Steely McBeam
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- Mar 20, 2019
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Wide receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster returned to the Steelers after hitting free agency this offseason, but he doesn’t expect to play the same role with the team that he played last season.
Smith-Schuster played more than 80 percent of his snaps out of the slot during the 2020 season and produced 97 catches for 831 yards. He’s been used in the slot before, but his 8.6 yards per catch were the lowest of his career by more than four yards.
During an appearance on a podcast with Adam Schefter of ESPN, Smith-Schuster said that he’s going to be used differently in his fifth season in Pittsburgh.
“You are going to get the whole package,” Smith-Schuster said, via Tim Benz of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. “I think the biggest thing that a lot of people are talking about is me playing outside. You’ll definitely see me playing outside more.”
Chase Claypool, Diontae Johnson, and James Washington round out the group of top receivers with the Steelers and a shift in Smith-Schuster’s usage would lead to changes for them when the Steelers are back on the field this year.