Steelers Fantasy Guide: Where Do the Steelers Fit On Your Fantasy Team This Season?

It’s officially August. Training camp is underway, and the NFL preseason is here! Kickoff weekend will be here before you know it, and that means fantasy leagues will be starting up pretty quickly. Fantasy football is a fun past time and immerse yourself into the game even more. Every August, my family has a cookout, has some drinks, and drafts their fantasy teams in person. It has become a fun tradition!

In the spirit of fantasy football’s return, I’m giving my thoughts on where Steelers players might fit into a fantasy team this season.

Starters

These players are, in my opinion, viable starters in your fantasy lineup each week. I am predicting they will be consistently productive throughout the season.

DK Metcalf

This one is obvious, right? He’s new to the team, but DK is a freak of an athlete. A rare combination of size and speed, I expect DK to put up big numbers this season with Aaron Rodgers throwing him the football. Reports have stated he looks great in camp, and he is the unquestioned WR1 in Pittsburgh. He should see plenty of targets, and I predict for him to capitalize on the majority of them. Snag him up as a starting WR on your team if he’s available and, in your opinion, is the best left on the draft board.

Kaleb Johnson

I’m taking a big swing with this one, but I am expecting big things from this rookie. From all reports, he fits Arthur Smith’s zone run scheme very well. He was productive at Iowa on an offense that struggled during his tenure there. He has looked great so far at camp, running hard and showing promising flashes. While Jaylen Warren will certainly get some time in the backfield as well, I think Kaleb Johnson is likely the starter by the end of the season. I would not be surprised if he surpassed the 1,000 yard mark, but I suppose only time will tell. I also think his performance to some degree depends on the performance of the offensive line, which is still a bit of a question mark. It’s definitely an area of potential concern for this team.

Would he be my number 1 choice at running back? Nope. I do think, however, that taking a swing at him as your RB2 or flex and starting him on Sundays is possible. I think it depends on how the individual fantasy draft shakes out and how gutsy you’re feeling.

Steelers Defense

TJ Watt, Jalen Ramsey, Joey Porter, Jr., Darius Slay, Alex Highsmith, Payton Wilson, Patrick Queen, Cam Heyward. Enough said. Throwing rookies like Jack Sawyer and Derrick Harmon into the mix only excites me more to watch this crew perform on Sundays. Harmon has looked fantastic through camp thus far by all reports I’ve seen. TJ Watt is TJ Watt, but he is also coming off of a huge contract extension. This has to make him feel valued by the organization, and he showed up to camp energized and ready to put the work in. It’s time to show the world why Pittsburgh paid him $1 million more per year than Myles Garrett.

I expect this defense to be much better than last year, especially along the defensive line and in the secondary. I would pick them up and start them on a weekly basis, and I would be shocked if they were a disappointment in terms of their performance.

Chris Boswell

After his performance last year, Boz really makes a case for being the top kicker in the NFL. As long as the Steelers can get themselves within field goal range and score points, Boswell is not going to disappoint. He’s an easy choice for a starting kicker. It’s just a kicker, I know, but do you remember Week 1 against the Falcons last year when he scored all 18 points on the way to a Steelers victory? For many, I’m sure that 20+ fantasy point performance made a difference. Snag him if you can. You never know when your kicker will have a crazy week and be the difference between a win and a loss for your squad.

Backups

I view these players as being solid backups and acceptable starters if you needed to throw them into the mix, but they wouldn’t be a top priority for my starting lineup. I would expect good production from these players, but perhaps they are a little less consistent or produce a little less than those in the starters camp.

Pat Freiermuth

The case could be made for Muth as a starting tight end on many fantasy manager’s rosters. He is a big, athletic guy capable of catching the football. His numbers were good this past season (65 catches for 653 yards and 7 TDs), but there were other tight ends who were arguably more productive. Brock Bowers and George Kittle come to mind. I am hopeful that Pat has a more productive year with more targets over the middle from QB Aaron Rodgers, but it’s hard to put faith in that given the way the Steelers have used him (or not used him) over the past several seasons. I also am curious to see how the addition of Jonnu Smith will affect Muth’s production. As much as I want to place him on the starters list and think an argument could be made for that, I personally feel more comfortable with him as a very solid backup tight end.

Aaron Rodgers

A case could be made for Aaron Rodgers as a starter on a fantasy team. Even playing for the trainwreck of an organization New York Jets over the past few seasons, Rodgers put up decent numbers. Last year, he threw for 3,897 yards, 28 touchdowns, and 11 interceptions. He completed 63% of his passes. At 41 years old, the guy can still play. But can he still play at the level of the NFL’s current elite like Josh Allen and Joe Burrow?

Possibly. For me, however, there are some question marks surrounding the likelihood of this possibility. He will be 42 years old in December, and his body has endured two decades of professional football. With that being said, age is just a number, and quarterbacks have consistently been playing into their 40s in recent years. Brady brought home a ring at 43. I believe he has placed himself into a better situation by leaving New York, but Rodgers has to learn a new offense this season and build chemistry with his new teammates. He needs his offensive line to offer him protection, and it is still unknown how solid that line will be. I would absolutely take him as my QB2 comfortably, and I think he will play well. I’m just not absolutely sure he will play at the level of Lamar, Allen, and company.

Jaylen Warren

I love myself some Jaylen Warren. He runs with attitude, and he’s fun to watch. In my opinion, he’s a great change of pace back. Despite the additions of Kenneth Gainwell and 3rd round pick Kaleb Johnson, Warren will likely still get his fair share of touches. I wouldn’t hesitate at all to draft him and use him as a flex or a bench RB. While I don’t predict him to be as productive as the elite backs of the league, barring injury, he is a solid and dependable player. He’s likely to produce some fantasy points each week.

Sleepers

For me, these are guys that someone could take a flyer on in later rounds and have it pay off big time. They are more of a risk, and expectations for them are lower compared to fantasy starters. Still, these guys could make the difference for a squad if they are highly productive despite being taken in the later rounds.

Jonnu Smith

I wrote an article on Smith a while back shortly after the Steelers acquired him. There was lots of noise surrounding the addition of Jalen Ramsey, but I think Jonnu Smith has a much bigger impact on this offense than many are expecting. I think Pat Freiermuth is still the starting end, but I think Smith will get plenty of targets. He’s a big, athletic guy that will be a great target for Aaron Rodgers.

He’s someone to think about snagging in the later rounds of the draft. Taking a flyer on this guy could pay dividends and result in a very reliable flex player.

Roman Wilson

It’s been a talking point throughout the offseason following the Pickens trade. Who will line up opposite DK Metcalf? The Steelers to this point have not made any flashy moves to bring in another wide receiver. While that move is still possible, I think part of why the Steelers were comfortable trading Pickens was due to their comfort level with the other rostered receivers. I like Calvin Austin III. I know there are a lot of people who believe he will line up at WR2. But I have a feeling about Roman Wilson. He’s a bit larger than Austin, and he has a pedigree coming from the University of Michigan. While we didn’t see him on the field last season, I think there’s a chance he shows some great flashes this year. I predict him to be #2 on the depth chart at some point this season behind DK Metcalf.

While I could be way off with this one, I think it might be worth drafting Wilson in the later rounds of a fantasy draft and seeing what happens. Worst case scenario, he can be traded away. Best case scenario, he’s a pleasantly surprising addition for fantasy managers.

Make sure to comment your thoughts below, and check out steelcurtainnetwork.com for more great Steelers content!