Why Martavis Bryant will be the missing piece for the Steelers to take the next step in 2017

News broke this weekend regarding Pittsburgh Steelers WR Martavis Bryant applying for reinstatement to the NFL, and if/when he is reinstated by Roger Goodell and company, he very well could be the missing piece the Steelers' offense missed in 2016.

Just think about it.

Assuming Ben Roethlisberger returns next season, and the team at least has Le’Veon Bell back for one year (franchise tag), they will deploy one of the most dangerous offenses in the NFL. Where would the weakness be?

In 2016 it was the lack of a true No. 2 receiver. Markus Wheaton was injured, Sammie Coates disappeared when he hurt his fingers, Darrius Heyward-Bey spent the majority of the season on the shelf, and Cobi Hamilton and Eli Rogers simply aren’t those kind of players. But you know who is that kind of player? Martavis Bryant.

Just Bryant’s presence on the football field will be enough to totally alter a defense’s plan to stop the offense. Load the box to stop Bell? Good luck stopping Bryant and Brown without help. Want to shade Antonio Brown and bracket him on his side? Good luck with Bryant one-on-one. And vice versa on the opposite side. All of this behind one of the best offensive lines in the NFL.

All because of one player. If/when he returns he could be the catalyst to bigger and better things next season. The team has inched one step closer to the Super Bowl the past 3 seasons, but the question remains...

Could it be enough to put them over the top?

I discuss this more in the latest BTSC podcast “Steelers Hangout” above. Give it a listen in the player above, and follow all of the BTSC podcasts on iTunes by searching "The Standard is the Standard", as well as on several podcast apps for Android users.

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