Dynasty Price Check: JuJu Smith-Schuster

February 28, 2020

Is Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster a riser or faller in dynasty fantasy football leagues for 2020? Dom Petrillo does a price check to see if Smith-Schuster is a buy-low trade candidate.

What a difference a year can make. This time last season, JuJu Smith-Schuster was a first-round dynasty draft pick. Antonio Brown was gone and he was going to be the next great receiver developed by the Pittsburgh Steelers.

After a season of disappointment, it is time to take a look at the new reality. Is he still a first-round pick? How far has he fallen from grace? Is he actually less attractive than, gulp, Nelson Agholor? OK, that was a little too far. But now that the luster is fading from him, where should we take him in dynasty startup drafts?

Rookie phenoms like D.K. Metcalf and A.J. Brown have made their presence known. More rookies are set to come in this season to provide even more competition. Smith-Schuster is not done by any means, but he is certainly getting passed by as others continue to perform. Who knows? Maybe with Ben Roethlisberger coming back and Juju healthy, we can write 2019 off as a one-season blip on the radar of a great career. But with Big Ben not getting any younger, we don’t know how much longer the Steelers will be able to stay away from Mason Rudolph taking over full-time. Oh, the humanity of it all.

Profile

Team: Pittsburgh Steelers
College: USC
Age: 23
Height: 6'1"
Weight: 215 lb

Life Moves Fast

In 2019, Juju Smith-Schuster was considered an elite prospect in dynasty fantasy drafts. He was being taken as the fourth WR off the board at pick 1.07. Things could not have looked brighter coming off a stellar 2018 season.

After the 2018 season in which JuJu caught 111 passes for 1,426 yards and seven touchdowns, the loss of Antonio Brown did not seem to matter much to those surrounding the team. In the next-man-up mentality of the NFL, it was assumed things were fine. Injuries to Smith-Schuster as well as Big Ben dashed those hopes and dreams for fantasy owners.

In a major swing in the other direction for his prospects, Smith-Schuster played in only 12 games due to injury. But even the four fewer games did not account for the total collapse of his stats. In those 12 games, he only managed 42 receptions for 553 yards and only three touchdowns. Elite receivers are not supposed to be dependent on their quarterback. Players like Michael Thomas and others have thrived despite having different signal-callers throwing them the ball. If JuJu wants to take the step up to that level, he will need to prove he can do the same. Otherwise, it will be a long tenure on your bench after the imminent retirement of Ben Roethlisberger.

Price Check

Due to the disaster which was 2019, the price of Smith-Schuster will also clearly take a dive. Whether it be as significant as expected is another matter. Certainly, he will not be in the first round any longer. But he may still sneak into the back end of the second round. It is tough to deny his talent, and many will consider 2019 a lost season due to the quarterback questions in Pittsburgh being what they were all season. Another factor working in his favor is his age. He is still only 23 years old and his best days are still ahead.

Running backs fall off a proverbial cliff at age 30. When it comes to wide receivers, they do not truly hit their strides, generally, until age 27. As they say, the further away from the line of scrimmage a player gets, the more time it takes for them to adjust to NFL games. This means in his fourth season, it is a safe bet JuJu will have a comeback season. With this said, getting him in the late second or even the third round is a great buying opportunity in startup drafts. If you are in an existing dynasty league and you have a nervous owner, make an offer. If you can get him in exchange for a running back, who will undoubtedly have a shorter shelf life, don't hesitate. His price may never be lower than it is right now.

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