Football Hall of Famer Cris Carter wants people to know that in his eyes, Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster is not yet a No. 1 wideout.
During a recent episode of First Things First: Cris Carter and Nick Wright on Fox Sports 1, Carter conveyed that burning take, pointing to the presence of a fantastic group of talent in Pittsburgh as a chief reason why Smith was able to have such a terrific rookie season in the NFL last year.
“I think he will have a legitimate strong second season, but let’s not fool ourselves. He’s not a No. 1 guy. JuJu needs to realize that, ‘I need to stay over here behind AB, and be able to get the benefit of having him on my roster,’ those guys that are No. 2s wanting to be No. 1s, they make some critical mistakes in their career.”
For Carter, JuJu Smith-Schuster found himself in a very ideal situation for a rookie to excel. With Antonio Brown drawing most of the focus from opposing defenses downfield and running back Le’Veon Bell attracting just as much emphasis, Smith-Schuster only had to deal with residual attention from opponents in 2017, an idea that Cris Carter clearly outlined as key to the USC product’s success more than his individual talent.
Carter, however, must have forgotten the fact that Smith-Schuster had 332 receiving yards and two touchdown receptions in the Steelers’ final three games of the 2017 season in which Brown barely played at all because of an injury.
Nevertheless, Smith-Schuster has established himself as a serious threat in the Pittsburgh’s passing attack. Last season, he caught 58 catches and converted them into 917 receiving yards and seven touchdowns.
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