Which Steelers should you take a chance on in your fantasy football league?

The Pittsburgh Steelers don’t quite have the fantasy football stars they did in the past. Here are the players you should draft and avoid in 2020.

The start of a new season also marks a new year for fantasy football owners. The Pittsburgh Steelers have had their share of fantasy stars in years past with players like Le’Veon Bell and Antonio Brown. This year, however, will look very different.

While Pittsburgh still has the talent to go around on offense, they don’t have the proven stars who will earn a bulk of the team’s total workload. Instead of star power at the top, the Steelers are deeper in some areas than they have been in years, so choosing the right players will be tricky.

For this analysis, we are looking at fantasy players in re-draft PPR formats. While dynasty leagues are a completely different matter, here are the Steelers fantasy football players to draft and avoid in 2020:

Steelers to draft

Of the Steelers that are okay to draft this year, JuJu Smith-Schuster is at the top of the list. However, it’s important to consider that he is very unlikely to repeat his 2018 production thanks to a deeper receiving corps and a quarterback that may be on a pitch count. Still, JuJu should be the most consistent fantasy option in Pittsburgh this year. JuJu should be a solid WR2 in most fantasy formats.

In addition, his counterpart, Diontae Johnson, also stands to be a viable fantasy option this year. While you shouldn’t take him with the expectation that he will catch 80 balls for 1,000 yards, it’s not out of the realm of possibility to do so. However, with a deep receiving corps, he may see just a slight uptick in targets from a season ago. If you are looking for a solid PPR flex play at the right price, Johnson could be your guy.

Steelers to avoid

Unfortunately, there are far more Steelers to avoid than to draft high this year. James Conner is a perfect example of this. Despite his early dominance in the 2018 season, he has yet to prove that he can handle a full-time workload without sustaining nagging injuries that always hold him back. Pittsburgh has drafted a running back in four straight seasons, and the Steelers could use more of a committee approach in 2020, with Conner still seeing most of the looks.

Ben Roethlisberger is another player you should avoid. Though he could see an uptick in his efficiency numbers with his newly repaired elbow, the Steelers have mentioned keeping on a pitch count through the camp, and they will likely try to preserve his throwing arm as much as possible in the regular season. He won’t have the volume numbers as he did in 2018.

In addition, I’m selling both James Washington and Eric Ebron. With JuJu and Johnson in line for the first looks in the passing game, Washington becomes a third fiddle that will make some big players but won’t garner the targets to be fantasy relevant from week to week. Likewise, until the Steelers start using tight ends consistently, it’s hard to trust Ebron for fantasy purposes. Unless you are in the deepest of leagues, you can find a starter who will average more points per game.

Backup running backs Benny Snell Jr., Jaylen Samuels, and Anthony McFarland won’t be worth fantasy plays from week to week unless Conner goes down with injuries. While you could throw Samuels into your flex spot in a pinch due to his looks in the passing game, you can find better options elsewhere. McFarland is likely the handcuff to own this year, while Snell is best left on the waiver wire.

While Pittsburgh’s offense could prove to be an efficient group in real life, building your fantasy team around them in 2020 would be a bad idea. Eventually, a few fantasy stars could emerge from this group, but for now, I would avoid most Steelers in fantasy football unless they really slip in the draft.