In addition to viewing our 2020 Fantasy Football Projections by position, we will post our preseason projections per team.
Below you will find our 2020 fantasy football projections for the Pittsburgh Steelers.
MORE: Fantasy football projections for all 32 NFL teams
QUARTERBACKS
| Player | Att. | Comp. | Yards | TD | INT | Rush | Yards | TD | Points | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ben Roethlisberger | 520.1 | 334.2 | 3926.8 | 26.27 | 11.44 | 29.5 | 82.6 | 0.74 | 251.97 | |
| Missing virtually all of 2019, Roethlisberger is a QB2 that should produce QB1-type numbers on a per-game basis. GM Kevin Colbert improved the supporting cast around him by adding Eric Ebron in free agency and Chase Claypool through the draft. | ||||||||||
| Mason Rudolph | 39.1 | 24.2 | 244.4 | 1.74 | 1.13 | 4.2 | 7.6 | 0.04 | 15.48 | |
RUNNING BACKS
| Player | Att. | Yards | TD | Rec. | Yards | TD | Points | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| James Conner | 231.9 | 985.6 | 8.7 | 29.1 | 244.4 | 1.02 | 181.32 | |
| Durability is an obvious concern as Conner played in only 10 games, several of which he exited early, in 2019 and he missed three games with a high-ankle sprain towards the end of 2018. While the team drafted Anthony McFarland in the fourth round, Conner is still the team's No. 1 back. If he can stay healthy, he should outperform his current ADP. | ||||||||
| Jaylen Samuels | 48.5 | 169.8 | 0.49 | 35.2 | 242.9 | 1.76 | 54.77 | |
| Samuels finished fourth on the team in targets (57) and second in receptions (47) last year. While Benny Snell may his Conner's direct backup, Samuels should get plenty of work as a receiver out of the backfield as a change-of-pace to Conner. | ||||||||
| Benny Snell | 63.2 | 249.6 | 1.26 | 7.4 | 57 | 0.15 | 39.12 | |
| The Athletic's Mark Kaboly has called Snell the "no-doubt No. 2 behind Conner" and said that "what hasn’t been talked much about are Snell’s hands." | ||||||||
| Anthony McFarland Jr. | 40.1 | 168.4 | 0.9 | 4.9 | 36.8 | 0.1 | 26.52 | |
| Conner has struggled with durability over the past couple of seasons, but McFarland, one of the team's two fourth-round picks, appears to be behind both Conner and Snell on the depth chart to enter the season. | ||||||||
| Derek Watt | 1.1 | 2.4 | 0.04 | 3.2 | 27.2 | 0.03 | 3.38 | |
MORE: Pittsburgh Steelers 53-man roster projection
WIDE RECEIVERS
| Player | Rec. | Yards | TD | Rush | Yards | TD | Points | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| JuJu Smith-Schuster | 78.4 | 1023.1 | 6.66 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 142.27 | |
| With Ben Roethlisberger lost for nearly the entire season, Smith-Schuster struggled to get anything going and finished with career lows in receptions (3.5) and yards (46.0) per game, yards per target (7.9) and catch rate (60.0%). A healthy Big Ben will lead to improved numbers in his age-24 season but likely far less than his career-best 2018 season (111/1,426/7) when he benefited from the presence of Antonio Brown as the WR1. | ||||||||
| Diontae Johnson | 64.5 | 790.1 | 5.81 | 3.2 | 20.8 | 0.03 | 116.13 | |
| As a rookie, Johnson posted team highs in targets (92), receptions (59) and touchdowns (five) and was second in receiving yards (680) as he finished as fantasy's WR41. Even though the team drafted Chase Claypool in the second round and JuJu Smith-Schuster missed several games, Johnson should post better year-over-year numbers in his second year with the Steelers, especially if Ben Roethlisberger is able to stay healthy. | ||||||||
| Chase Claypool | 41.6 | 555.4 | 4.26 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 81.1 | |
| Claypool provides the Steelers with a physical mismatch due to his size (6'4", 238 pounds) and athleticism (4.42 forty and 40.5" vertical). While he may start out as the team's fourth receiver, it's possible that he pushes James Washington for snaps in three-wide sets. Not only are teammates calling Claypool a "PROBLEM" (in a good way), The Athletic's Mark Kaboly recently wrote that "practice after practice, the rookie is making non-rookie-like plays after running non-rookie-like routes and making non-rookie-like catches." | ||||||||
| James Washington | 30.8 | 446.6 | 2.31 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 58.52 | |
| Washington led the team in receiving yards (735), but the addition of second-rounder Chase Claypool could (eventually) bump him down to fourth amongst the team's receivers behind Smith-Schuster, Johnson and (eventually) Claypool. | ||||||||
| Ray-Ray McCloud | 1.1 | 10.1 | 0.07 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1.43 | |
TIGHT ENDS
| Player | Rec. | Yards | TD | Rush | Yards | TD | Points | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Eric Ebron | 41.1 | 464.4 | 3.9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 69.84 | |
| The 10th-overall pick in 2014, Ebron is still just 27 years old and only one season removed from his career-best 66/750/13 campaign with Indianapolis (Andrew Luck) in 2018. Touchdown regression was expected in 2019, but Ebron also averaged a mere 34.1 yards per game (the lowest since his rookie season) in an injury-shortened 11-game campaign. He should be more involved as a receiver than Vance McDonald, but Ebron is better-viewed as a mid-TE2 type as he transitions to a new team and offense. | ||||||||
| Vance McDonald | 24.9 | 262.7 | 1.87 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 37.49 | |
| Zach Gentry | 1.8 | 14.8 | 0.09 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2.02 | |
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