Pittsburgh Steelers third-year wide receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster is expected to be the team’s No. 1 receiving option in 2019 now that wide receiver Antonio Brown is no longer part of the team. While Smith-Schuster did have a fantastic 2018 season, it will now be interesting to see if he can duplicate it in 2019 now that he’s the Steelers player that will receive most of the extra attention from opposing defenses with Brown gone.
During a Tuesday morning interview with Skip Bayless and Shannon Sharpe on ‘Undisputed’, Los Angeles Chargers wide receiver Keenan Allen was first asked if he thinks the Steelers will miss Brown this season.
“Oh, for sure,” Allen said. “Somebody with that talent, yes, no doubt.”
Allen was then asked to give his thoughts on what he believes Smith-Schuster is in for in 2019 with him no longer playing opposite Brown and thus having to become the No. 1 wide receiver in the offense.
“Life-changing, life-changing” Allen said. “It’s gonna be hard to sleep at night trying to find ways to get open. Different routes, different coverages you’ve got to look at. Double teams, double pressures, just everything, man. The whole game changes.”
At the start of the Steelers offseason practices in late May, Smith-Schuster talked openly about the challenges he’ll face this season now that he’ll be the team’s No. 1 wide receiver.
“No doubt,” Smith-Schuster said. “We saw it playing against the Patriots, they doubled me and A.B. It’s nothing new. This year it will be the same thing. I’m going to be getting the same coverage, the doubles. We have guys like [Donte] Moncrief, James [Washington], all these guys. We have so many guys who can make plays. I’m not worried about that.”
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