Steelers Fantasy Outlook: PFF releases stat predictions for each skill player
By Tommy Jaggi
The 2020 Draft is still fresh in our minds and Pro Football Focus has taken the liberty of releasing their early fantasy football stat predictions. Here are where each Steelers skill player falls.
It’s never too early to start thinking about your 2020 fantasy football league – at least not to Pro Football Focus, that is. Just days following the draft, PFF has released their stat predictions for each Steelers skill player for the upcoming NFL season.
Pittsburgh may not have the monster fantasy names as they did in the past with Antonio Brown and Le’Veon Bell, but there are still a few players who could do some damage for your team this year. This early insight may give you a leg up on the competition and help you to know which Steelers players to target and which ones to avoid in our fantasy league.
Here are 2020 stat predictions by position for the top skill players on the Steelers:
Running back stat predictions:
RB James Conner, 774.3 rush yards, 5.7 TD, 36.3 receptions, 279.3 yards, 1.5 TD
RB Benny Snell, 377.4 rush yards, 2.3 TD, 6.2 receptions, 43.1 yards, 0.3 TD
RB Jaylen Samuels, 209.8 rush yards, 1.0 TD, 40.6 receptions, 316.7 yards, 1.9 TD
By the looks of things, Pittsburgh may not be headed towards the league’s best rushing attack in 2020. After seeing the best performance of his career back in the 2018 season, PFF predicts that James Conner will have a modest season, statistically.
The former 2018 Pro Bowler will be sharing more of the load this year, as Pittsburgh will likely implement a running back by committee approach. In PPR formats, Conner should still pull in consistent productions but don’t overdraft him (or overpay, depending on your format). He hasn’t played a full season yet, and there’s a chance he could see his smallest workload since his rookie season in 2017.
It gets really dicey after Conner. In deep leagues, adding a handcuff in Benny Snell could bo, okay, but he doesn’t offer enough to roster him in PPR leagues. Jaylen Samuels isn’t even guaranteed to be on the roster in 2020, but his value as a pass-catcher is worth monitoring in deep formats. It’s interesting to note that PFF didn’t include Anthony McFarland in their stat predictions. McFarland wasn’t much of a receiver in college, but he’s a boom or bust prospect if he can land in a rotational role.