Big Blue View
The New York Giants signed three receivers on Monday: Odell Beckham Jr., Braxton Berrios, and former Kansas City Chiefs, New England Patriots, and Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster. Smith-Schuster has not had more than 33 catches in a given season since 2022, and he’s coming off his second stint with Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs.
This is Smith-Schuster’s 10th season in the NFL, but he’s only 29 years of age. He and the other two receivers signed this week, inking a veteran-minimum one-year, $1.3-million deal with no guaranteed money; suffice it to say, Smith-Schuster is going to have to earn his roster spot in a wide receiver room with a lot of competition.
Smith-Schuster is vying for slot snaps in a wide receiver room that just added Calvin Austin III after the departure of Wan’Dale Robinson in the offseason. Still, with Malik Nabers recovering from his knee injury, there’s room on the roster for a player like mith-Schuster to earn a spot in training camp.
(JuJu Smith-Schuster is No. 9)
The veteran receiver does not win with vertical speed or superior athletic traits. He’s not going to create ample separation against man coverage through his explosiveness in and out of breaks, nor will he take the top off of defenses, but he still provides value — especially for an offense that is designed by Greg Roman and Matt Nagy, with whom Smith-Schuster is very familiar.
(top of screen, No. 1)
Smith-Schuster is a savvy and aware overall player with good hands. Mahomes connected with him on this third-and-3 against the Giants last season; fake stalk block on the wheel while operating underneath Dane Belton (24) to provide easy access for Mahomes to convert the first down. This is a well-designed play by Andy Reid and Nagy, and the receiver plucks the football out of the air to ensure the conversion.
(top of screen, No. 3)
Smith-Schuster is the number three receiver (innermost) to the field side, and Isiah Pacheco (10) operates as the fast four before the snap to expand the defense horizontally. That motion forced the defender on the line of scrimmage, over the B-Gap, to drop to a depth to eliminate the No. 2 as well, which gave Smith-Schuster access inside, and the veteran receiver sat right in the soft spot.
Smith-Schuster is incredibly spatially aware as a receiver and does a great job finding space in the short-intermediate parts of the field. This allowed the Chiefs to run effectively two-man RPO concepts:
(top of screen)
This is a simple stick/flat concept that puts the cornerback in conflict, and Smith-Schuster easily finds space because the linebackers are drawn to the mesh point. Nagy and Reid design this very well against the defensive two-high structure of the Titans, but Smith-Schuster also understands how/when to break back to the quarterback to maximize the play’s potential to keep the chains moving.
(top of screen, No. 2)
Washington blows the coverage here in the middle of the...
