The Pittsburgh Steelers had a formidable offense last season, even without big play wideout Martavis Bryant. Just think how dangerous it will be when he returns.
Martavis Bryant Potential Impact
With an offense that could score seemingly at will, the Pittsburgh Steelers already looked to contend again in 2017. Now that Martavis Bryant figures to be reinstated after serving a season-long suspension, the Steelers have an added weapon to the full offensive arsenal that contains Ben Roethlisberger, Le’Veon Bell, and Antonio Brown. Pittsburgh seems to be primed to challenge the New England Patriots as best in the AFC.
Roster Shake up
One problem that comes with Bryant’s reinstatement is the logjam at the receiver position that the Steelers have. Antonio Brown is obviously the number one and Bryant seems to be the second outside receiver, but the other four receivers remain unclear. The Steelers will have Eli Rogers, Demarcus Ayers, Cobi Hamilton, Sammie Coates, Darrius Heyward-Bey, and newcomer Justin Hunter all fighting for the final four receiver spots on the roster, assuming they keep six receivers again. That’s a problem, but not a bad one to have. There are 31 other teams that would love to have the problem of having too many good receivers.
Now that the Steelers have so many good receivers at the top of the depth chart, they can afford to be picky about the depth receivers residing toward the bottom of the rotation. Bryant’s return will only a turn a very good receiving corps into a great one. With how deep and talented the receiving corps will be, the Steelers will be able to match up well with the dangerous secondary that the Patriots are building. Martavis Bryant’s return will just add to the offensive superpower that the Steelers are, and fans should be excited about what he can do. After all, he’s had a whole season to work out and get better.
No matter what , Bryant will push a potential impact player off the team. Whether the Steelers opt to keep more than six receivers and lower the numbers on other positions, or just to keep the typical number of wideouts, Bryant is going to push someone for a roster spot. That isn’t necessarily a bad thing though, either. Martavis Bryant is the type of player that only comes around once in a while. The NFL is a business and the main goal of every franchise is to compete, and to compete you need to put the best players on the field. The Steelers should be more than willing to cut ties with a young player to put Bryant back on the field, as that would be the best move. Martavis Bryant makes the roster worlds better and getting him back would make the roster that much better.
On the field Impact
The return of Martavis Bryant will add size and speed to the offense and give Ben Roethlisberger the true deep threat that he lacked last season. If Bryant used his extended time off to truly better himself, the Steelers have themselves an X-factor, and a possible catapult to the Super Bowl.
Main Photo:
