the Steelers make a mistake when they drafted Bryant? Are they using too many precious draft resources on a position because of that roll of the dice?
“Sometimes you get into the fourth, fifth, sixth rounds, that’s the time to take some risks,” said former Oakland and Tampa Bay coach Jon Gruden, who now is an analyst for ESPN. “When he’s not dealing with off-field issues Martavis Bryant is special. He was a game-changer at receiver. I like the idea of taking risks and counting on your locker room and support staff to take that on. I was always for taking some occasional risk in the draft. No one is beyond help. If you have the right locker room and support staff you can help some of these guys turn it around.”
Nonetheless, the Steelers are in the market for a receiver because of Bryant’s suspensions and Coates’ inconsistencies.
For years, the Steelers had a well-earned reputation for being able to select quality receivers, especially in the middle and later rounds of the draft.
For the five-year stretch from 2006-2011, the Steelers drafted Santonio Holmes (first round), Limas Sweed (second round), Mike Wallace (third round), Emmanuel Sanders (third round) and Antonio Brown (sixth round). Holmes caught the winning touchdown in Super Bowl XLII; Brown is a three-time AllPro and on track for a Hall of Fame career; and Wallace and Sanders were high-caliber starters who only left to sign big contracts elsewhere. Only Sweed disappointed and never played to expectations.
The five-year stretch from 2012-2016 wasn’t as productive for the Steelers. They drafted Bryant (fourth), Toney Clemons (seventh), Justin Brown ( sixth), Markus Wheaton (third), Dri Archer (third), Sammie Coates (third) and Demarcus Ayers (seventh).
Bryant has proven to be a dependable No. 2 receiver opposite Brown when available, but he has missed 27 of a possible 48 games in his career due to drug suspensions and injuries. The Steelers didn’t seriously entertain the idea of signing Wheaton to a second contract and severed ties with Archer after 1½ seasons after he failed to make his mark as a receiver or running back. Clemons never made the club and Justin Brown was on the roster for only a short time. The jury remains out on Coates and Ayers.
The lack of productivity from the receivers the Steelers drafted in the past five years is the very reason they are likely to take one in the first four rounds of this draft. The question next week isn’t whether they’ll draft a receiver; it seems to be a matter of when.
Is it time to draft a receiver in the first round for the first time since Holmes in 2006? Or do they stay the course and try to reprise that middle round magic?
There are three receivers with first-round grades most draft analysts agree — Mike Williams of Clemson, Corey Davis of Western Michigan and John Ross of Washington.
“It’s possible Ross might fall because of his medicals,” said Dane Brugler, a draft analyst for nfldraftscout. “He’s had knee surgeries and is coming off shoulder surgery. If other teams in the first round are passing on him there might be a reason. You’d just have to trust what your doctors and training staff have to say about him. But if you wait until the second or third round you can get great value.”
Second- and third-round possibilities include Chris Godwin of Penn State, Zay Jones of East Carolina, Juju Smith-Schuster of Southern California, Cooper Kupp of Eastern Washington and Carlos Henderson of Louisiana Tech. Godwin took a top 30 visit to the Steelers earlier this month, as did fourthand fifth-round prospects Mack Hollins of North Carolina, Kenny Golladay of Northern Illinois, Shelton Gibson of West Virginia and Josh Reynolds of Texas A&M.
“There is excellent value in the second and third round with the receivers,” Brugler said. “Chris Godwin, they’d have to cross their fingers that he’d get to 62 [in the second round]. He ran a 4.42. He has the ability to create a large strike zone for the quarterback. He has a large catch radius. When you couple that with his 4.4 speed, you have something. But if he wasn’t there you have other guys who could do very well there.”