The Pittsburgh Steelers made several moves this offseason to improve their roster. However, not all of those acquisitions have produced like the Steelers might’ve hoped. That may start with Jonnu Smith. The Steelers acquired Smith as part of the Minkah Fitzpatrick trade that also landed them Jalen Ramsey. While Ramsey has made plenty of plays, Smtih hasn’t. Mike Tomlin isn’t blaming that on opposing teams’ game plans, and he’s confident Smith will break through eventually.
“I don’t know if they’re doing anything specifically,” Tomlin said Tuesday during his weekly press conference via the team’s YouTube channel. “Sometimes, it’s just our planning. Jonnu is a capable member of our unit. It usually comes around. A number of weeks back, you guys were asking me about [Pat Freiermuth] and I gave you a similar response, so keep watching.”
Freiermuth experienced a serious drought to start this season. He only had eight catches through the first five games of this season. It was disappointing, especially because the Steelers were looking at Freiermuth as an answer to their lack of proven wide receivers behind DK Metcalf.
However, like Tomlin says, he expressed confidence that Freiermuth would eventually get going, and he was right. Following those comments Freiermuth exploded for a monster game against the Cincinnati Bengals, catching five passes for 111 yards and two touchdowns.
Perhaps Smith will experience a similar performance. The Steelers would love to see that out of him. He’s only caught 29 passes for 184 yards and two touchdowns this season. Compare that to what he did last year with the Miami Dolphins when he caught 88 passes for 884 yards and eight touchdowns and made his first Pro Bowl.
Unfortunately, Smith hasn’t been close to that same player with the Steelers. More often than not, he’s been a non-factor in their offense. For a team that doesn’t have a certified No. 2 option in the passing game, that’s not ideal.
However, Smith continues to get opportunities to prove himself. He out-snapped Freiermuth in the Steelers’ Week 12 loss to the Chicago Bears. Still, he didn’t do much, only catching three passes for 21 yards.
The Steelers play the Buffalo Bills this week, and they might need someone else to step up in the pass game. DK Metcalf suffered an ankle injury in Week 12 that could potentially limit him this week in practice. Smith’s time in Pittsburgh hasn’t been great, but one big game could change that.
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