Steelers 2-a-days: Can Tuzar Skipper make an impact? JuJu Smith-Schuster in a contract year
Editor’s note: Leading up to a unique Pittsburgh Steelers training camp staged at Heinz Field this year, the Tribune-Review will be running through the team’s 90-man roster, assessing each player’s outlook for the 2020 season. The breakdown will go through the roster, in mostly alphabetical order, two per day, between June 9 and July 23, a day that was originally planned to be reporting day for players to camp. (Contract data courtesy spotrac.com)
Tuzar Skipper gets the strip-sack on his old college teammate!@steelers
?: #PITvsTEN on NBC pic.twitter.com/oenOo3dMlM
— NFL (@NFL) August 26, 2019
OLB TUZAR SKIPPER
Experience: Briefly played for Giants as a rookie during 2019 regular season
Contract status: $675,000 cap hit in 2020, under team control for at least 3 seasons
2020 outlook: Before Duck Mania, Skipper was the feel-good story amongst the undrafted rookie tryouts. He had a sack in each of the four preseason games last season, including two in the finale against Carolina. The 6-3, 246-pound Toledo alumnus had 8 ½ sacks as a college senior and stood out in pass-rushing situations during last year’s camp. Skipper made the 53-man roster at the start of Week 1, but the Steelers tried to sneak him through waivers before the opener and the New York Giants claimed him. After six games, though, the Giants cut him and the Steelers picked him back up.
Bottom line: Skipper can probably rush the passer well enough to belong on an NFL roster. But can he do the other things asked of an outside linebacker in the Steelers’ scheme? Perhaps more germane to his chances of making the 2020 roster, can he excel on special teams? If he can show that, with a dearth of depth at edge rusher, Skipper has a shot.
WR JUJU SMITH-SCHUSTER
Experience: 4th season
Contract status: $1.34 million cap hit in 2020, will be free agent after season
2020 outlook: A year ago at this time, Smith-Schuster was on top of the world. An internet sensation and living his best millennial life, he was coming off the best age-21 season in NFL history for a wide receiver: 111 catches for 1,426 yards and seven touchdowns. A repeat in 2019 could have earned Smith-Schuster a massive contract extension this year. But a disappointing 42-catch, 552-yard season marred by injury (four games missed) and an apparent inability to produce without quarterback Ben Roethlisberger and Hall of Fame receiving teammate Antonio Brown leave plenty of questions about Smith-Schuster’s viability as a legitimate No. 1 NFL receiver. Which was the fluke – 2018 or 2019?
Bottom line: He’s still just 23 years old, so the immense upside Smith-Schuster showed in 2018 remains there. The problem in regards to his longterm future with the Steelers is that Smith-Schuster and his agent surely will ask for top dollar amid the wide receivers market. The Steelers, at this point, are surely unwilling to give it to him – both because of the uncertainty of the pandemic and because of Smith-Schuster’s poor 2019. So, if he rebounds in 2020, why wouldn’t Smith-Schuster want to test the free-agent market? Complicating matters further is the possible emergence of Diontae Johnson as a No. 1 WR. It’s difficult to envision a scenario playing out in which this ends with Smith-Schuster in Pittsburgh over the long term.
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Chris Adamski is a TribLive reporter who has covered primarily the Pittsburgh Steelers since 2014 following two seasons on the Penn State football beat. A Western Pennsylvania native, he joined the Trib in 2012 after spending a decade covering Pittsburgh sports for other outlets. He can be reached at cadamski@triblive.com.
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