Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster will have a very important decision to make in the 2022 NFL offseason on his playing future. Smith-Schuster, a free agent, will have to decide if he wants to remain with the Steelers or take his talents elsewhere. Still just 25 years old, the Pittsburgh wideout has quite a bit of football left in him. However, there are a couple of reasons why it might make more sense for Smith-Schuster to move on from the Steelers during the NFL's free agency period. Pittsburgh has many decisions to make this offseason, most importantly, their quarterback situation. Not only that, but there are questions about the Smith-Schuster's true ability as a number-one wideout. He might want a chance to prove that he's capable of being an alpha wideout- just not in Pittsburgh. What the franchise decides to do at that position will have a huge impact on Smith-Schuster's future. Here's why he should look elsewhere for his next team.

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2 Reasons JuJu Smith-Schuster Should Leave Steelers

2. Uncertain Steelers QB situation

The Steelers are heading into an offseason without a clear-cut quarterback option for the first time since 2003. It's a huge transition for the franchise after they were privileged enough to benefit from the steadiness of Ben Roethlisberger. However, Pittsburgh needs a new signal-caller and the in-house options- Dwayne Haskins and Mason Rudolph- are, to put it politely, less than desirable. If JuJu Smith-Schuster really wants a chance to win while showing that he is the player who exploded for over 1,400 yards in the second year of his career, Pittsburgh might not be the best choice. Of course, there's the chance that the Steelers make a big splash at quarterback, which would make returning to Pittsburgh more palatable. However, Smith-Schuster shouldn't bet on that happening and should leave the Steelers in free agency.

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1. JuJu Smith-Schuster is not a true number-one wideout

This is a painful thing for a player to hear but there are statistics to back this sentiment up. CBS Sports provides a shocking look at Smith-Schuster's numbers before he was teammates with Antonio Brown, one of the best in the league at the time, and after.

It's clear that Smith-Schuster benefited from the presence of Brown, who drew most of the attention from opposing defenses. That allowed JuJu to feast on lesser coverages, thus allowing him to rack up yardage. Before Brown left, Smith-Schuster exceeded 900 yards in each season. After the talented wideout left, JuJu has failed to hit that receiving yardage mark. Not only that, but where is the alpha wideout in Pittsburgh? Diontae Johnson is a rising star, but he doesn't have quite the effect on a defense's gameplan like Brown did. Neither does Chase Claypool. Smith Schuster needs to go sign with a team that has a clear-cut number-one option in the passing game to take some of the attention away from him. If he does, he'll likely start putting up excellent numbers once again.