Martavis Bryant spent all of last season suspended, but Ben Roethlisberger is excited to have his star receiver back for the upcoming season.
For good reason. In 21 career games since being drafted in the fourth round out of Clemson, Bryant has caught 76 passes for 1,314 yards and 14 touchdowns. A deep threat who can score from anywhere on the field, Bryant is a dangerous weapon.
Roethlisberger was asked how Bryant has looked this offseason so far since being reinstated.
“Good — learning some of the stuff we put in last year he didn’t know about, remembering things that we had in before,” Roethlisberger said, per Brian Batko of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. He looks like a stud, as usual, so we’re excited for him to be on the field this year and help us out.”
Big Ben expressed a bit of cautious optimism associated with these comments, noting Bryant needs to earn the team’s trust.
“Well, I think it’s just proving to us he can be out there all season. We need him all year, so I think that’ll be big for us.”
With or without Bryant, Pittsburgh’s receiving corps is absolutely stacked with talent. The Steelers added JuJu Smith-Schuster out of USC in the draft and still have Antonio Brown, Sammie Coates, Eli Rogers, Darrius Heyward-Bey and others fighting for a roster spot.
After being suspended three times for violating the NFL’s Substance of Abuse Policy, Bryant won’t have any more chances in the NFL if he fails to adhere to the policy going forward. If he’s able to stay on the straight and narrow, then he’ll have a real chance to become a superstar.