James Washington Admits He Felt Pressure Of Expectations, Following JuJu’s Footsteps, During Rookie Season

[polamalubeast]

While the Pittsburgh Steelers didn’t need him to be a starter—let alone a star—coming out of college, as a second-round pick serving as an encore to a very successful second-round pick at the same position a year earlier, James Washington felt the pressure of the expectations that came with his slotting and his environment.

The Steelers entered the 2018 already very well-positioned at the wide receiver position, with Antonio Brown a perennial stud and then-second-year JuJu Smith-Schuster coming off a rookie season in which he emerged as the clear number two receiver with 58 receptions for 917 yards and seven touchdowns in 14 games played.

In 2018, the pair combined for over 200 catches 2700 yards, and 22 touchdowns between them, quite a feat that isn’t regularly matched even in today’s high-octane NFL. To have two wide receivers that accomplished at the same time on the same team, working with a quarterback as good as the Steelers’ Ben Roethlisberger, is rare.

And so Washington was brought in, for the long-term to have a major impact, but for the short-term just to serve as a complement to two true stars at the position. They would soak up most of the attention, and he would just have to take advantage of his spots. By and large, for most of his rookie season, he didn’t.

The 23-year-old recently told Will Graves that he felt himself pressing “for sure” last season, pressing to perform and to live up to the expectations that he felt being set up for him, even from the fanbase who just saw Smith-Schuster come in and play like a veteran right away at 20 years old.

“It wasn’t just me. It felt like coaches and fans and everybody, ‘oh, he’s got to do what JuJu did’”, Washington told the Associated Press scribe. “I’m like, ‘I’m not JuJu. You’ve got to realize that’. We’re two different people. You know. Some guys run faster than others and some learn slower than others. It just takes time”.

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https://steelersdepot.com/2019/07/ja...rookie-season/

Farm Hand; Blue-collar roots shape Steelers WR Washington

https://apnews.com/d253d168492944b3bafcdfc27a5bdf8a

[Fire Goodell]

I can see that. Especially with a lot of good to great WRs being drafted by Pittsburgh in the last decade, there's some pressure to perform at that level. You don't want to be 'the guy' who wasn't.

[DesertSteel]

Makes you wonder how Johnson will deal with the pressure.

[polamalubeast]

Makes you wonder how Johnson will deal with the pressure.

No pressure

The expectations are less there for Johnson, because Washington had a bad rookie season last year. Washington's expectations last year was higher because of the great rookie season by JuJu in the season before.

[DesertSteel]

No pressure

The expectations are less there for Johnson, because Washington had a bad rookie season last year. Washington's expectations last year was higher because of the great rookie season by JuJu in the season before.

You're looking at it logically, however. Each guy is wired differently, mentally and emotionally. If fear and anxiety were logical, we'd all be fearful and anxious about the same things.