Steelers fantasy football: Rankings and projections for 2020 season

James Washington

Projected points: 106.28

Overall rank: 224th

Wide receiver rank: 79th

It’s disappointing seeing such a low projection for James Washington after leading the Steelers in receiving in 2019, but it shouldn’t come as a total surprise. Though Washington took a big step up from his embarrassing rookie season, his 2020 workload is in question for a few different reasons.

For starters, JuJu Smith-Schuster and Diontae Johnson stand to see more looks in the short and intermediate passing game. In addition, Eric Ebron and James Conner could earn more looks through the air as well.

Essentially, Washington is the designated deep threat on a team with a 38-year-old quarterback. Even in 2018, Ben thew the ball down the field significantly less than he used to, so it’s unrealistic to expect Washington to make a big play every game.

Averaging nearly 17 yards per catch last year with quarterback play, it’s possible that Washington could be fantasy relevant again in 2020. However, he is the definition of a boom or bust player and there could be games where he doesn’t leave a mark on the stat sheet. Washington is a bench stash who you can feel more confident playing if Smith-Schuster or Johnson goes down.