RADIO
The Pittsburgh Steelers are the only team in the NFL that roster two players who are consistently ranked within the top-10 overall in fantasy. Both running back Le’Veon Bell and wide receiver Antonio Brown are at the very top of their position and with quarterback Ben Roethlisberger under center, there’s an argument to be made that this is the best offensive trio in football.
Offseason Acquisitions: RB DeAngelo Williams, WR Sammy Coates, TE Jesse James
No Longer on the Roster: WR Lance Moore
Editor’s Note: If you’re looking for a new, awesome, highly customizable and free option for year-round commissioner & dynasty leagues, something more capable than Yahoo, better looking than CBS, and built from the ground up with fantasy football in mind, play free fantasy football with our friends at Fleaflicker. Sign up your league on Fleaflicker, and get a Full Season Premium Subscription for FREE."
Quarterback
Ben Roethlisberger is coming off of a tremendous year in which he racked up 4,952 yards and 32 touchdowns with a completion percentage of 67.1%. Those numbers are all up from his 2013 line, which was almost as impressive. Those are all career highs for Big Ben, and a sign that the rift between him and offensive coordinator Todd Haley is a thing of the past. He finished 2014 as the fifth-best fantasy quarterback, with just eight fewer points than Peyton Manning and only 17 fewer than Russell Wilson.
The biggest knock on Roethlisberger has been the notion that he can’t stay healthy for a full season. One of the biggest reasons as to why he’s always been banged up was the fact the offensive line used to be abysmal. Now that Big Ben has strung together two consecutive seasons of playing all 16 games, it’s safe to say that the O-line has improved immensely. A few offseasons of beefing up the protection has turned a negative into a positive.
Having worked out a mutually beneficial relationship with Todd Haley and staying healthy for a full two seasons, Roethlisberger should be able to produce another top-notch fantasy season in 2015. It’s tough to claim he’s going to have another year of almost 5,000 yards, but that doesn’t mean he doesn’t belong in the conversation with the likes of Matt Ryan and Cam Newton. After the top four fantasy quarterbacks (Aaron Rodgers, Andrew Luck, Russell Wilson, and Peyton Manning), you can make a case for any order in the next tier. For me, that tier shakes out as Roethlisberger, Ryan, Newton, and Drew Brees (I understand Brees is usually ranked much higher than that, I just happen to be fairly low on him this year).
As I said before, Roethlisberger finished 2014 only seven fantasy points behind Peyton Manning, yet there’s a two or three round difference in their ADP. That’s not to say Big Ben should be going higher, but rather that he could easily be the better value pick. It’s not like there’s any reason to believe the last two years were a fluke either, as Roethlisberger ranked in the top-10 in pass attempts in each. In fact, he’s actually trended upward, finishing ninth in 2013 with 584 and fourth in 2014 with 608. In short, Roethlisberger should continue to be a reliable fantasy option going forward.
Wide Receivers
I’ll say it: I love Antonio Brown.
Over the last two seasons, Antonio Brown has emerged as one of the best wide receivers in all of football. He’s finished in the top two in targets, receptions, and receiving yards over that span with his numbers actually increasing from 2013 to 2014. His 2014 line of 1,698 yards, 13 touchdowns, and 129 receptions on 182 targets was tops in the league among fantasy wide receivers. He’s a stud who is only getting better.
Let’s face it, by now you’re already privy to how good Antonio Brown can be. Me telling you how much I love him isn’t going to change anything. But what I can do for you is analyze his draft value as a first-round pick. In a year in which the first five running backs all have legitimate claims to the number one overall spot, there’s a lot of uncertainty from the sixth pick down. The injury to Arian Foster has only made matters even more confusing, as we’re left with a whole bunch of running backs with a massive amount of uncertainty surrounding them. It’s for that reason that I would advocate taking Antonio Brown at number six overall.
Barring injury, Brown isn’t going to hurt you in the first round, at least not to the degree that an unknown running back can. The top wide receivers have always been more consistent than the low-end RB1s anyway and when you’re talking about the best fantasy receiver in football, it doesn’t get much safer than Antonio Brown. Taking a wide receiver in the first round obviously has its risks since you’ll have to hoard some late-round running backs and hope you hit a home run, but it’s certainly doable. Just let the draft come to you and plan accordingly. If you’re playing in a PPR league, Brown’s value skyrockets even further.
Earlier this offseason wide receiver Martavis Bryant was being talked up as a trendy sleeper given his impressive rookie campaign. Bryant finished the year with 549 yards and eight touchdowns, but the more interesting piece of info is how he finished in relation to second-year receiver Markus Wheaton. Wheaton finished with 644 yards, which, to the untrained eye, might be more impressive. The difference, however, is that Bryant’s 549 yards came in six fewer games, 38 less targets, and half the amount of receptions. Bryant simply outplayed Wheaton and the expectation was that he’d be the automatic number two receiver for the Steelers.
Flash forward to August 2015 and quarterback Ben Roethlisberger has begun talking up Markus Wheaton as the team’s breakout candidate for 2015. The Steelers are also listing Wheaton ahead of Bryant on the depth chart as Bryant recovers from minor elbow surgery. All of this causes some concern for Bryant’s status as a sleeper, but I think it’s a bit early to jump off the bandwagon. Historically, teammates are usually unreliable sources when it comes to evaluating fantasy production so I wouldn’t read too much into Ben’s comments. It’s the usage and the elbow surgery we should worry about. All things considered, Bryant’s ADP should take a hit but I still like him as a WR3/flex candidate for the upcoming season.
Running Backs
If it weren’t for that pesky suspension Le’Veon Bell would be locked in as the number one fantasy running back for 2015. Luckily, Bell did manage to get a game shaved off so he’s currently slated to miss the first two games of the season. That being said, he’s still in the mix for the top spot.
The talent and usage are certainly there as Bell is only entering his third year and was an absolute beast in 2014. His 1,361 rushing yards and eight touchdowns were further boosted by his 83 receptions and 854 receiving yards. That adds up to 373 touches and 2,215 total yards. The only running backs with a similar usage-to-production ratio were DeMarco Murray and Matt Forte. That’s good company for a running back who’s only been in the league for two seasons.
Talent and numbers aside, it will always come back to the suspension with Bell. Two games isn’t a whole lot but no matter where you select him you’ll have to plan accordingly. A solid strategy to consider in drafting Bell would be to reach for backup DeAngelo Williams a round early and grab yourself a solid RB3. That would give you some flexibility during the first two weeks without Bell as you’d have both the presumed backup and a decent RB that could potentially start for you at flex anyway.
Another key component to keep in mind when drafting a suspended (or injured) player is to only build your team around one of these guys. Taking a player you know is guaranteed to miss some time is a risk you shouldn’t double down on. As an example, you shouldn’t pair Le’Veon Bell with Tom Brady. You’d have to use extra roster spots on backups and you’d be starting the year at a significant disadvantage. I would say the same for the likes of injured the Arian Foster and the suspended LeGarrette Blount. I've been going back and forth between Le’Veon Bell and Adrian Peterson as my number one player overall, but it’s really a matter of whether or not you feel like dealing with the suspension.
Speaking of the aforementioned DeAngelo Williams, he joins a Pittsburgh team that has clearly rejuvenated it’s run game. DeAngelo holds significant value as a handcuff given his talent and the time Bell is already expected to miss. There’s some chatter that the Steelers might use a committee in Bell’s absence but Williams has shown he’s talented enough to handle a full workload, albeit to a much less productive degree. He’s not a great runner at this stage of his career, nor is he always healthy, but he’s certainly fantasy-relevant given the circumstances.
The last running back of note on this team is second year player Dri Archer. At just 5'8" and 173 pounds, Archer is a small guy who possesses lightning speed. He’s in line to see a lot of play on special teams, but the Steelers will likely shift him in and out at both running back and wide receiver. I’d keep an eye on him as someone who could develop into Darren Sproles-lite and might even challenge DeAngelo Williams for backup/replacement duty. He doesn’t warrant a roster spot just yet, but keep an eye on his development in the preseason and early stages of the regular season.
Tight Ends
Jesse James might be the future replacement for veteran tight end Heath Miller, but that's not going to be relevant right now. However, Miller has faded in and out of fantasy relevance over the years and doesn’t possess a ton of upside for 2015. He finished last season with 761 yards on 66 receptions but when you consider the options available ahead of him, he’s just not all that exciting. He’s likely going to outplay some of the trendier names like Owen Daniels and Larry Donnell every few weeks or so, but good luck figuring out when those weeks are. He’s a bye week fill-in who could end up being a fantasy starter, just don’t go out of your way to roster him at the beginning of the season.
Rookies
The Steelers selected a pair of offensive rookies in wide receiver Sammy Coates and tight end Jesse James in the 2015 NFL Draft. Coates looks to be an addition for depth when you consider his path to playing time is cluttered by the likes of Bryant, Wheaton, and the long forgotten Darrius Heyward-Bey.
Summary
As you can tell, the Steelers are another one of those more fantasy-relevant teams that require a beefier preview than some others. Given the trio of Roethlisberger, Brown, and Bell, they’re firmly in the upper tier of the most productive NFL offenses.
NFL & Fantasy Football Chat Room
[iflychat_embed id="c-0" hide_user_list="yes" hide_popup_chat="no" height="400px"]
