First Call: JuJu Smith-Schuster describes recruitment to K.C.; predictions for Cam Sutton's contract; big Super Bowl TV ratings

Tuesday’s “First Call” features some interesting offseason predictions for the Pittsburgh Steelers, including one about Cam Sutton’s future.

JuJu Smith-Schuster describes how his recruitment to Kansas City began. The Super Bowl television ratings were gigantic.

And the Pitt basketball team looks to stay hot against Boston College.

Recruitment revealed

Wide receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster is now a Super Bowl champion with the Kansas City Chiefs. The former Steeler was part of the franchise’s Super Bowl LVII victory Sunday over the Philadelphia Eagles.

During an NFL Network post-game interview, Smith-Schuster revealed that it was Chiefs defensive lineman Chris Jones who planted the seed about maybe going to Kansas City and getting a ring through free agency last spring.

Jones allegedly did so on the field after the Steelers lost in Arrowhead to the Chiefs during the first round of the 2021-22 playoffs.

“I played my last game in K.C.,” Smith-Schuster said of his Steelers’ finale. “And I lost. And before I walked off the field, Chris Jones went, ‘Hey. Come over here and get you one.’ Before anything was ever said. And I took that to heart.”

Now Smith-Schuster is entering free agency again, and he said during that interview that he’d like to return to the Chiefs for next season. Smith-Schuster finished 2022 with 78 catches for 933 yards and three touchdowns. He had 10 catches for 89 yards during the three playoff games.

Sutton stays?

ESPN.com is predicting Cameron Sutton will stick around at cornerback for the Steelers.

On Super Bowl Sunday, the website’s NFL Nation reporters updated a group of predictions and free agent priorities for each team. When they got to the Steelers, writer Field Yates predicted Sutton would stay with the Steelers.

“Sutton continues to improve and is among the top cornerbacks set to hit the market. He’ll earn a decided raise from his $4.5 million average annual value deal that he is currently playing on, but Pittsburgh has the resources to ensure Sutton — who had three picks and 15 pass breakups — sticks around at a position where it needs plenty of depth,” Yates said.

Sure. I can see that. Sutton signed a reasonable bridge deal to remain in Pittsburgh two years ago. But is he going to be just as reasonable this time? Or is he going to want to finish walking across the bridge to the other side and see if he can find a pot of gold somewhere?

That’s what Mike Hilton did in Cincinnati. Sutton may try to do the same this year. The Steelers may be inclined to draft a first-round cornerback this year as it is. They’d feel all the more pressure to do so if Sutton leaves via free agency.

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Clearing this one up

I wanted to update this entry from our originial post, and straighten out one thing about that ESPN.com column. The ESPN piece has been updated since Week 18 to reflect teams as they have been eliminated from playoff competiton.

In his original “one big prediction for the offseason” entry, Football Outsiders’ Aaron Schatz said, “The Steelers will move on (from offensive coordinator Matt) Canada and bring in a young assistant coach who can move the offense in a more modern direction.”

Schatz added, “The offense is better than standard stats indicate. It was middle-of-the-road in DVOA (Defense-adjusted Value Over Average) despite being 24th in (offensive) points per game (17.7). And the Steelers were in the bottom half of the NFL in the use of motion and play-action this season.”

I agree with Schatz’s premise, but the Steelers have since made it clear that they are planning to keep Canada as the offensive coordinator. If the franchise had doubts about retaining him, they would’ve pulled the plug by now so as to have their pick of available coaches to replace him. Now many of those potential candidates have moved on to other teams.

So if the Steelers were to “move on” from Canada it’d be a significant change in status. Barring any drastic, unexpected changes Canada will be back in hopes of improving the numbers listed above.

Super ratings

Fox Sports is boasting about the viewership for this year’s Super Bowl. The network said Kansas City’s 38-35 win over Philadelphia scored a six-year high with 113 million viewers, making Super Bowl LVII the third most-watched television show of all-time.

The game was the most-streamed Super Bowl ever and most-streamed event in Fox Sports history.

A reported 182.6 million viewers watched all or part of the Super Bowl on Fox and Fox Deportes.

Local markets were led by Kansas City with a 52.0/87 (rating/share). Philadelphia was next at 46.3/77, followed by Cincinnati (45.9/77) and Detroit (43.4/74). Pittsburgh was fifth at 43.0/73.

The Eagles have landed

At 18-7 (11-3 ACC), the Pitt Panthers basketball team still isn’t ranked. That’s despite winning five in a row and seven of eight.

So a win in their next game is unlikely to change many minds. If it happens, it’ll come at home Tuesday night against Boston College. The Eagles come to the Petersen Events Center at 12-14 (6-9 ACC). They enter the 9 p.m. tipoff as nine-point underdogs.

Jeff Capel’s team shouldn’t be too casual, though. Of late, B.C. has been playing better, winning four of seven.

Quinten Post has been particularly sharp in Chestnut Hill, topping 20 points in five of his past seven games. The seven-footer from the Netherlands is averaging 16.2 points and 6.2 rebounds per game. He has scored in double digits in every game since Jan. 3.