JuJu Smith-Schuster ready to lead young group of Steelers receivers

When JuJu Smith-Schuster joined the Pittsburgh Steelers in 2017, he was the youngest player in the NFL and trailed Antonio Brown and Martavis Bryant on the depth chart.

When Smith-Schuster stepped onto the fields at UPMC Rooney Sports Complex this week for the start of organized team activities, he still was the youngest wide receiver on the roster. But at just 22 years old, he entered as the unquestioned leader of his position group.

Is he ready for the responsibility?

“You’d have to ask him,” quarterback Ben Roethlisberger said. “But I think he is.”

So does Smith-Schuster, whose 30 games played with the Steelers are tied with Eli Rogers for the most among receivers on the 91-man roster.

“With the experience I’ve had at this point, age is just a number,” Smith-Schuster said Wednesday. “I’ve played enough games under my belt that I’ll be able to take on this. It’s another challenge I have to deal with.”

The messy divorce that led to Antonio Brown getting traded to the Oakland Raiders — one year after Bryant was dealt to the same destination — elevated Smith-Schuster to the top of the pecking order among Roethlisberger’s targets.

Smith-Schuster showed in his second season he can carry the torch. He was named the Steelers MVP, as voted on by his teammates, and was selected to the Pro Bowl. He led the Steelers with 111 catches for 1,426 yards.

“It’s super exciting, but I don’t think of it like that,” Smith-Schuster said about being the prime receiver. “It’s not about a No. 1 guy. Yeah, you have a No. 1 quarterback, a No. 1 running back. But it’s a collective game. The only way you move the ball is if all 11 make plays. That’s what it’s going to take to win the Super Bowl.”

The Steelers weren’t able to do it during Brown’s nine seasons despite all of the team and NFL receiving records he compiled. Smith-Schuster doesn’t want to be drawn into any individual comparisons with his predecessor this year.

“There’s no need for that,” Smith-Schuster said. “I’ll be looking at mine, my own team and how we do and how we win. I would take five catches for 30 yards and win the game than have 10 catches and two touchdowns (and lose).

“It’s not about myself. It’s getting to the Super Bowl.”

Smith-Schuster was on the receiving end of Brown’s offseason Twitter assault on the organization and his now-former teammates. Brown jabbed Smith-Schuster for his fumble against New Orleans that came while the Steelers were driving for a potential tying or go-ahead score with 32 seconds left.

“At the end of the day, that’s his opinion,” Smith-Schuster said. “For myself, I stand from afar. I’m not worried about what he’s got going on with his team. I wish him nothing but the best. He’s a great player. He dominates on the field. I’m worrying about the guys we have here, my teammates and how I can be great on and off the field.”

Smith-Schuster already senses a better vibe in the locker room even if the players have been together just a few days.

“The chemistry is on point,” he said. “We don’t really have … everyone is on the same page and communicating. There is no drama in our locker room.”

As a pseudo elder statesman at his position, Smith-Schuster said he won’t change his approach to the game. He will be as talkative and upbeat as ever.

“I’m just vocal. That’s how I am,” he said. “There’s no need for me to go out of my way and yell at the guys. We’re all adults here. Everyone works. Everyone has a voice in the room. It’s not just mine.”

Smith-Schuster’s approach already has rubbed off on some of team’s newcomers, players who might have the advantage in age but not NFL experience.

“I’m older than JuJu, but I look up to JuJu,” rookie Diontae Johnson said. “He’s the one I leach onto because he has been successful, and I am trying to follow in his footsteps right now, trying to get my game going and trying to soak up as much information as I can from him.”