Fantasy outlook for Pittsburgh Steelers talented wide receivers in 2020

Diontae Johnson

Diontae Johnson has already received comparisons to Antonio Brown by many Steelers fans. It is far too soon to make comparisons with possibly the best wide receiver in Steelers history. Although he did rank 5th out of all pass catchers in average yards of separation per NextGenStats, Vance Macdonald ranked second on that list.

Separation is important but a lot of other things go into being a fantasy beast as a wide receiver. per Rotowire Diontae Johnson actually held the highest percentage of snaps among all Steelers wide receivers in 2019. However, of the 7 full games that JuJu Smith-Schuster, James Washington, and Diontae Johnson all played together Diontae Johnson ranked last in snaps between those three 5 of 7 times.

With the addition of Chase Claypool, the Steelers have a big-bodied, very fast, new deep threat they are likely to experiment with this season. Thus more than likely, I see him losing a small number of snaps on the outside, which is where he did his most damage last season.

If he manages to beat out Ryan Switzer for kick return duties I consider him a fringe WR3 with WR2 upside in PPR formats. If he doesn’t I still consider him a flex with a low floor but low WR2 upside depending on the week. As long as the rest of the guys on this list stay healthy, especially considering the new additions to this passing attack, his fantasy outlook isn’t as bright this season as it was last season. I expect him to sit in the ’60s in fantasy production this year.