5 best Steelers players to draft in fantasy football in 2020
4. Ben Roethlisberger
Coming in at number four on my list is none other than “Big Ben” Roethlisberger. He is an elite talent that many people would want on their team. If he is healthy, then the sky is the limit for him in fantasy, but that is a big “if”.
Roethlisberger has only played a full sixteen game season four times in his sixteen-year career. Injuries have been a concern in the past and they have never been more of a concern than right now going into the 2020 season. We truly do not know if he will actually be 100% healthy by the time the season rolls around, but we can expect him to give it his all.
If he is healthy, we know that he has no problem slinging the pigskin around thirty-five times a game if he has to. In 2018 season, he finished the season as the NFL passing yards leader while throwing for 34 touchdowns. In fantasy, he finished that same season with a total of 341.86 points (Quarterback 3). That was the highest total fantasy points he had ever finished within a single season in his career, which does give people lots of hope for him.
The Steelers defense will also help Roethlisberger tremendously in fantasy. They will give him more opportunities with the ball than he is used to, along with giving him better field position. This will increase his chances at touchdown passes, but not so much passing yards. However, I would take touchdowns over yards any day simply because the yards will always be there, but touchdowns will not.
He lost his favorite receiver, Antonio Brown (accounted for fifteen of Roethlisberger’s thirty-four touchdowns), after the 2018 season, but he does still have a lot of firepower on his offense. Some of his weapons include Juju Smith-Schuster, Diontae Johnson, James Washington, Eric Ebron, Vance McDonald, Chase Claypool, and James Conner. All of these players are able to make big plays for just about any offense that they are in. These playmakers definitely help me with being a bit more confident in drafting Ben Roethlisberger.
He is currently projected to be the fifteenth quarterback taken off the board, standing at about the middle of the pack. That would put his draft range towards the end of the eleventh round, going into the twelfth round. That is around the time that I would feel comfortable taking him as well.
I believe that if Roethlisberger is healthy, he could very well end up finishing as a top-seven fantasy quarterback. He is someone that has the opportunity to score you 15-20 points on any given night, however, his injury concern will probably stray me away from him, but that is just me. I would be very wary to draft him, but I would not complain if he was my QB1 because there are a lot worse. I am just worried about his injuries and his on the road struggles in recent years past.