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The guy who has come out looking the best in this seemingly never-ending beef between Antonio Brown and the Pittsburgh Steelers is wide receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster, a fun-loving guy who genuinely does not seem all that confrontational.
Brown and Smith-Schuster exchanged some barbs earlier in the offseason, but Smith-Schuster seems more than ready to move on and not only has wished Brown well but even acknowledged that he learned a lot from Brown during the two years they spent together as teammates.
But don't think for a second that there is a lack of competitive fire in Smith-Schuster's belly.
You can bet that he wants to prove that his 2018 campaign was no fluke and was not merely a result of Brown attracting most of the attention, which, in turn, opened Smith-Schuster up for 111 receptions, 1,426 yards and seven touchdowns en route to being named the Steelers team MVP, something that apparently rubbed Brown the wrong way.
Now, with Brown in Oakland, Smith-Schuster will be Pittsburgh's No. 1 receiver, and given the fact that the rest of the Steelers' receiving corps is incredibly thin, there will be a whole lot of pressure on the 22-year-old to produce in 2019.
So, is there a chance that Smith-Schuster actually has a better season than Brown?
There actually is.
Brown leaving will serve as a sort of a double-edged sword for Smith-Schuster. Yes, it means that defenses will be paying more attention to him, but it also means that he will be getting more targets, which could lead to more significant numbers overall.
Will he ever be able to rack up 1,400 yards again? Who knows, but he can certainly still have a great season in 2019.
Let's face it: at some point, we have to give the kid credit for being a good receiver. Obviously, Brown's presence helped, but you didn't see Martavis Bryant putting up those types of numbers when he was on Pittsburgh.
Smith-Schuster still needs to run his routes, beat man coverage, catch the football, and make things happen after the catch, and he did all of those things this past year.
Keep this in mind, too: Brown will be 31 years old at the start of the 2019 campaign, so you have to figure that a decline is coming sooner rather than later. Plus, he is now on a new team in a new system, so he might find out the hard way that the grass isn't always greener.
Meanwhile, Smith-Schuster will be playing with the same head coach, the same offensive coordinator and, most importantly, the same quarterback in Ben Roethlisberger, and Smith-Schuster and Roethlisberger have clearly developed a connection over the wideout's first two seasons.
Remember this, as well: Smith-Schuster showed signs of being a dominant receiver in college, as he caught 89 passes for 1,454 yards and 10 scores during his sophomore year at USC.
With solid size at 6-foot-1, 215 pounds and better in-game speed than his middling 4.52 40-yard dash time would indicate, Smith-Schuster has all of the tools needed to be an ace receiver in the NFL, and he has already proven a whole lot in just two years.
Given that he is on a better team with a more stable foundation in general, it would not be the least bit surprising to see Smith-Schuster put up bigger numbers than Brown once again.
And this time, there wouldn't be any justifications.
