Benny Snell Jr. (RB, PIT) - Week 8 Waiver Wire Pickups

BALLER MOVE: Add in 14+ Team Leagues

OWNED IN: 5% of Leagues

ANALYSIS: You won’t believe this, but after two weeks Benny Snell Jr. remains available in almost every Yahoo league. I don’t know about you, but this looks like a really solid addition to me if you happen to play in any kind of deep league. Pittsburgh is coming back from its bye week in time to face the Dolphins in Week 8 and they are doing so with Jaylen Samuels still injured and James Conner supposedly recovered but probably a little banged up after exiting his last game injured.

Not only is the backfield downgraded, but remember that the Steelers are playing with their third-string quarterback after losing both Ben Roethlisberger and backup Mason Rudolph earlier this season. That undoubtedly affects the passing game, and as was seen in Week 6 Pittsburgh relied on the rushing game more than ever with Conner going off to 30.9 fantasy points. Although that was the brighter point of the Steelers backfield, Snell was still able to rush the ball 17 times for 75 yards and even add 14 yards on just one catch to finish the day with a good outcome of 9.9 fantasy points and lacking only the touchdown to round his performance.

Even if Conner is back healthy, I’m still convinced he should be eased in a bit this week. Remember, Pittsburgh faces Miami and the Dolphins are the third-worst team in points per game given to running backs. No matter how bad Pittsburgh plays, they will take the lead sooner rather than later and from that point on it’ll be a party on the ground for the Steelers backfield. Snell is one of the prime handcuffs available in most leagues (Conner has shown how he’s vulnerable to injuries and Samuels is still down) and even if it is only for this weekend’s game he’s more than a viable addition on every 14+ team league.