By Jordan Long
The Pittsburgh Steelers are preparing to take on the Seattle Seahawks on Sunday Night Football this week. They will be without wide receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster who suffered a season ending shoulder injury in the Steelers’ victory over the Denver Broncos. Now that they are down a receiver, Pittsburgh is bringing in Anthony Miller for a physical, hoping he can replace Smith-Schuster.
Smith-Schuster is one of quarterback Ben Roethlisberger’s favorite targets. Smith-Schuster can catch the football and gain yards. The best part of his game is in the red zone. Roethlisberger looks for him because he knows Smith-Schuster will catch the football and not drop it.
Smith-Schuster had a pretty good start to the year. He totaled 15 receptions for 129 yards but didn’t record a touchdown yet. His average yard per catch was 8.6 yards.
Wide receiver Diontae Johnson knows this is a big loss to their team. According to ESPN.com, Johnson said, “Injuries are going to happen. And it’s next man up, so Ray-Ray’s gotta step up, and that’s how it’s always been — one person goes down, somebody got to step in, and everybody is capable of [contributing to the offense]. We are still going to go out there and play for JuJu. We still go out there and do our thing Sundays and get ready, for this week, too.”
If Anthony Miller passes the physical, he will be on the team. Miller has played 4 years in the NFL catching 139 passes for 1,587 yards and 12 touchdowns.
There were other players the Steelers could have thought about at the wide receiver position including Golden Tate or Dez Bryant. Tate totaled 695 receptions over his 12-year career for 8,278 yards and 46 touchdowns. He could have given the Steelers a lift at wide receiver because of his average yards per catch at 11.9.
Bryant is another receiver the Steelers should have considered. He is a 9-year veteran and can be the top receiver on the team. He totaled 537 catches for 7,506 yards and 75 touchdowns. The problem with Bryant is he showed last year he isn’t a top wide receiver anymore. In 6 games for the Baltimore Ravens, he had 6 receptions for 47 yards and 2 touchdowns.
The Steelers are anticipating Miller can be the replacement for Smith-Schuster. The Steelers’ goal is to earn a playoff spot and advance deep into the postseason with the ultimate goal of winning the Super Bowl. If they fail to earn a playoff spot, they could look back at the Smith-Schuster injury as the turning point of the year.
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