The New York Giants signed three receivers on Monday: Odell Beckham Jr., Braxton Berrios, and former Kansas City Chiefs, New England Patriots, and Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster. Smith-Schuster has not had more than 33 catches in a given season since 2022, and he’s coming off his second stint with Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs.
This is Smith-Schuster’s 10th season in the NFL, but he’s only 29 years of age. He and the other two receivers signed this week, inking a veteran-minimum one-year, $1.3-million deal with no guaranteed money; suffice it to say, Smith-Schuster is going to have to earn his roster spot in a wide receiver room with a lot of competition.
Smith-Schuster is vying for slot snaps in a wide receiver room that just added Calvin Austin III after the departure of Wan’Dale Robinson in the offseason. Still, with Malik Nabers recovering from his knee injury, there’s room on the roster for a player like mith-Schuster to earn a spot in training camp.
What JuJu offers
(JuJu Smith-Schuster is No. 9)
The veteran receiver does not win with vertical speed or superior athletic traits. He’s not going to create ample separation against man coverage through his explosiveness in and out of breaks, nor will he take the top off of defenses, but he still provides value — especially for an offense that is designed by Greg Roman and Matt Nagy, with whom Smith-Schuster is very familiar.
(top of screen, No. 1)
Smith-Schuster is a savvy and aware overall player with good hands. Mahomes connected with him on this third-and-3 against the Giants last season; fake stalk block on the wheel while operating underneath Dane Belton (24) to provide easy access for Mahomes to convert the first down. This is a well-designed play by Andy Reid and Nagy, and the receiver plucks the football out of the air to ensure the conversion.
(top of screen, No. 3)
Smith-Schuster is the number three receiver (innermost) to the field side, and Isiah Pacheco (10) operates as the fast four before the snap to expand the defense horizontally. That motion forced the defender on the line of scrimmage, over the B-Gap, to drop to a depth to eliminate the No. 2 as well, which gave Smith-Schuster access inside, and the veteran receiver sat right in the soft spot.
Smith-Schuster is incredibly spatially aware as a receiver and does a great job finding space in the short-intermediate parts of the field. This allowed the Chiefs to run effectively two-man RPO concepts:
(top of screen)
This is a simple stick/flat concept that puts the cornerback in conflict, and Smith-Schuster easily finds space because the linebackers are drawn to the mesh point. Nagy and Reid design this very well against the defensive two-high structure of the Titans, but Smith-Schuster also understands how/when to break back to the quarterback to maximize the play’s potential to keep the chains moving.
(top of screen, No. 2)
Washington blows the coverage here in the middle of the field, but Smith-Schuster still saw the coverage mishap and found a pocket in the defense away from Washington defenders that allowed Mahomes to locate him over the middle of the field. He did not run into coverage; he sat — this is a trait that I believe will really assist Jaxson Dart with his penchant to extend plays.
Here are some plays of JuJu Smith-Schuster extending plays to assist his quarterbacks; again, this trait really would have meshed with Dart last season, and still should as an effective tough option who blocks out of the slot.
(bottom slot; bottom No. 1)
In both plays, we see Smith-Schuster understand the defensive coverage and the flow of his quarterback’s to allow them to deliver a catchable football that does not lead the offense into a precarious turnover-worthy situation.
Smith-Schuster is a smart player, overall, with good processing, but it’s not limited to his ability to find space as a route runner. He is also wise with the football in his hands; he maximizes yards after the catch and leverages good vision that allows his blocks to manifest.
The first play was a third-and-18 conversion against the Lions. Not only is his vision and ability to set up blocks very good, but he’s a tough runner who consistently breaks through arm tackles and isn’t exactly easy to bring down to the deck, albeit his athletic ability does make him easier to track down.
The reasons listed above are enough to allow Smith-Schuster to compete for a roster spot, but — if he does make the team — his ability to block will likely be the defining factor. Smith-Schuster is a physical presence in the slot who can mix it up, understands angles, and hustles his backside off to block; this is an endearing trait that meshes perfectly with Roman’s philosophy.
Smith-Schuster takes out Aiden Hutchinson (97) on the inside during this fourth-and-one. It’s an impactful way to finish a block after the edge defender landed an impressive arm-over move against the tackle. The Chiefs converted, and the play was successful. Here are several other plays of Smith-Schuster throwing blocks for his offesnse:
He’s also an excellent stalk blocker on screens:
Final thoughts
It’s not a guarantee that Smith-Schuster makes the roster. He’s not the most spry, nor is he overly explosive, but he offers savviness in his routes, reliability in the short- to intermediate parts of the field, toughness, excellent blocking ability, and experience with Nagy that could propel him into the final 53 with a good training camp.