Sammie Coates

Sammie Coates Jr. (born March 31, 1993) is an American football wide receiver who is a free agent.

Coates originally committed to play college football at the University of Southern Mississippi in March 2010, but changed his commitment to Auburn University in July.

He finished his career at Auburn ranking 10th in the school's career receiving yards (1,757 yards), 13 career touchdown receptions, and seven career games with over 100 yards receiving.

In the Iron Bowl against Alabama he set a school record with 206 receiving yards, five catches, and two touchdowns.

In addition, he recorded four receptions in the Outback Bowl and was invited to the Reese's Senior Bowl and the NFL Combine.

Coates was voted second-team All-SEC by the coaches, The Associated Press, and Phil Steele.

Considered a three-star recruit by Rivals.com, Coates was listed as the No. 71 wide receiver in the nation in 2011.

In 2011, Coates missed his entire freshman season at Auburn in 2011 due to a foot injury.

He was ranked the 11th best wide receiver in the draft by NFLDraftScout.com and NFL media analysis Charles Davis.

After missing his entire first season at Auburn, Coates was part of the wide receiver rotation in 2012.

He played his first game against Clemson and caught his first career touchdown, a 33-yard Hail Mary from quarterback Kiehl Frazier, against Louisiana-Monroe.

As a redshirt freshman, he had six receptions for 114 yards and two touchdowns.

He played college football at Auburn, where he played in the 2013 SEC Championship Game and 2014 BCS National Championship Game, and was drafted by the Pittsburgh Steelers in the third round of the 2015 NFL draft.

He has also been a member of the Cleveland Browns, Houston Texans, Kansas City Chiefs, Houston Roughnecks, Saskatchewan Roughriders and Edmonton Elks.

Coates attended Leroy High School in Leroy, Alabama, where he played high school football.

As a senior, he had 57 receptions for 1,170 yards and 14 touchdowns.

As a sophomore in 2013, Coates started 12 games and had 42 receptions for 902 yards with seven touchdowns.

He was a big play threat, having 14 catches for 30+ yards.

Against Southeastern Conference (SEC) West rival Arkansas, he had 102 receiving yards, marking his third consecutive 100+ yard game.

In the 2014 BCS National Championship Game loss against Florida State, he had four receptions for 61 yards.

As a junior in 2014, Coates had 34 receptions for 741 yards and four touchdowns.

In December 2014, Coates decided to forego his senior season and declared for the 2015 NFL draft and also graduated from Auburn University with a diploma in Public Administration.

On December 12, 2014, Coates announced he accepted his invitation to the 2014 Senior Bowl.

Prior to the Senior Bowl, NFL analyst Mel Kiper projected him to possibly be a first round pick.

The majority of NFL draft experts and scouts projected Coates to be a late first or second round pick.

NFL scouts at the Senior Bowl said they loved Coates' sudden cuts, superior speed and big, well-developed frame, and his potential makes him a possible future No. 1 wide receiver.

Coates met with team representatives from the Baltimore Ravens

after he had an impressive week of practice where he made multiple highlight reel catches.

On January 25, 2014, Coates recorded one reception for 13-yards in the Senior Bowl, but had to leave the game after suffering a groin injury.

Under Jacksonville Jaguars head coach Gus Bradley, Coates helped the South defeat the North 20–10.

He received an invitation to the NFL Combine and completed all of the required combine and positional drills.

His 23 reps in the bench press finished first among wide receivers.

On March 3, 2014, Coates opted to participate at Auburn's pro day along with Greg Robinson, Dee Ford, Chris Davis, Tre Mason, Cody Parkey, Jay Prosch, Quan Bray, and nine other teammates.

He chose to only run positional drills for the scouts and team representatives in attendance.

At the conclusion of the pre-draft process, Coates was projected to be a second or third round pick by the majority of NFL draft experts and scouts.

The Pittsburgh Steelers selected Coates in the third round with the 87th overall pick in the 2015 NFL draft.

He was the 13th wide receiver selected in 2015.

On May 15, 2015, the Steelers signed Coates to a four-year, $2.91 million contract with a signing bonus of $631,515.

He competed with Markus Wheaton and Darrius Heyward-Bey throughout training camp to be the second starting wide receiver for the season, as Martavis Bryant was serving a four-game suspension to begin the season.

Head coach Mike Tomlin named Coates the fourth wide receiver on the depth chart to start the season, behind Antonio Brown, Wheaton, and Heyward-Bey.