A lot was made in minicamp when JuJu Smith-Schuster said one of the reasons he returned to the Steelers was because it afforded him an opportunity to play as an outside wide receiver.
Now that training camp is over and the hay is in the barn, it's apparent that won't be the case.
"Did you see him outside at all in camp?" one former player asked me recently? "That was JuJu trying to save face. He tested free agency and the league told him he's a slot receiver. And those guys don't get the big contracts."
Smith-Schuster might not even be the most targeted slot receiver on this team, at least according to this player.
Fantasy football players take notice.
"If you're the quarterback and you're looking at things, are you going to test JuJu against a cornerback or Pat Freiermuth against a linebacker? The quarterback is going to go for the matchup against the linebacker."
The former player suggested Smith-Schuster might actually be the Steelers' No. 4 receiver behind Diontae Johnson, Chase Claypool and Freiermuth. Yes, he was that high on Freiermuth.
You might even be able to add Najee Harris to that list. The Steelers attempted 80 passes to their running backs in 2020. But when they had last had Le'Veon Bell -- a player to whom Harris is favorably compared in the passing game -- in 2017, they targeted him 106 times in the passing game.
How will that play with Smith-Schuster? Probably not well since he's not necessarily under contract for next season -- he has voidable years on his current deal. He'll be thinking about free agency again in 2022.
As long as the Steelers are winning, it might not matter so much, though the unnamed player said he has seen star players go to the quarterback after being ignored for a quarter, only to see the quarterback to force some balls in their direction to keep them happy.
So, if you see Ben Roethlisberger seemingly forcing some passes to Smith-Schuster at some point this season after not targeting him early, that's likely what it involved. Roethlisberger is keeping the troops happy. It's why he often spreads the ball around early in games.
Voidable years also don't necessarily mean the player is only under contract for the current season. They can easily be extended, just as they can easily be gotten out of after one season.
If the former player I spoke to is right, however, Smith-Schuster might not want to return to Pittsburgh, even if Roethlisberger, who also is working on a voidable deal, returns in 2022.
MORE STEELERS
• With both Henry Mondeaux and Carlos Davis making the 53-man roster, it raises the possibility the Steelers could use both to cover kicks. Mondeaux has already done that, running down on kicks and punts last season. But the Steelers also experimented with Davis doing it this year with some success. "That guy can run. It differs, it’s all about matchups. We have some big guys that can run," said special teams coach Danny Smith. "Coach always says, 'Big men run and little men hit.' That’s become a creed here that’s developed and that’s who we are. We get those kinds of guys, and it’s situational. Carlos (Davis) has not been blocked this preseason. The next step is to make those plays. He’s a great penetrator. People are half-shouldering him. With today’s rules, there aren’t any chop-blocks or cut-blocks. ... I wouldn’t want to block him. Hank and Carlos have done well there. We’ll get into that if there’s room for both of them on the kickoff team, and some games there will be and others there won’t. I have to decide that. It’s based on the scheme that we’re playing and where they can be most useful." Both players ran sub-5.0-second 40-yard dashes at their pro days. And Smith has a point. Often times in this preseason, despite being the biggest guys on the field -- by at least 40 pounds -- they were among the first players down the field covering kicks. Nobody wants to step in front of that moving train. In fact, Mondeaux made a play on one return man by tossing a blocker back into his return lane, slowing him down enough that others could make the play. -- Lolley
• One of the big questions surrounding the Steelers this season is how much Harris will be used in his rookie season. Offensive coordinator Matt Canada toed the company line when asked about that this week. "We’re doing that all the time: the matchups, who does things the best, who’s better at this, who’s better at that, what matchups create issues for the teams we play week-to-week," Canada said when asked what the division of labor would be behind Harris. Smith, however, was less diplomatic with it when asked about the special teams ability of Benny Snell and Kalen Ballage, Harris' backups. "I tell them we have Najee Harris, so it’s not rocket science when it comes to who’s going to be carrying the load this year," Smith said. "Benny and Kalen won’t be getting much. I know they want to be the starting running backs, just like I want to be the head coach. That’s not happening for any of us. I will not be the head coach and they won’t be the lead dog. We just have to focus on our business, and it makes sense to those guys." -- Lolley
PIRATES
• It wasn’t exactly a great month of August at the plate results wise for Kevin Newman -- hitting .238 with a .278 wOBA -- but the peripherals were much better. Going by Baseball Savant’s expected stats, he had expected batting average of .278 and xwOBA of .311, based on his exit velocities and launch angles for the month. Neither is particularly great, but with his defense, that would be than enough if the actual results matched his expected stats. A couple changes led to that improvement in the plate in July, including moving up on the plate more and no longer choking up on the bat. “I’ve struggled this year, so I haven’t had months like that,” he told me at Guaranteed Rate Field. “To get back to [2019’s swing] and feel what it’s like again, it’s a good feeling.” September could be an important month in regards to Newman’s future with the club. A strong month, or a bad one, isn’t going to be weighed more than the other five, but it is his last impression of the month. And as Derek Shelton said earlier this week, if the team sees a player make changes that translates to good results, it helps the player’s case in year-end evaluations. -- Alex Stumpf in Chicago
• With rosters expanding, and probably more than a handful of call ups and minor bumps and bruises leading to season-ending injuries, there is potential for some notable turnover over these final weeks of the season. The Pirates are one of 23 teams that get relaxed COVID-19 protocols because they hit the 85% vaccination rate in June, and it’s going to stay that way, even if the actual percentage of traveling party members dips below that line with the new additions. Major League Baseball set that up as a benchmark to hit once, not a rolling total. -- Stumpf
•Talking with recently promoted from Class AAA pitcher Shelby Miller on the field before his debut with the Pirates Wednesday, he ended the interview with an interesting nugget on Indianapolis pitching coach Joel Hanrahan: “He’s a great person, a great coach and I’m assuming we’ll see him in the big leagues soon.” Hanrahan has definitely blossomed as a pitching coach, and it’s a possibility he could be on major league teams’ radar soon, like Miller suggested. They were in a similar spot in 2017 with Justin Meccage and kept him by promoting him to assistant pitching coach. Meccage has since moved to bullpen coach, and the old assistant position has been vacant under Oscar Marin the last two years. If teams start inquiring on Hanrahan, there could be a promotion in order to keep him. -- Stumpf
PENGUINS
• Mike Matheson knows a bit about absorbing criticism from the press and public -- he was skewered regularly during the latter stages of his tenure in Florida -- so he can can empathize with what Tristan Jarry has experienced since his first-round flameout against the Islanders this spring. He also has first-hand evidence it's possible to bounce back from a miserable showing and perform at a pretty high level, which Matheson did for most of his first season with the Penguins, and is adamant that he believes Jarry will do likewise. "Regardless of what your job is, there are going to be periods in your career when the chips aren't falling in the right direction, and it's really tough when you're hearing it from all directions," Matheson said. "To be able to come back stronger and prove everyone wrong is the best feeling in the world. I have full confidence in him to do that. Obviously, he's had a lot of attention in this offseason, but knowing him, I'm sure he's used it as motivation and is going to come in ready to go for this season, with something to prove and a chip on his shoulder." He also suggested it would not be accurate to hold Jarry solely accountable for the Penguins to make it past the first round for the third consecutive year. "Walk around the locker room and ask guys how they felt about their series against the Islanders, and I don't think you'd find anybody saying, 'Oh, I think i did everything I could,' " he said. "Because obviously, we didn't." -- Dave Molinari
• Something most people, aside from GMs and others in the personnel business, probably don't think about very often when contemplating potential trades is that NHL regulations limit clubs to having no more than 50 players under contract. That's not an impediment to the Penguins making a deal or two -- CapFriendly.com says they have 45 players on active contracts -- but other teams aren't in such a good position. Indeed, earlier this week, San Jose had to waive 22-year-old forward Ivan Chekhovich for purposes of buying out or terminating his contract to get down to 50. Chekhovich had one assist in four games with San Jose in 2020-21, so his departure probably doesn't seal the Sharks' fate as a non-playoff team during the coming season, but being forced to shed a prospect for reasons other than on-ice performance isn't good. With five spots available, the Penguins don't have to worry about approaching the limit. Of course, that doesn't do them much good when they barely have enough space under the salary-cap ceiling to cover the cost of a team dinner. -- Molinari
• Rick Tocchet was a candidate to fill several head-coaching vacancies around the league this summer, including the ones with Seattle, Columbus and the New York Rangers, but ultimately got passed over for all of them. Nonetheless, he figures to remain high on the short list of potential replacements for anyone who is fired during the coming season. Tocchet's two head-coaching stints so far have come in less-than-ideal situations -- Arizona and pre-Jeffrey Vinik Tampa Bay -- which suggests he hasn't had a reasonable opportunity to show what he can accomplish in a more conventional setting. Tocchet, of course, earned a lot of praise for his work as an assistant under Mike Sullivan, and it's worth remembering that he and Ron Hextall were teammates with the Flyers in the 1980s and early 1990s. -- Molinari
