ESPN Analyst Pours Chilly Water Over Jonnu Smith’s Influence For Steelers: ‘Should not Ignore The Earlier Seven Seasons’

The addition of Jonnu Smith gives the Steelers arguably the deepest tight end room in the league, but as an afterthought to a larger trade. Jalen Ramsey drew the initial headlines, coming over from Miami, before we learned the Steelers shipped Minkah Fitzpatrick. We only learned later that day that the Dolphins also threw in Smith for minor draft compensation.

And that’s how we should view the trade, argues ESPN analyst Seth Walder. He did not think much of it overall, but particularly pushed back on the notion that Jonnu Smith played much of a role. At its heart, the trade was the Steelers swapping Fitzpatrick for Ramsey. That’s how most people will remember it, unless the tight end has some type of career year.

“Yes, Pittsburgh got an Arthur Smith favorite in Jonnu Smith, but I’d caution overrating that part,” he wrote for ESPN. “Jonnu Smith is a good YAC player coming off a career-best season in which he recorded 884 receiving yards, but we shouldn’t ignore the previous seven seasons of his career (including some with Coach Smith) that were not on that level.”

In addition to 884 yards on 88 catches, Smith caught eight touchdowns last season. But over his first seven seasons, he averaged 31 catches for 346 yards and three touchdowns. In the previous season, when playing under Steelers OC Arthur Smith in Atlanta, Smith caught 50 passes for 582 yards. Also under Smith in Tennessee in 2020, he caught 41 passes for 448 yards and eight touchdowns.

His time in New England is really the soft spot in his resume, but he didn’t fit what the Patriots wanted to do with him. Over two seasons there, Jonnu Smith caught just 55 passes for 539 yards and one touchdown. He only began to play a larger role with the Titans in his third season, when Smith took over as coordinator.

Jonnu Smith will turn 30 in August, but he looked dangerous running after the catch just last season. If the Steelers keep him in his wheelhouse, he can produce. But they won’t ask him to see the volume he had in Miami last year, facing 111 targets.

That’s because he has company in Pittsburgh, particularly in his own room. Now with the Steelers, Smith joins Pat Freiermuth, Darnell Washington, and Connor Heyward at tight end. Freiermuth himself caught seven touchdown passes just last season, with room for more.

What remains unclear is the Steelers’ plan for Jonnu Smith. They signed him to a new contract as part of the trade, so they obviously invested in him. They will be using him, but in what roles, and to what extent?

Given the Arthur Smith connection and his love for tight ends, many expect a lot of 12 and 13 personnel. That’s a reasonable assumption, but can the Steelers satisfy both Pat Freiermuth and Jonnu Smith? Even Darnell Washington was hoping for a bigger role in the passing game, but that seems unrealistic now.