RADIO
BALLER MOVE: Target Around ~85 Overall
CURRENT ADP:~104
ANALYSIS: Last season, his first as a pro, Diontae Johnson put on a show playing for a virtual quarterback-less Pittsburgh Steelers. That's not a joke. Johnson racked up all of 163.1 PPR points in his freshman year, which ranks 15th-best among rookie-wideouts since 2015 and beat the tallies of past stud-rookies such as Stefon Diggs, D.J. Moore, or Courtland Sutton.
Johnson did all that while being put in one of the worst possible situations in the whole NFL. The Steelers had incumbent WR1 JuJu Smith-Schuster, who wasn’t going anywhere. James Washington had a clear leg up on Johnson and the team signed Donte Moncrief. Johnson was a third-round rookie with very little fanfare that many, including myself, thought was severely overdrafted. He was a long shot to even contribute. Then, as if things couldn’t get worse, Ben Roethlisberger blew out his elbow in the second game of the season. He spent the rest of the season working with Mason Rudolph and Devlin Hodges, who are two of the worst quarterbacks to ever do it.
Johnson saw a catchable target on 72.8% of balls, good for 81st in the league. To put things in perspective, his 59 receptions for 680 yards were mighty impressive. Most impressive, however, was the fact that Johnson led the league in target separation at 2.39 yards. He only dropped just three passes all season. Simply put, Johnson is an elite technician at the wide receiver position.
At the time of this writing, with not much more than a week for the season to kick-off, Johnson is getting off draft boards as the WR40 with an overall ADP of 104. That feels a little too low for what he can offer as Pittsburgh's WR2. PFF projects Johnson to reach 175 PPR points over the year for a WR3 finish, although after what he showed as a rookie he definitely brings enough upside to enter the WR2 tier.
More Fantasy Football Values and Sleepers
Dallas Goedert (TE, PHI) - Week 7 Waiver Wire Pickups
BALLER MOVE: Add in All Leagues ROSTERED: 41% of Leagues ANALYSIS: If you consider yourself a good fantasy GM, this post won't surprise you. It made some sense to drop Goedert back in September's end when he fell down injured and was put in IR, but you'd be not very intelligent if you're not targeting... Read More
Jeremy McNichols (RB, TEN) - Week 7 Waiver Wire Pickups
BALLER MOVE: Add in 14+ Team Leagues ROSTERED: 1% of Leagues ANALYSIS: As a 2017 fifth-round pick by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers out of Boise State, it was a very slow start to the professional career of running back Jeremy McNichols, taking just two carries for four yards with no targets in the passing game... Read More
Royce Freeman (RB, DEN) - Week 7 Waiver Wire Pickups
BALLER MOVE: Add in 14+ Team Leagues ROSTERED: 2% of Leagues ANALYSIS: Melvin Gordon is currently dealing with strep-throat (could be worse) and potential discipline from his recent DUI arrest, and while he could return this week, that remains up in the air, which leaves a window of opportunity open for Royce Freeman to build... Read More
Anthony Firkser (TE, TEN) - Week 7 Waiver Wire Pickups
BALLER MOVE: Add in 14+ Team PPR Leagues ROSTERED: 0% of Leagues ANALYSIS: Jonnu Smith has been the man at tight end for the top-tier Tennessee Titans squad so far this season, with Anthony Firkser serving as second-fiddle during Smith's breakout season. However, with Smith being held out of the Titans' last contest against the... Read More
Zach Pascal (WR, IND) - Week 7 Waiver Wire Pickups
BALLER MOVE: Add in 14+ Team Leagues ROSTERED: 6% of Leagues ANALYSIS: Pascal has had an interesting season so far. He has had four games with four or fewer targets, but he has also had a two with seven or more. One of those better performances was last week when he caught four of seven... Read More
Download Our Free Draft App
Like what you see? You can download our free fantasy football mobile app for iPhone and Android which includes more draft sleepers at very position, 24x7 player news, notifications, injury alerts & daily articles.
Win Big With RotoBaller
Be sure to also check out all of our other daily fantasy football articles and analysis to help you set those winning lineups, including this new RotoBaller YouTube video:Check out RotoBaller's famous fantasy football draft sleepers and waiver wire pickups list, updated regularly!
