The Pittsburgh Steelers drafted Auburn wide receiver Sammie Coates in the third-round of the 2015 NFL Draft over the weekend and immediately following his selection, I wrote about his 13 career touchdowns and how 12 of them came from 33 or more yards out.
After registering seven touchdowns in 2013, Coates only managed four in 2014 and I will be showing those to you below in the attached gifs.
Coates’ first TD grab of the 2014 season came against LSU and as you can see below, he tracked the ball perfectly even though he was tightly covered by cornerback Rashard Robinson. While he shows great concentration and hands on the play, we certainly don’t see that 41-inch vertical jump of his in action.
I have also included a shot of the catch that the Associated Press took during the game.
Coates’ first TD in the game against Alabama was also a long one. As you can see in the two gifs of the play below, he runs right past the outside cornerback, who has his eyes in the backfield too long.
Coates’ second touchdown in that same game against Alabama was yet another long one and this time he runs right past the same cornerback to the inside. Note the little separation that he gets while the ball is in the air.
The fourth and final touchdown that Coates scored last season came against a familiar face as he beat Mississippi cornerback and Steelers second-round draft pick Senquez Golson to the inside for a long score after a double-move.
I have four different angles of this play for you to see and you will notice that Golson almost made a great play to break it up. While this post isn’t aimed to break down Golson’s play, it appears as though he was expecting better help underneath from safety Cody Prewitt. Golson said as much after the game but still took the blame.
“He [Coates] ran a post [route] and I usually give a little leeway,” said Golson after the game. “Post usually end up on my side of the hash – middle of the hash – and I guess they just scouted it. They ran a post all the way across the field to the other hash and I couldn’t get there. Late getting there.”
Golson was then asked if he thought he had help on the play.
“Yeah, I thought I had help, but as a DB, I’ve got to be there,” he said.
