Why you should be excited about Martavis Bryant:
- He's 6-foot-4 and 211 pounds, which makes him the second-tallest wide receiver on the roster behind Derek Moye (6-5).
- He scored 13 touchdowns on 61 career receptions at Clemson and his 22.20 yards-per-catch average topped the NCAA FBS record of 21.96 (Herman Moore, Virginia, 1988-90).
- Bryant's 40-yard dash time of 4.42 at the Combine was tied for fifth among wide receivers.
- Bryant's size potentially will contribute to the Steelers scoring what wide receivers coach Richard Mann refers to as "cheap touchdowns" in the red zone. "A lot of times everybody knows where the ball is going to go and there's nothing they can do about it if you have a mismatch," Mann said. "That's what we think we have here with the reach that he has, the wingspan. We feel like we can get some cheap touchdowns down there."
- Bryant's physical skill-set, in theory, will help compensate for what departed wide receiver Jerricho Cotchery contributed to the running game. "'J-Co' did the dirty work, as I call it, on the strong side, which is where most of the work in the running game is done," Mann said. "We just don't have a guy with the stature and the makeup to be that guy. Hopefully, what we expect is this guy can pick up some of that slack. We go to work and teach him what he needs to learn, and we'll be fine."
