Is it fair to call Steelers JuJu Smith-Schuster and James Conner ‘failures?’

The Pittsburgh Steelers offense has taken a massive dip this year, and some people are pointing the finger at JuJu Smith-Schuster and James Conner.

The Steelers offense in 2019 has been nothing short of disastrous. According to Team Rankings, Pittsburgh’s offense is currently 22nd in points per game, 29th in yards per game, 29th in rushing yards per game, and 25th in passing yards per game.

This is certainly a far cry from an offense that finished 4th in offensive yardage and 6th in scoring in 2018. Yesterday, an article was published by John Luciew of Penn Live titled “Steelers JuJu Smith-Schuster, James Conner are failing as ‘replacement’ stars: Analysis.”

But is it really fair to call them failures?

There are several things wrong with Pittsburgh’s offense, and both JuJu Smith-Schuster and JamesConner are at the center of misfortune this year.

For starters, the Steelers have played most of the season with backup quarterbacks. Ben Roethlisberger was injured less than a game-and-a-half into his 2019 campaign and was ruled out for the remainder season with surgery to repair his elbow.

Since then, Mason Rudolph and Devlin Hodges have been at the helm for Pittsburgh. As expected, it hasn’t always been pretty. Rudolph is a 24-year old former 3rd round draft choice, and Hodges is a 23-year old undrafted rookie. It’s reasonable to expect growing pains in the passing game.

As a result, JuJu’s numbers have taken a pretty drastic dip. He is on pace for just 109 targets this year as opposed to his 166 from just a season ago. However, his cate rate this year is actually about 4 percent higher than it was in 2019.

The Steelers offensive line has been excellent in terms of pass blocking. According to Football Outsiders, Pittsburgh’s unit is 1st in pass protection – allowing just 5 sacks on the season with an incredibly low 2.7 percent sack rate.

However, there hasn’t been a lot of running room along the Steelers offensive line. Football Outsiders ranks Pittsburgh’s offensive line just 29th in the league in run blocking. Their adjusted line yards are 4th worst in the league at 3.47 yards per rush, and 24 percent of their runs are stuffed at the line of scrimmage.

Obviously, we are disappointed so far with the production by JuJu Smith-Schuster and James Conner. But these dips aren’t unusual under these circumstances – even for great football players.

In 2016, when Martavis Bryant missed the entire season due to suspension, Antonio Brown saw a massive dip in production. His receiving yards dropped by 550 from the previous year, and his yards per reception were the worst they have been since becoming a starter (12.1). With Brown lacking a solid number two option across from him, he saw similar struggles – even with Ben Roethlisberger at the helm.

Le’Veon Bell is a perfect example of why a running back cannot succeed without proper blocking upfront. With the New York Jets offensive line ranking below Pittsburgh’s, Bell is averaging just 2.9 yards per carry on the season. His longest run of the year is just a 13-yard scamper.

It’s hard to point the finger at one or two specific players on the Steelers offense as there is plenty of blame to pass around. JuJu and James Conner are young players on an offense that is missing their franchise quarterback.

Perhaps they won’t end up being the players we thought they could. However, to say that they are failing as ‘replacements’ to Antonio Brown and Le’Veon Bell just isn’t fair, considering the circumstances.