Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster may have posted No. 1 receiver numbers this past season, but due to the presence of Antonio Brown, he was still technically the Steelers' No. 2 wideout.
But now, Brown is in Oakland, opening the door for Smith-Schuster to become Pittsburgh's top receiver, and the 22-year-old is looking forward to the opportunity:
“Being 22, having that many games played, being role model for that room, I’m pretty sure I can take on that challenge,” Smith-Schuster said, according to Joe Rutter of The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review.
Smith-Schuster is coming off of a terrific 2018 campaign in which he hauled in 111 receptions for 1,426 yards and seven touchdowns en route to a Pro Bowl appearance. He was even named the Steelers' team MVP, which rubbed Brown the wrong way.
The Long Beach native, who played his collegiate football at the University of Southern California, was originally selected by the Steelers in the second round (62nd pick overall) of the 2017 NFL Draft.
He went on to have an awe-inspiring rookie year, catching 58 passes for 917 yards and seven scores.
Also, in each of Smith-Schuster's NFL seasons, he owns the longest touchdown catch in the NFL for that respective year, posting 97-yard scores in both 2017 and 2018.
Meanwhile, Pittsburgh went 9-6-1 in a very disappointing 2018 campaign, missing the playoffs for the first time since 2013. The Steelers actually got off to a 7-2-1 start, but locker room issues completely derailed the club during the second half of the year.
Pittsburgh had posted four consecutive double-digit win seasons before 2018.
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