The Steelers announced during the first round of the NFL Draft that they were sending malcontent wide receiver, Martavis Bryant, to the Raiders in exchange for a third round pick. With Antonio Brown as the clear WR1, the departure of Bryant opens up more targets — potentially downfield — for JuJu Smith-Schuster.
Smith-Schuster was a waiver wire hero who finished 11th overall in fantasy points per game with 14.8 and he wasn’t really relevant until Bryant cemented his place into Mike Tomlin’s dog house. In fact, 59-percent of JuJu’s 922 receiving yards came in four of his 15 games played (including his one postseason game). Ben Roethlisberger will look his way even more since him and Smith-Schuster posted the highest QB-pass catcher passer rating as a combo at 134.8. Even better, his target share was at a crazy 32.3-percent without Bryant in the lineup, compared to a measly 13.3-percent with both Bryant and Brown active — when he was the third receiver. As of right now (before the post-draft rankings update), Wolf has JuJu as his WR19, which is seven spots higher than his ECR (26). But with Bryant no longer in the picture and a rookie in James Washington now taking over the vertical role, Smith-Schuster may get more looks deep and he will now cement himself as the clear WR2 for Roethlisberger. JuJu is about to shoot up The Wolf’s rankings and expect an enormous leap from his already impressive rookie season.
