The Pittsburgh Steelers spent 5 of their 7 draft picks on offensive skill positions.
The Pittsburgh Steelers offense is going to look a lot different this year compared to the past few. Pittsburgh will be running with a new quarterback starting Week 1, a quarterback that will likely be mobile.
There was a lot more speed added to the offense at the receiver position as well. That means that if you are a Steelers fan and a fantasy football fanatic you may be concerned about who is worth taking from your favorite team.
Regardless of who has the best outlook, this list becomes irrelevant if any of my selections get injured. Keeping that in mind I’ll give you my top 3 fantasy options heading into the season.
Honorable Mentions: Diontae Johnson, George Pickens, Chase Claypool
Before I get into my top 3 I have to mention who I think may have been able to make this list and why they didn’t.
Diontae Johnson may be the biggest surprise after coming in at a strong 17 pts per game in 2021. He was the #8 receiver in PPR formats last season. I attribute a lot of Johnson’s points to his out-of-this-world number of targets at 169.
I fail to see DJ eclipse 115 targets this year. With DJ’s catch % sitting at 63% in 2021 which was actually 1% less than his rookie season I am definitely concerned he leaves points on the board and with what will likely be a much smaller target share, I doubt he puts up numbers similar to what he did in 2021. With all this being said he is still a great pick in the 4th or 5th round. Yet, his ADP is at 33 and I can’t justify drafting him around the 33rd pick in his current situation.
George Pickens is a steal in the second round and I’m glad the Steelers nabbed him. I think Pickens from day 1 will have the most reliable hands of any of the wide receivers in the honorable mentions category. However, with DJ and Claypool having already established themselves to some degree I need to see what role Pickens plays in year 1 before I could put him on this list.
Claypool is supposedly playing in the slot this year and with Pickens kind of stuck projected as the Z receiver, I don’t think he’ll get much of a chance to take the top off of defenses. He’ll likely have a few big weeks that could make him a valuable stream option dependent on matchups. However, Pickens likely won’t be a reliable option unless Claypool or DJ end up sidelined for a few weeks.
Chase Claypool is projected to end up in the slot. While I think his athletic profile could make him a force on the inside I can’t place Claypool on this list right now. We just saw JuJu Smith-Schuster who was the youngest player in NFL history to reach 2,500 receiving yards and is the record holder for the two longest touchdown receptions in franchise history fall off a cliff when moved to the slot.
With the new offense and a quarterback who actually prefers to target the middle of the field Claypool’s outlook could be different. Yet for now, Claypool isn’t a safe pick in my mind due to his projected time in the slot.