5 Wide Receivers Who Drastically Outperformed Their Teammates in 2017

JuJu Smith-Schuster, Pittsburgh Steelers

Let's not get it twisted here: Antonio Brown is a better wide receiver than JuJu Smith-Schuster. There's no doubt about that. But with the metrics Smith-Schuster posted in 2017, it's pretty clear the Steelers have their second option locked down going forward.

Whenever Brown is on the field, you know that he's going to draw the majority of the attention from the opposing secondary. If a team has an acceptable alternative also on the field, that alternative can take advantage of the coverage and post some respectable numbers. In 2016, the Steelers didn't have that, leaving Brown as the only fantasy-relevant pass catcher on the team. Smith-Schuster filled that void, which should allow him to carry his second-half surge over into 2018.

Take a look at the metrics for Brown, Smith-Schuster, and Martavis Bryant in 2017. It was a relatively small sample for Smith-Schuster, but what he did in it matters.

There are a few key takeaways here.

First, Smith-Schuster easily outpaced Bryant's advanced analytics, meaning Smith-Schuster should be the guy who sits second in the target tree going forward (among Pittsburgh receivers). That can be a fantasy-relevant role, as we saw at times during Smith-Schuster's rookie season.

Second, it's possible the Steelers may not need to funnel such a grotesque target share Brown's way in the future. If they have a good secondary option -- which is what it looks like Smith-Schuster can be -- they don't need to force the ball into the blanket coverage hovering Brown's way.

It's worth noting that this didn't happen in 2017, though. From Week 8 (the game in which Smith-Schuster broke out) through Week 14 (the game before Brown got hurt), Smith-Schuster played four games. In those four, Brown's target market share was 31.7%, and Smith-Schuster's was 21.1%. That's still a huge number for Brown, and it would put a cap on Smith-Schuster's ceiling if they were to hold those marks in 2018. But with Smith-Schuster entering his age-22 season and Brown turning 30 in July, it's something to monitor in the first couple of games.

Finally, if Brown is forced to miss time in future seasons, Smith-Schuster's fantasy value could be elite. In the final three games (in which Brown played just 21 snaps before his injury), Smith-Schuster had 26.7% of the team's targets. His Target NEP per target was 0.94 -- even better than his full-season number -- despite not having Brown there to distract the defense. We should factor this upside into our valuations of Smith-Schuster for 2018 and beyond, knowing that his baseline is solid assuming Brown is healthy while his ceiling is massive should that not be the case.