JuJu Smith-Schuster will play a big role in Patriots’ offense

Fresh off his Super Bowl win with the Chiefs, JuJu is going to a Patriots offense guided by coordinator Bill O’Brien.

Fomer USC Trojan receiver JuJu Smith Schuster hauled in 172 catches, 2,348 yards and 15 touchdowns his first two NFL seasons before injuries started to take their toll.

When healthy, Smith-Schuster still was a productive player, but he appeared in only 33 of a possible 51 games between 2019 and 2021. This, in part, contributed to his departure from Pittsburgh in 2022; he went on to spend his sixth NFL season with the Kansas City Chiefs.

Between his stints in Pittsburgh and Kansas City, Smith-Schuster has appeared in a combined 85 regular season and playoff games, including a Super Bowl win with Kansas City last season. He has caught a total of 432 passes for 5,065 yards and 31 touchdowns in the pros.

He joins a New England Patriot offense that was “middle of the pack” in 2022. Quarterback Mac Jones had a sophomore-slump season. New England averaged just 208 passing yards (20th in NFL), 106.6 rushing yards (24th), 314.6 total yards (26th), and 21.4 points per game (17th) last season.

JuJu’s potential in the Bill O’Brien-led Patriots offense remains to be seen, but Smith-Schuster has already shown what his peak can be. He did this when he caught 111 passes for 1,426 yards and seven touchdowns in his second season with the Steelers.

The Patriots have a wide receiver core of DeVante Parker, Kendrick Bourne, and second-season speedster Tyquan Thornton along with Smith-Schuster.

The tight ends will also be heavily used. The Pats have a two-tight end set of Mike Geiscki and Hunter Henry for Mac Jones and the New England offense. In addition to that the Patriots drafted LSU receiver Kayshon Boutte and Liberty receiver Demario Douglas

I expect JuJu Smith-Schuster to be the safety blanket for Jones on third down and medium and a threat in the red zone for the Patriots.

[lawrence-auto-related count=1 tag=696092113]