Carter's Classroom: How Steelers can make better use of JuJu in 2021

So JuJu Smith-Schuster is back with the Steelers, giving the team the same receiver room from the 2020 season.

Now what?

The emphasis of this offseason undoubtedly has to be to get the run game in order after it finished dead last. Bringing back Smith-Schuster doesn't do much for that, but there are still viable options in free agency and in the NFL Draft that can help fix those issues.

Yes, the Steelers' receiving group has plenty of talent even without Smith-Schuster on the roster. Chase Claypool acquitted himself very well as a rookie, Diontae Johnson has a ton of potential with how he consistently separates from cornerbacks, and James Washington is as tough as they come. 

But having Smith-Schuster back does bring a balance to the passing game that could let the Steelers capitalized on missed opportunities from the 2020 season.

For one, Smith-Schuster as a slot weapon is a known commodity that gives Ben Roethlisberger a security blanket over the middle. Out of his 97 catches for 831 yards and nine touchdowns in 2020, Smith-Schuster got most of that production in the slot with 81 receptions, 735 yards and all nine of his touchdowns coming from there.

That's the most receptions, touchdowns and fourth-most yards in the slot of any receiver in the NFL.

The slot affords a receiver with natural space as they line up a couple yards behind the line of scrimmage to give them a cushion before a slot cornerback, safety or linebacker tries to press them. Smith-Schuster's gotten very good at using that cushion to win leverage and create passing windows for Roethlisberger to hit.

Here's how that worked on a fourth down touchdown reception against M.J. Stewart. Stewart has to trail Smith-Schuster, but can't close the window enough to break up the pass:

And I know what you're thinking, 'so what, who's M.J. Stewart?'

But Smith-Schuster still succeeded in the slot even when top cornerbacks followed him to the slot. The Ravens regularly used Marlon Humphrey to shadow Smith-Schuster against the Steelers and he still made plays like this 14-yard reception over the middle.

I wanted to include this play because it doesn't just show Smith-Schuster working in the middle of the field, but it also shows how often he fought through contact to get crucial extra yards on plays that most receivers wouldn't have converted. Watch how he got past Humphrey, took a shot from first round rookie linebacker Patrick Queen, then kept pumping his legs to fight through a safety and dragged Humphrey for a first down:

He's made those plays so much for the Steelers that they his ability to create after the catch, even in traffic, became a major asset.

The problem was down the stretch of the season, the Steelers relied on that asset too often. He had the shortest routes in the NFL last year, and ended up gaining more than half of his yards after the catch:

Good for him, but that became a predictable factor of the Steelers' offense that was absolutely part of the team's downfall in losing five of their last six games. Defenses were aware of Roethlisberger's tendency to target Smith-Schuster and started to tee off on the former USC receiver.

Von Bell even admitted as much after he forced Smith-Schuster to fumble in the Bengals' win over the Steelers back in December. Watch how he set that up by literally staring at Smith-Schuster before sprinting ten yards to put a massive hit on him. He was four steps into his charge by the time Roethlisberger even began to cock back his arm to make the throw:

Roethlisberger became too predictable.

And yes, a huge part of Bell teeing off on Smith-Schuster was because he was dancing on logos at other teams' stadiums. It visibly made opponents upset as Bell announced after the Bengals win, and as Josh Allen stated to his teammates before the Bills came out the tunnel against the Steelers.

But the mistake in this process wasn't Smith-Schuster's doing the things that upset opponents, it was the Steelers not capitalizing on those opponents selling out schemes just for a shot at him.

Watch this play how when, even with Smith-Schuster not being targeted, the Bills had three defenders converge on him at the left end of the Bills' logo. Roethlisberger looks away from Smith-Schuster and misses on a tougher out route to Chase Claypool, but he overlooked how the Bills' converging on Smith-Schuster opened up Eric Ebron wide open in the middle of the field for a huge gain:

That's where the Steelers needed Roethlisberger to rip teams' heads off.

And hey, I'm not saying that Smith-Schuster was some mastermind who knew that would happen and that would draw attention to him to open up opportunities. But I am saying that it became a reality that wasn't exploited enough down the stretch.

Roethlisberger's seen the benefits when antics and trash talk can garner responses from the Steelers' opponents. During the playoff run of his second season, he saw the Colts defense sell out play after play in the first half to stop the run on the Steelers' play action passes. The Colts' doing that came after Joey Porter had openly called their team 'soft' in the week before the game.

It may not have been the plan all along, but it was certainly something the Steelers took advantage of for a historic playoff upset on their way to a fifth Super Bowl win.

What's confusing about Roethlisberger not ripping off teams for how they focused on Smith-Schuster was not only was he there for that Colts win, but he did take advantage of those opportunities earlier in the season. 

Watch how that worked out for this touchdown pass to Ebron, when two linebackers and a safety all converged on Smith-Schuster in the middle of the field. Ebron was wide open and could've moonwalked to the end zone:

Again, it was there to be had.

But with Smith-Schuster back again, Roethlisberger and the Steelers have an opportunity to reap a benefit they overlooked in 2020. Entering his fifth season, Smith-Schuster will still be a player teams plan to stop an converge on in 2021. It will be up the Steelers to capitalize on defenses when that happens.

And also, to find different places on the field to use Smith-Schuster. In addition to fixing the run game, that has to be on Matt Canada's to-do list as the new offensive coordinator.

To be more specific, Roethlisberger has to target Smith-Schuster more often down the field. It's not like he can't make plays downfield, as we've seen him do it in all four of his years with the team. He has two 97-yard touchdowns.

Even last season when the Steelers' offense finally woke up from its December slumber in a 17-point second half comeback agains the Colts. Once Roethlisberger started targeting receivers on deeper routes it put the Colts on their heels. Smith-Schuster even caught the 25-yard touchdown that was the final score of the 28-24 win. 

You can even see the Colts' safety put his helmet on Smith-Schuster's hands as he caught the touchdown:

Smith-Schuster is a combat catch type of receiver who makes those plays.

Since the Steelers were knocked out of the playoffs by the Browns, I presumed Smith-Schuster would be gone in free agency and the Steelers' chance to capitalize, both on his skills and the attention teams gave him, was gone.

Now that he's back, Canada and Roethlisberger have to get the offense to a balanced point where opponents are put more into guessing games that make for easier throws and opportunities for the offense to convert on the field and put more points on the board.