With the 2017 NFL Draft now over and the bulk of the heavy lifting done with regard to the roster building process now out of the way, it is easier to begin to take stock of where the Pittsburgh Steelers stand at certain positions, and what the implications might be of a variety of moves for certain players.
And take stock is what we shall do, as every move has ramifications up and down the roster, so now we will take a look at some specific players and see how the team’s moves during the course of the offseason thus far, and more specifically since the draft, have sent their stock rising, falling, or breaking even.
Player: Sammie Coates
Stock Value: Even
Every now and then, it’s worthwhile to go back and look at something more than once to make sure that you got it right the first time or that nothing has changed in the meantime. We took a look at the stock value of Sammie Coates two months ago, so I thought it would be fitting to revisit it now.
At that time, we were still coming off the 2017 NFL Draft, during which the Steelers added JuJu Smith-Schuster into the fold. That was also after the reinstatement of Martavis Bryant and the signing of Justin Hunter in free agency, so all of this at this point is old news. What has changed since then?
Well, the Steelers held all of their OTAs and minicamp practices in advance of training camp later this month. And so what did we learn about Coates during that time?
We learned that he did not have his hand operated upon. We also learned that he is still building his strength and speed back up from the surgery that he did have on his groin, so his OTA performance should not be entirely indicative of where he will be when the regular season starts.
As to what he looked like on the field, there were some mixed reviews. Jacob Klinger wrote that Coates did not help his stock value with his performance, while one day Jim Wexell wrote glowingly about his practice and the next returned to find him back to showing inconsistency.
The question that we must ask is whether or not time and healing is going to smooth over much of that inconsistency. It is a process to build yourself back up both physically and mentally after suffering the injuries that he has dealt with.
And, as mentioned, he is not at 100 percent now, so we don’t full know what to expect from him come training camp. In other words, we really don’t know a whole lot more about him on the field than we did down the stretch at the end of last season. The answers must come in Latrobe and in the preseason, and so for that—barring the fact that he will obviously have a reduced role in the offense, as previously discussed—I have his stock evaluated as flat, or even, since our last check-in.
