The Cleveland Browns aren’t the same team the Pittsburgh Steelers played in Week 1, making this week’s fantasy options, different.
This Sunday the Browns play the Steelers in Pittsburgh and you will want to know who to start for the visiting team from Cleveland. The first contest ended up a tie, and a lot has happened since then.
Tyrod Taylor has been benched in favor of the rookie Baker Mayfield, and as with rookies, it has been a bumpy ride. The Browns also traded Carlos Hyde and now make way for another rookie, RB Nick Chubb. Josh Gordon has been released.
The Steelers Defense has been racking up the sacks and is tied for second in the NFL. In this weekly segment, I will give you my start and sit recommendations for the team the Steelers are facing.
Start
Nick Chubb – The Steelers D is only allowing 66 rushing yards per game to RB’s but Chubb will get a heavy workload.
Jarvis Landry – He had 10 receptions last week and is another volume play. He is the #1 WR in Cleveland and with the injuries at WR he should see most of the targets.\
David Njoku – The past three weeks only 2 TE’s have more targets. The Steelers Defense has struggled to stop the TE this year and ranks near the worst in the league allowing 79.7 yards per game. Njoku has scored a TD the last two weeks.
Sit
Baker Mayfield – The Steelers Defense has been getting to the QB (tied for 2nd in NFL in sacks) and the last two games holding passers under 286 yards.
Duke Johnson Jr. – His usage is low for some reason even after Hyde got traded. The Steelers defense is only allowing 20.7 receiving yards to RB’s.
Antonio Callaway – He is dropping 11 percent of the passes thrown his way and his points have gone down the last four weeks.
Browns Defense – Two out of the last 4 games they have zero points. They also game up 39 points to the Raiders and 38 to the Chargers.
It seems every week the Steelers have a challenging game for one reason or another. I think this may be a redemption game to show the world that the Steelers are much better than the first week tie with this Browns team showed. They will come out ready to play and prove this to the Browns as well.
I really think that this Browns team is headed in the right direction. The Defense is improved, the run game could be really good with Nick Chubb, and Baker Mayfield looks like a star in the making.