With all the drama swirling around the Steelers organization JuJu Smith-Schuster is ready to get back to winning.
Second-year wide receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster is taking it upon himself to be the leader that the Pittsburgh Steelers desperately needs.
With each passing week there seems to be more drama spilling out of the Steelers organization and one can only hope that it won’t get much worse than it already is. But in order for things to get better, and for Pittsburgh’s star wide receiver Antonio Brown to rejoin the team, everyone needs to be on the same page. At least that’s what Smith-Schuster is hoping for.
“I definitely don’t want [Brown] leaving, he’s helped this team a lot,” Smith-Schuster told FanSided. “We have all the puzzle pieces for our team to win the Super Bowl we just can’t have problems throughout the season and at the end of the season. We have to focus on ourselves and get better.”
Those are wise words from a 22-year-old on one of the NFL’s most historic franchises, and he’s completely right.
The Steelers were supposed to be one of the top teams to challenge the Patriots for the AFC title crown, but with Le’Veon Bell deciding to hold out for a bigger payday, and Brown airing out his feelings on every social media platform he can get his hands on, Pittsburgh floundered at the end of the season.
The next thing for the Steelers to do is figure out how they’re going to handle the Antonio Brown situation. If Brown gets his wish and is moved to a different team, Smith-Schuster would happily step into that role as the No. 1 option on the team.
“As a kid everyone wanted to be the number one guy on the team, so I would embrace that opportunity,” Smith-Schuster said.
Smith-Schuster would have no problem getting respect from his teammates after being named the team MVP at the end of the regular season, and being selected to his first Pro-Bowl. But don’t be mistaken, this former USC standout knows he has a long way to go to catch some of the top receivers in the league.
Instead of saying his own name for who has the best hands in the league, Smith-Schuster showed some respect for the man who didn’t drop a single pass this season.
“The best hands probably has to go to DeAndre Hopkins, that dude doesn’t drop any balls,” Smith-Schuster said.
Even though he was humble in not saying himself, Smith-Schuster is confident he’ll get to that level someday.