Juju Smith-Schuster didn’t enter the NFL with the objective of being a job participant. His sophomore season at Southern California, he hauled in 89 passes for 1,454 yards and 10 touchdowns on a disappointing 8-6 group. The subsequent season, the Trojans went 10-3 and gained the Rose Bowl. His yards and receptions totals weren’t as excessive as they had been the earlier years however he nonetheless caught 10 touchdowns.

Seven years after his closing collegiate season in Los Angeles, Smith-Schuster’s profession was going within the incorrect route when the Chiefs signed him previous to the 2022 season. Smith-Schuster didn’t carry out lately as he did at USC or early in his NFL profession, however the passes he hauled in throughout Sunday’s Tremendous Bowl proved essential to the Chiefs’ second-half push to win Tremendous Bowl LVII.

A promising early profession

Smith-Schuster was thought of a particular athlete when the Pittsburgh Steelers chosen him within the second spherical of the 2017 NFL Draft. At first, he was every part that the wide-receiver manufacturing unit needed in a participant.

Throughout his rookie season, he averaged 15.8 yards per reception and caught seven landing passes. Smith-Schuster didn’t even flip 21 years outdated till Week 12 of the 2017 season, and was taught how one can drive by teammate Alejandro Villanueva. Nonetheless, Smith-Schuster was a big contributor to the Steelers’ offense. The next season he caught 111 passes for 1,426 yards, main the Steelers in each classes whereas Antonio Brown was nonetheless reliable till the ultimate week of that season.

The Steelers had been via with Brown after they traded him to the then-Oakland Raiders in 2019, so Smith-Schuster was alleged to assume the function as their No. 1. That’s when accidents started to have an effect on his profession.

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A history of unfortunate injuries

In both 2017 and 2018, Smith-Schuster scored touchdowns on 97-yard plays, in which he did the overwhelming majority of the work. At 215 pounds, that kind of playmaker is supposed to be a perennial All-Pro. In 2019 he went into concussion protocol, but a knee injury would also begin to hamper him. He played every game in 2020 but averaged less than nine yards per reception.

Three years after totaling 1,400-plus receiving yards, he signed a one-year deal with the Steelers for one-year $8 million in 2021. That season he only played in five games due to a shoulder injury. Prior to the 2022 season, Smith signed a one-year $10.75 million with the Chiefs that guaranteed him lower than $3 million.

Damage value Smith-Schuster three video games in 2022, however he nonetheless totaled 933 receiving yards on 12 yards per catch — his highest common since 2019. Then late in Sunday’s Tremendous Bowl, Patrick Mahomes used Smith-Schuster as a go-to receiver to drag out the victory.

Of the seven passes that Smith-Schuster caught within the recreation, 4 of them got here within the fourth quarter. The primary three performs of that quarter, Smith-Schuster caught three consecutive passes, totaling 30 yards and two of these catches went for first downs. His closing contribution? Eagles’ defensive again James Bradberry getting known as for a holding Smith-Schuster on the Chiefs’ closing drive.

Possibly Smith-Schuster won’t ever take a go 90-plus yards to the home ever once more. It’s unlucky to say that a few 26-year-old, however this season was the primary through which his longest reception went for greater than 31 yards since 2019.

No matter what occurs with the remainder of Smith-Schuster’s profession, he proved that he can tilt the most important recreation within the sport if his quantity known as.