NFL Week 5 FTN Staff Bets
FTN Staff
The 2021 NFL free agency period is about to kick off, and this year’s class of WRs is absolutely loaded. One of the more intriguing top WRs that may be free to sign anywhere is JuJu Smith-Schuster.
Smith-Schuster will still be just 24 the next season starts (he’ll turn 25 in November) and has played his entire four-year career in Pittsburgh. Where Will Smith-Schuster play in 2021? Where should fantasy football players be rooting for him to land … and where they should be rooting for him to avoid?
This article will examine Smith-Schuster’s best and worst free agency landing spots from a fantasy football perspective. We’ll try to stick with realistic teams.
JuJu Smith-Schuster’s journey to free agency
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Then Antonio Brown and Le'Veon Bell left Pittsburgh, and the entire Steelers’ identity changed. Smith-Schuster struggled as a result, going 42-552-3 in 2019 and 97-831-9 in 2020. The 2020 numbers were fine — 97 receptions and 9 TDs are both excellent — but he averaged just 8.6 yards per reception, a far cry from the 13-15 YPR range he enjoyed during his first three seasons.Smith-Schuster was excellent as a 20-/21-year-old rookie in 2017, snagging 58 passes for 917 yards and seven scores. He then exploded during his second year, catching 111 passes for 1,426 yards and seven TDs — truly elite numbers.
We know Smith-Schuster is capable of high-level fantasy WR1 numbers — but will he be able to reach those heights without a Hall of Fame talent like Brown by his side? In any event, where Smith-Schuster lands is sure to be a big news item for fantasy players.
Best landing spots for JuJu Smith-Schuster for fantasy football
Tampa Bay Buccaneers: Is this likely? Maybe not. But it’s not be as impossible as it sounds. Both Chris Godwin and Antonio Brown are free agents, and Rob Gronkowski already has one retirement under his belt. If two of those three pieces fall through, the Bucs will suddenly find themselves in the WR market. The team does have Tyler Johnson waiting in the wings, and he seems like a legitimate threat in the NFL, but Smith-Schuster’s role as an underneath, over-the-middle target fits perfectly with Tom Brady’s skill set. It’s a match we’d love to see.
Indianapolis Colts: T.Y. Hilton and Zach Pascal are both likely headed for new teams, and the Colts now have a big need at WR. They just added Carson Wentz and are essentially moving forward with Michael Pittman and Parris Campbell (entering his second year) as their only sure things at WR next season, neither of whom are proven producers. As noted above, we’ve seen Smith-Schuster excel as a WR2 behind an elite WR1, and that wouldn’t be the case in Indy. But going to Indy would give Smith-Schuster his best chance yet of being “the guy” in an offensive passing attack — which is something he should at least have a shot of doing after showing such a high ceiling early in his career.
Worst landing spots for JuJu Smith-Schuster for fantasy football
Baltimore Ravens: The Ravens need WR help, and Smith-Schuster would basically be a much, much, much, much, much better version of Willie Snead. If he lands in Baltimore, he’d likely be in a three-way tie for top target in the offense with Marquise Brown and Mark Andrews. For fantasy purposes, the best-case scenario for Smith-Schuster would be for him to have a true chance to be a team’s WR1 (which wouldn’t happen in Baltimore), or for him to fill the WR2-in-pass-happy-offense-behind-elite-WR role he excelled in early in his career (which also wouldn’t happen in Baltimore).
San Francisco 49ers: It’s hard to see how different Smith-Schuster would be when compared next to Brandon Aiyuk and Deebo Samuel, two rising WRs that each appear capable of being the team’s WR1. The 49ers also have all-world TE George Kittle and an affinity for the run game. Landing in SF wouldn’t destroy Smith-Schuster’s fantasy value, but it doesn’t really move the needle compared to how he’s been used in Pittsburgh the last two seasons, either.
