32 Teams in 32 Days: The Pittsburgh Steelers
By Matt Mikolas
Pittsburgh Steelers: Off-Season Overview
Other than the will-they/won’t-they battle to agree to a long term deal with Pittsburgh Steelers running back Le’Veon Bell, it’s been a quiet off-season for the team. The main differences are in who has left, instead of who the team has added.
Martavis Bryant is gone; he’s now in Oakland. Bell is still a Steeler, and it looks like there’s no fear that he will miss any games in 2018.
The biggest impact move is probably one OFF the field: Todd Haley’s departure.
Pittsburgh will look to have a more simplified, but aggressive attack under first time NFL offensive coordinator Randy Fichtner. A success at Memphis, Fichtner is known for running an innovative and up-tempo offense. That style should suit the star-studded Steelers offense just fine. Pittsburgh remains one of the top offenses to invest in for fantasy football.
I Gotta Get Me One of Those!
Bell.
Brown.
And I’m done.
No, I won’t leave you with just that. But it doesn’t take a ton of deep research to know who the players are from this offense. JuJu Smith-Schuster had one of the rare successful rookie seasons as a wide receiver, and with Bryant’s departure, his production should only grow from there.
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Buyer Beware
Jesse James may be listed as the starter. Shoot, he even was a big part in getting the NFL catch rules changed. But that doesn’t mean he’s going to thrive in the Pittsburgh offense. Expect another season of not knowing which tight end will get the targets; James, or Vance McDonald. That position group in Pittsburgh is a fantasy nightmare.
Stay Woke
James Washington has some great tools that could help him emerge as a great wide receiver in a point-worthy passing offense. Normally I wouldn’t recommend a rookie wide-receiver being worth much of an investment at all. Smith-Schuster’s rookie year in 2018 changes things a little. With what he did with Ben Roethlisberger last year, I have to think the same may possible for another rookie. If you’re at the dart-throwing part of your draft, throw one Washington’s way.
Also, if you’re in a keeper or dynasty league, James Conner is someone you need to look at using a late pick on. It’s very unlikely Bell will be returning in 2019. Sure, they may make a bigger investment at running back between now and then. But for now, he seems to be the guy who would take over if Bell doesn’t return.