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The Pittsburgh Steelers are set to part ways with star wide receiver Antonio Brown this offseason. As a result, all eyes will be on wide receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster in the 2019 NFL season.
Smith-Schuster has emerged into a star wideout in his own right across from Brown. However, according to Jim Wexell of 247Sports, general manager Kevin Colbert is waiting to see how well he will do on his own:
“As I mentioned when I went through our players, we have a significant other receiver on our team and that's JuJu,” Colbert said. “There's no getting around that. Together they're great. What JuJu would be without an Antonio Brown, we don't know. We won't know until we move forward, just like we didn't know what Antonio would be when he was just a backup, special teams, practice guy. So, yes, of course there are things that he maybe wants to do better than or more than and he thinks he can do it maybe in a different environment. Only time will tell if that's the right move.”
The Steelers selected Smith-Schuster in the second round of the 2017 NFL Draft. He has since established himself as one of the most promising, young wideouts in the league today. However, he will face his biggest challenge yet next season when he becomes the clear-cut No. 1 option on the team.
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Smith-Schuster has proven to be up to the task thus far. He finished the 2018 campaign with 111 receptions for 1,426 yards, and seven touchdowns en route to his first Pro Bowl. Although he was also named team MVP, there is no question that he has largely benefitted from playing opposite of Brown.
His talent allowed him to take advantage of many one-on-one opportunities while teams focused on the five-time All-Pro.
The onus will now be on Smith-Schuster to open the field up for the rest of the offense.
