Martavis Bryant requested a trade
The Pittsburgh Steelers went into Kansas City and beat an undefeated Chiefs team. Things should be nice and dandy around the team. However, right after the game, reports have circled that Martavis Bryant recently has demanded a trade.
Martavis Bryant requested a trade
Sources: #Steelers playmaking WR Martavis Bryant recently requested a trade. His teammates and coaches are well aware that he’s unhappy.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) October 16, 2017
This should not come as any surprise at all. Through the trials and tribulations of Bryant, and his off of the field actions, the Steelers clearly lost faith in him being on the field. They moved on and drafted JuJu Smith-Schuster in the second round of the 2017 NFL draft. Smith-Schuster was the youngest player in the draft, so some thought it may take a while for him to get near Bryant in terms of team status.
However, Smith-Schuster has progressed well and over the past four games has out snapped Bryant. One reason that Smith-Schuster has ascended over Bryant is run blocking. Smith-Schuster is above average here where Bryant is below. The other is where Ben Roethlisberger is at this point in his career.
Smith-Schuster is a possession receiver. Bryant is a deep threat. The issue is that Roethlisberger has been awful throwing the deep ball this season, and this seems to be a part of his game that he is not getting back. Roethlisberger has hit Martavis on 17 of 34 targets through six weeks and targeted him just three times in Week six. Most of these misses are not on Bryant. Most of them are Roethlisberger over-throwing his target.
With a quarterback who cannot get him the ball and a team that seems to be pushing him down the totem pole it is very easy to understand where the trade demands would come from. Now the question is whether or not the Steelers will follow through on this request. Bryant is on a rookie deal for this year and next, and could get the Steelers a decent return. This could also clear some room up on a loaded receiver depth chart.
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