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As is par for the course, Pittsburgh Steelers extensive receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster has finished loads of speaking this offseason. I might think about we’ll most likely hear from him quickly throughout OTAs as properly. And when he wasn’t speaking about his sponsorship of the BRB bot, which supplies streamers a digital AI avatar to take their place whereas they’re ‘AFK’ (i.e., within the lavatory — it’s a Charmin product, in spite of everything), he did often speak soccer.
Every time he was requested about his plans for the 2021 season with respect to demonstrating once more that he’s a primary receiver, the subject he saved citing was his expectation that he would see extra time enjoying on the skin this yr, after having more and more seen increasingly more of his snaps within the slot yr by yr. is that possible? In Matt Canada’s offense, James Washington thinks so.
Requested who he thought may play that slot position if Smith-Schuster is enjoying out mentioned, Washington mentioned, “really anyone, and that’s one of the things that I like about this team, is that receivers can play at any position. You’re not just a Z, or not just an inside or outside guy”, he added. “You could play that primarily, however you’re by no means simply that receiver. You possibly can at all times transfer round. I believe we’re fairly fluid with transferring round and maintaining guys on the market”.
For Washington, he spent about 20 p.c of his snaps final season aligned inside out of slightly over 500 complete snaps. Diontae Johnson, however, solely performed 100 slot snaps out of 811 in complete, in response to Professional Soccer Focus. Chase Claypool had across the similar proportion of labor within the slot as Washington did, however all three may see their time inside develop this yr.
In distinction to these above, Smith-Schuster solely performed slightly over 200 snaps on the skin in 2020, whereas logging about 800 snaps within the slot, so roughly the inverse of Washington. If the Steelers are to play him on the skin extra this yr, then it’s undoubtedly going to require some changes as a way to accommodate that.
However there are methods to fabricate that in a extra versatile offense that employs pre-snap movement to create desired matchups. In such a state of affairs, it issues so much much less the place any individual strains up, versus towards whom he’s aligned.
The truth that the Steelers have a correct offseason this yr, replete with OTAs and a preseason, ought to make it so much simpler to assist the much less skilled extensive receivers get extra snug transferring across the area. Claypool, for instance, was only a rookie who didn’t have a correct offseason in any respect. He may actually be a candidate to see extra time inside this yr as a perfect mismatch creator.
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