NFL Fantasy Football: Analyzing the value of the 2019 Pittsburgh Steelers

With the NFL regular season still months away, it might seem too early to think about your fantasy football league, but we all know it is never too early to take a look at who might be worth that first round pick this year in your league.

With that said, the truth of fantasy football is the game itself is changing. Daily fantasy leagues, like FanDuel, are thriving while the traditional style of fantasy football remains as strong as ever.

Some like one, some like the other, but what we want to do here in this article is to give you plenty of information to digest for both styles of fantasy football.

In this article, myself, Dave Schofield and Bryan Davis will analyze the 2019 Steelers and give you everything from guaranteed players for the year, must-have players and of course the ever elusive sleeper picks. As always, you are welcome to contribute to the discussion in the comment section below.

Jeff Hartman

Must-Have Player: James Conner

Player/Unit to Avoid: Jaylen Samuels

Sleeper Pick: James Washington

Lock of the Year: Ben Roethlisberger

Rookie Watch: Diontae Johnson

Overall Thoughts: While many people believe Benny Snell Jr. will impact Conner’s playing time, I completely disagree. Conner is the feature back, and when he is healthy he is dominating running behind that ridiculous offensive line. Conner will be worth of a pick in your fantasy football league. On top of that, Conner’s feature back status is another reason why I would avoid Jaylen Samuels. Samuels will be used, but not quite as big of a role as many expect, barring the health of Conner.

I think Washington is going to have a big year, and look for Roethlisberger to have a bounce back season, maybe not in terms of yardage, but look for a better TD:INT ratio. Of all the rookies, I’ll go with Johnson to make an impact. Could have picked Snell Jr. here, but I have a hunch Johnson will be a playmaker.

Dave Schofield

Must-Have Player: JuJu Smith-Schuster

Player/Unit to Avoid: James Conner

Sleeper Pick: Diontae Johnson

Lock of the Year: Ben Roethlisberger

Rookie Watch: Benny Snell, Jr.

Overall Thoughts: JuJu is really GoodGood! While his yards could drop in 2019, he should see an increase in TD’s. If playing a traditional fantasy league, he would be the top Steeler I would look to draft, followed closely by Ben Roethlisberger. If Ben is on your team, he should be in your lineup any week he is playing.

Dionte Johnson is a player who would be nice to pick up late in a traditional league or on the cheap in daily fantasy. He’s a low-risk/high-reward player to stash on your bench after the draft or to fit in a daily fantasy spot if your budget has been blown other places.

The reason I chose James Conner to avoid is he will carry a hefty price tag in daily fantasy and would require a very high pick in a traditional league. With the possibility of Benny Snell, Jr. taking away some goal-line carries, Conner may still receive a bulk of the yards but may not benefit from the high fantasy value of getting in the end zone.

Bryan Davis

Must-Have Player: JuJu Smith-Schuster

Player/Unit to Avoid: Vance McDonald

Sleeper Pick: Donte Moncrief

Lock of the Year: James Conner

Rookie Watch: Bennie Snell Jr.

Overall Thoughts: The Steelers offense may not be as high-powered of a scoring machine as it was with a man that went by the first two letters of the alphabet, but they still have double-digit win potential. Fantasy-wise they may not be nearly as strong. Ben Roethlisberger will surely be a good player to have, but he’s a matchup guy and not an every week one. JuJu is the one guy on the roster that can carry your team as a wideout and Moncrief is a later round sleeper that will pay dividends should he develop a rapport with Roethlisberger. The Steelers are going to reduce the RB workload to not run the wheels off of James Conner, so BSJ will get some goal line opportunities and some relief work as a rookie. Plus, in keeper leagues he should pay off later. However, Conner is still the RB1 and will still get a large enough amount of carries to justify starting him every week. Steeler TEs are fool’s gold. Be careful of fantasy inconsistencies with Vance McDonald. He’ll hit, but not always the weeks you start him.