Monday, August 9, 2021

Fantasy Football Projections 2021: Pittsburgh Steelers

Our 2021 Fantasy Football Projections will be viewable by both position and team.

Below you will find our 2021 fantasy football projections for the Pittsburgh Steelers.

MORE: Fantasy football projections for more NFL teams

QUARTERBACKS

PlayerAtt.Comp.YardsTDINTRushYardsTDPoints
Ben Roethlisberger604.8390.14233.630.5410.2826.227.50.26275.25
Mason Rudolph4225.9281.41.950.954.45.50.0217.83

Ben Roethlisberger: With Pittsburgh re-signing JuJu Smith-Schuster to a one-year deal, Roethlisberger has one of the league's best wide receiver trios at his disposal. Only the one-win Jaguars (66.2%) threw it on a larger percentage of plays than the 12-win Steelers (65.48%) in 2020, per Team Rankings.

At this stage of his career, however, he no longer pushes the ball down the field -- his 9.5 Y/C and 6.3 Y/A were the lowest of his career (excluding a two-game 2019 season). The Athletic's Ed Bouchette highlights why those peripherals may be better in 2021, but given that the Steelers used their first-round pick to draft Najee Harris, Alabama's all-time leading rusher, fantasy managers should expect a greater shift towards the run in 2021.

RUNNING BACKS

PlayerAtt.YardsTDRec.YardsTDPoints
Najee Harris273.41175.68.0753.2419.92.8251.37
Benny Snell54.7221.51.379.265.50.242.72
Jaylen Samuels24.195.20.312.5880.428.77
Anthony McFarland Jr.35143.50.475.236.10.123.98
Derek Watt1.130.02190.12.42

Najee Harris: The all-time career rushing leader in Alabama history, Harris rushed for 1,466 yards and 26 touchdowns and added 43 receptions for 425 yards and four more scores last season. With few holes in his game, Harris will step in as a Week 1 workhorse. Given the team's propensity to feature its lead back, Harris has the chance to outperform his ADP.

Benny Snell: While there is some competition on the depth chart, Snell -- or whichever back ultimately slides into the RB2 role -- would become a top waiver-wire add if the team's first-round rookie misses any time given how the team historically features one back.

WIDE RECEIVERS

PlayerRec.YardsTDRushYardsTDPoints
Diontae Johnson87.4957.26.83.314.90.02181.83
Chase Claypool68.6948.26.810.935.40.87178.68
JuJu Smith-Schuster75.9869.16.5000163.86
James Washington24.1336.43.400066.09
Ray-Ray McCloud15.4133.20.44.4330.0927.26

Diontae Johnson: Tied with Davante Adams and Keenan Allen, no receiver had more games with double-digit targets than Johnson (10). The second-year receiver averaged only 10.5 Y/R, but he turned his 144 targets into 88 catches for 923 yards and five touchdowns. While he needs to cut down on the drops, Johnson should be one of the league's most-targeted wideouts in 2021 even though the team re-signed JuJu Smith-Schuster.

Chase Claypool: Claypool scored 11 touchdowns -- nine receiving and two rushing -- in the regular season and added two more receiving scores in the team's playoff loss to Cleveland. Re-signing JuJu Smith-Schuster to a one-year deal puts a dent into Mapletron's upside in year two, but it wouldn't surprise me if he was the team's top-producing wideout in 2021.

JuJu Smith-Schuster: After averaging 65.5 and 89.1 yards per game, respectively, in his first two seasons with the Steelers, Smith-Schuster has averaged 46.0 and 51.9 per game in 2019 and 2020, respectively. The Steelers re-signed Smith-Schuster to a one-year contract and he is a WR3 (both in fantasy and on his own team).

TIGHT ENDS

PlayerRec.YardsTDRushYardsTDPoints
Eric Ebron46.8483.1400095.71
Pat Freiermuth14.61490.800027
Zach Gentry2.120.30.10003.68

Eric Ebron: In his first season with the Steelers, Ebron finished with 56 catches for 558 yards and five touchdowns. Given the team's talented trio of wide receivers and the likelihood that the Steelers run more often in 2021, Ebron's year-over-year numbers will likely dip.

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