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RotoBaller's Frankie Soler analyzes the Pittsburgh Steelers ahead of the 2016 fantasy football season.
This article continues off our team outlook series where we will breakdown each NFL team from a fantasy football perspective. We will cover the major changes on each team in the offseason and project what the team will do in the upcoming season. Let's start by taking a look at some offseason moves by the Steelers:
Offseason Acquisitions: Tight End Ladarius Green, Offseason Departures: Tight End Heath Miller, Wide Receiver Martavis Bryant(Suspended)
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Quarterback
Ben Roethlisberger is coming off a year in which he missed four games and was limited in several others over the course of the regular season. Even with his injury woes, Big Ben managed to put up solid numbers whenever he was on the field. That’s just it with Roethlisberger, the only drawback of his game is his tendency to take big hits and miss games because of it.
He’s often ranked in the 5-7 range at quarterback for 2016 and that’s right about where he should go in drafts. I wouldn’t be too worried about the suspension of Martavis Bryant cutting into his fantasy value simply because the team has a vast amount of weapons at their disposal. What they’ve lost in Bryant can be replicated by distributing the ball between newly acquired Ladarius Green and wide receiver replacements Markus Wheaton and Sammie Coates. Rostering a backup quarterback isn’t all that necessary but you might want to consider it when selecting the often injured Roethlisberger in the sixth or seventh round.
Running Backs
Another year, another questionable decision made by Le’Veon Bell. This time it isn’t even that Bell was caught smoking weed, it’s that he just flat out skipped his test. As it currently stands, Bell is expected to be suspended for the first four games of the season, cutting into his fantasy stock significantly. Prior to the suspension, we were looking at Bell as a top six draft pick. Now, however, Bell gets knocked down to the lower half of the first round, possibly even into the early second if you feel like you need to be more risk averse.
The tricky part about ranking Bell is that you have to consider selecting backup DeAngelo Williams as well. If you could guarantee that you’d be able to end up with Williams on your roster, Bell remains locked in as a first round draft choice. The risk of having to start some other untrustworthy back in addition to not having Bell’s handcuff in a year where he’s returning from major knee surgery makes things trickier.
For me, I’m willing to just select DeAngelo a round or two early to ensure I get him. That’s about the seventh round depending on your league format and size. I know there’s some concerns about DeAngelo being 33 but there are very few scenarios where not only is the handcuff as clear as day but the player in question has been stellar as recently as last year. Take advantage of the clarity that exists within the Steelers backfield and make sure you pony up to secure Bell's backup.
Wide Receivers
If you’ve ever read anything I’ve written about the Pittsburgh Steelers and/or Antonio Brown in the past, you’re well aware of my extravagant love affair with the man. I’ll spare you the intimate details and just tell you that the consensus ranking of Antonio as the number one overall pick in fantasy is very much justified. You’ve most certainly heard the phrase “you can’t win your draft with your first round pick but you can sure as hell lose it” and that ideology applies to selecting Brown that early. He’s become the perfect balance of safety and high scoring playmaking ability. Not only is he likely to be the number one player in fantasy but he’s also not really going to hurt you either. I get it if you’d prefer an RB due to scarcity, not going to argue with that viewpoint at all. Just don’t be afraid of hitching your team to a wide receiver at number one overall just because it’s a changing of the guard.
After Brown it gets a little less clear as far as Pittsburgh’s wideouts are concerned. The aforementioned Martavis Bryant is set to miss the entire season due to yet another marijuana violation. Initially, fantasy owners were excited at the prospect of scooping up Markus Wheaton but recent reports show that it might not be that easy. Second year receiver Sammie Coates showed some flashes of stardom in the playoffs last year and it’s being said that he’s having a tremendous offseason thus far. I think it’s worth passing on Wheaton at his current ADP as a 12th rounder and wait another round or two to grab Coates. That being said, there’s a realistic chance that this all becomes moot once pre-season games start and Coates’ ADP skyrockets.
Tight Ends
One of the most noteworthy moves in terms of fantasy this offseason was the signing of Ladarius Green. Green had been smothered on the San Diego depth chart thanks to longtime veteran Antonio Gates. Now that he has a gig all to himself in the wake of Heath Miller’s retirement, Green should see a solid uptick in targets in an offense that loves to throw the ball. As dependable as Heath Miller was, quarterback Ben Roethlisberger has never really had an athlete at tight end like Ladarius Green. There’s some concerns regarding Green’s ankle and he’s never been one to boast a consistently clean bill of health but considering how careful the Steelers are when it comes to bringing in new talent, I think it’s pretty safe to assume that Green will be fine come week one.
There are certainly tons of talented tight ends out there who all seem to get bunched together when you’re in that 8-14 range but Green has one of the easiest paths to a breakout year. The absence of Martavis Bryant and a potent offense should make him a dependable TE1 in all formats in 2016.
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