Ben Roethlisberger overthrew Juju Smith-Schuster on what surely should have been a touchdown pass yesterday at Green Bay.
If Smith-Schuster is still atop those milk crates, he makes that catch.
That ball was overthrown. But it was catchable.
Witness what ex-Steelers linebacker Vince Williams tweeted, also referencing another throw when Roethlisberger came in high to Smith-Schuster.
Williams is 100 percent correct. (How could he not be? Look who he was debating.)
Stop pretending that Smith-Schuster could be a No. 1 receiver. He’s mediocre, perhaps not even that. Mid, as Maxwell Jacob Friedman would say.
The numbers don’t lie, and they spell disaster for Smith-Schuster come his second free agency. Mid doesn’t get paid. (Not so far.)
Smith-Schuster has 15 catches for 129 yards, a meager average of 8.6 yards. Dead people fall forward further. He has zero receiving touchdowns.
Fanboys who worship at the Smith-Schuster altar blame Roethlisberger, and the Steelers QB is certainly sporadic with his deliveries. (He's washed up, to be blunt.)
But Diontae Johnson and Chase Claypool (who have each missed a game) have better stats than Smith-Schuster. They also get thrown to by Roethlisberger.
So does James Washington. Washington barely plays, but his 69 receiving yards yesterday is higher than any single-game total posted by Smith-Schuster this year. (Smith-Schuster only had four games with more yardage all of last year. He hasn't had a 100-yard game since the 2019 season, and had just one that year.)
Smith-Schuster should go up and get the ball the same way he vaulted up those milk crates.
He might have to fight a Paul brother to stay relevant.
Smith-Schuster got a pity contract from the Steelers in free agency this past off-season. He could be filing for unemployment by the start of next season.
There’s always barber college.
Smith-Schuster was videotaped apparently saying something uncomplimentary about Roethlisberger on the sideline at Green Bay. But I’m no lip-reader. Evidence is inconclusive.
Perhaps the best Smith-Schuster can do is not have a season-defining fumble for a fourth straight year. That's more easily accomplished when your team's playoff hopes are already squashed by the first week of October.
Thumbnail via Getty Images.