Jalen Ramsey On JuJu Smith-Schuster: He’s Not Antonio Brown
Jalen Ramsey is the best cornerback in football and he has earned the right to talk some trash when he deems necessary. The Rams play the Steelers this week and Ramsey is not sweating his duties to cover JuJu. While the former USC wide receiver questionable with a toe injury, it doesn’t sound like Ramsey is concerned about the matchup at all.
“No disrespect to him, he’s not Antonio Brown,” Ramsey said on Friday, via Lindsey Thiry of ESPN. “I matched up with Antonio for two years there, and that was a good battle. I held my own in those battles. Now, I’m going against a different person, a different body type, a different receiver a little bit. He can make plays. But I’m playing my game. I’m not really worried about it.”
Yikes. I can’t really say that Ramsey is wrong. JuJu is coming off a 2018 season with 111-receptions, 1,426-yards, and seven touchdowns. His 2019 numbers won’t come close to that. Smith-Schuster right now has 33 receptions for 459 yards and 3 touchdowns. Yeah, not close. Maybe having Antonio Brown on the field helped, huh.
You also have to factor in the absence of Ben Roethlisberger. This offense has not been the same with Mason Rudolph under center. Very understandable too. The whole Pittsburgh offense has taken a step back. It’s become obvious that Rudolph can’t be the guy long term. That’s not something you can really blame on JuJu.
Still, people forget that JuJu is still just 22-year-old. This guy is a superstar already. It’s a shame Big Ben won’t be on the field because it’s not a fair matchup without him. Nevertheless, I think the Steelers are more than happy with JuJu.
