Eric Ebron and JuJu Smith-Schuster deserve applause from Steelers fanbase

Many people may be questioning the value of  blockbuster free agent Eric Ebron and #1 WR JuJu Smith-Schuster

I am going to start this off by saying that neither of them is the best at their position in the league. However, they are some of Ben’s most reliable weapons on this Steelers team filled with young talent. Week 8 against the favored Baltimore Ravens showed me this in spades. I can’t stress enough how important these two players are in the big moments.

JuJu led the team in receiving yards while Eric Ebron was second. They have combined for 35 1st downs, while young talents Diontae Johnson and Chase Claypool combined for 29 1st downs. This may seem like a pretty even number, however situationally it isn’t the case. In the big moments, like in the 4th quarter of the Ravens game, JuJu and Ebron were Ben’s top two targets.

Against Houston, when the wide receivers weren’t able to get much going, Eric Ebron saved the day in the passing game. Time and time again late in games you see JuJu and Ebron extending drives and keeping Ben on the field until they can find the endzone. It has to do with their ability to catch the ball. Not surprisingly, they are the top two receivers in catch % for the Steelers this season.

JuJu has a catch % of 78% on the season and Ebron has a catch % of 70.3% on the season. Claypool has a catch % of 67.6% and Johnson has a rather poor catch % of 56.8% on the season. What makes these numbers even more impressive is the fact that JuJu and Ebron are primarily combat-catch guys. You very rarely see Claypool getting the ball in contested situations and when he does, it is on a deep pass and ends either in pass-interference on the defense or a drop. Both JuJu and Ebron are constantly making short contested receptions and they fight for every yard they can get after the catch while taking good care of the ball.

This isn’t a knock on any of the other pass-catchers on this squad. Both Johnson and Claypool are incredibly talented and they have bright futures for the Pittsburgh Steelers. Yet, when the game is on the line you will more than likely see Ben looking in the direction of his two veteran presences downfield. Seeing them not get looked at much throughout the majority of the game, yet be called upon in the big moments while they deliver is really a testament to the type of players they are. They are fun and exciting players, that are consistent presences on the field whenever they are needed.

The fact you don’t hear about them getting upset or causing distractions off the field after seeing Ben look at Johnson and Claypool throughout a lot of these games until the big moments shows that they aren’t the divas that the media has tried to make them out to be with Ebron’s time from Detroit and JuJu’s active social media presence.

I firmly believe the Steelers should resign JuJu this season while patting themselves on the back for giving them their most consistent presence at tight end since Heath Miller. Heath wasn’t the athlete that Ebron is, and while Ebron isn’t as good of a blocker, he is making a living off of being able to make the 6, 7, or 11-yard catch for the first down that Heath did in the big moments.

Pittsburgh should also be happy at the bargain they are getting. Ebron is the 19th most expensive tight end in the league as of now. He is currently only the 15th most targeted TE in the league. He is 13th in receiving yards, tied for 14th in receiving touchdowns, and is rated as the 10th best TE in the league by Lineups.com. He isn’t the premier player at the position. But the Steelers are paying less for him than other teams are paying for guys like Tyler Higbee, Jesse James, C.J. Uzomah, and even the Ravens’ second tight end Nick Boyle.

I’ve already written about how great of a wide receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster has been for the Pittsburgh Steelers this season. It feels like these two established stars at their positions won’t be talked about as much until later in the season or even in the playoffs where they see even more big moments and thus, more chances to prove they are the backbone of this group of pass-catchers.