Article

90 In 30: Steelers 2021 Training Camp Preview Series: Tyler Simmons, Sam Sloman, JuJu Smith-Schuster

By Dave Bryan

Posted on July 15, 2021 at 10:45 am

The Pittsburgh Steelers’ 2021 offseason practices concluded last week. Next up for the team is their annual training camp, which should get underway in the latter part of July. Ahead of training camp, we will preview the team’s 90-man roster three players at a time for you as part of a 30-post series. This Steelers 90-man roster preview that includes outlooks for each player goes alphabetically by last name to make it easy to follow along with.

The next three players we will preview today are Tyler Simmons, Sam Sloman, and JuJu Smith-Schuster.

WR Tyler Simmons — The Steelers signed Simmons to the offseason roster back in March after watching him participate in the Georgia pro day. Simmons, who went undrafted out of Georgia in the 2020, originally signed with the Houston Texans as an UDFA. A seldom-used player in college, Simmons caught 35 career passes for 438 yards and three touchdowns during his time at Georgia. He also returned nine punts for an average of 15.9 yards his senior season.

Outlook: With the depth that the Steelers have at the wide receiver position, Simmons doesn’t have much of a chance at all when it comes to making the team’s 53-man roster out of training camp and the preseason. He should see some limited playing time during the preseason, however, and possible even get a chance to return a punt or two and play some on special teams. Simmons will need an extremely impressive showing during the remainder of the offseason to warrant him being asked to sign to the practice squad.

K Sam Sloman — Sloman, who was signed to the Steelers offseason roster just a few weeks ago, was a former seventh-round pick of the Los Angeles Rams in 2020. He appeared in seven games as a rookie and made 10-of-13 field goal attempts with a long of 42 yards and went 23-of-26 on point-after-tries. A Miami of Ohio product, Sloman was 49-of-62 on field goal attempts in his college career. He also made 112 of his 115 extra point attempts in college as well. After being released by the Rams last season, Sloman was signed by the Tennessee Titans late in the season. He kicked the game-winner for the Titans as time expired in Week 17 and made both of his field-goal attempts, 47 and 37 yards, respectively, and all five extra points in the team’s victory over the Texans.

Outlook: Sloman was essentially signed by the Steelers to help limit the wear and tear on veteran incumbent kicker Chris Boswell. Sloman is not expected to much of a threat to Boswell during the remainder of the offseason unless the veteran has a miserable training camp and preseason. Sloman could wind up handling all the Steelers kicking duties in the team’s first preseason game so that the team can get a good look at him. Unless the Steelers decide to keep Sloman on an extended practice squad to start the season, the kicker will likely be out of Pittsburgh entirely come Week 1.

WR JuJu Smith-Schuster — Smith-Schuster, the Steelers former second-round draft pick out of USC, caught 97 passes for 831 yards and nine touchdowns in the 16 regular season games. In the team’s lone playoff game last season, he caught another 13 passes for 157 yards and a touchdown. His average depth of target in 2020 was just 5.8 yards, however. During the regular season, Smith-Schuster played 923 total offensive snaps and another 87 in the lone playoff game. He did a great of getting tough yards after the catch in 2020 and was also a more than adequate blocker. Unlike in his first three seasons, Smith-Schuster didn’t have many catches more than 15 yards down the field in 2020. He did, however, produce 16 explosive play receptions in 2020 and led the Steelers in that stat. The Steelers re-signed Smith-Schuster to essentially one-year contract earlier in the offseason.

Outlook: Smith-Schuster’s role in the Steelers offense shouldn’t change too much in 2021. While he might log more snaps on the outside than he did in 2020, Smith-Schuster remains the Steelers best slot receiver option once again. The Steelers will hopefully do a better job of getting passes to smith-Schuster further down the field in 2021 so that he can have the opportunity to deliver even more explosive plays. He should also be used quite frequently inside the red zone as well. While Smith-Schuster might not ultimately register 100 catches and 1,200 yards receiving in 2021, he still should be expected to have a solid season overall and could quite possibly lead the team in a few receiving statistics.

Previous Posts In Series

Related Items:2021 Training Camp, JuJu Smith-Schuster, Sam Sloman, Tyler Simmons

Steelers Depot

Recommended for you