Juggernaut Index, No. 1: The Pittsburgh Steelers
The Juggernaut Index is our annual ranking and review of NFL teams for fantasy purposes — repeat: FANTASY PURPOSES. Here we concern ourselves with a franchise’s likely contributions to the fantasy player pool. We are not concerned with projected wins and losses. Instead, we’re focused on yards and points. As always, we’re beginning with the league’s least useful teams, working our way toward the elite fantasy juggernauts.
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This was never much of a contest, you guys. When we focus strictly on the fantasy potential of each NFL team, Pittsburgh quickly separates from the rest of the league.
Not only do the Steelers employ wide receiver Antonio Brown, the consensus No. 1 player in fantasy, but this offense also features a running back who would have challenged for top-pick honors if he hadn’t been suspended. Le’Veon Bell will return from his three-game punishment as a must-start top-tier player at our game’s most important and most volatile position. And while Bell is out of the mix, his replacement DeAngelo Williams will routinely rank as a top-10 option.
Pittsburgh’s quarterback? Yeah, he’s OK. Ben Roethlisberger has averaged 317.5 passing yards per game over the past two seasons while completing 67.5 percent of his throws, an obscene rate. It wouldn’t be much of a surprise if he topped all QBs in standard fantasy scoring this year, really. He extends plays with a recklessness that’s both admirable and occasionally destructive, and his receiving weapons are of the highest quality.
Brown has entered rare, historic territory over the past three seasons. It’s hard to believe there was ever a time when “Should they pay Mike Wallace or Brown?” was a legitimate question. Since 2013, AB has averaged — averaged — 125 receptions, 1677 yards and 10.3 touchdowns per year. He owns two of the all-time top-eight single-season yardage campaigns and two of the top-four reception totals. Brown is unstoppable, basically. If anyone can reach Marvin Harrison’s single-season catch record (143), it’s him.
Martavis Bryant has been suspended for the full year, not eligible to apply for reinstatement until 2017, and his absence is no small thing. Bryant is a big-play machine with terrific size (6-foot-4), a player whose expected contributions can’t be easily replaced. Sammie Coates generated plenty of summer buzz, and his athletic skill-set is vaguely Martavis-like, but a sloppy camp and preseason doomed his starting chances. Markus Wheaton will line up opposite Brown, and, while he’s not a playmaker on Bryant’s level, he’s coming off a quality season (44-749-5) and likely to make another jump in value. Bryant saw 8.4 targets per game last year, so Wheaton’s opportunities will clearly increase. Second-year UDFA Eli Rogers will open the season as Pittsburgh’s primary slot receiver, and Big Ben seems to cherish him like a pet. Rogers is very much in the PPR conversation, a pickup worth considering in advance of the regular season opener.
Free agent acquisition Ladarius Green was supposed to be the team’s featured tight end in the post-Heath Miller era, but he’ll open the season on the reserve/PUP list with a medley of ailments (ankle, headaches). He’s expressed confidence that he’ll play this season, but, if you own him in a standard-size fantasy league, it’s impractical to wait for him to reappear. Backup tight end Jesse James is an intriguing sleeper in Green’s absence, because … well, because he’s gigantic (6-foot-7, 260). It’s not hard to imagine him functioning as a reliable red-zone weapon and snagging 5-7 TDs. James is a nice option for deep league players, and he’s available in 80 percent of Yahoo leagues.
We shouldn’t need to tell you that Le’Veon will be worth the three-week wait. He’s coming off a PCL/MCL injury in his right knee, but he passed the eye test in Pittsburgh’s third preseason game, gaining 58 yards on eight touches. Bell is just a year removed from a season in which he gained 2215 scrimmage yards and caught 83 passes. He’s unreasonably good, a wonderfully patient runner with big-gain ability. Williams, his understudy, was phenomenal last year when forced into the featured role. In fact, Williams actually finished the season as the fourth highest-scoring back in fantasy, rushing for 907 yards on an even 200 carries (4.5 YPC), crossing the goal line 11 times and catching 40 passes. Because he’ll own the rushing workload in the Steelers’ first three games, he has draft value greatly exceeding that of a typical high-end handcuff.
Pittsburgh’s D was a middle-of-the-pack unit last year that generally stopped the run (3.8 YPC), but ranked No. 30 in the league against the pass (271.9 YPG). DE Cameron Heyward and LB Ryan Shazier are the best of this team’s IDPs, though neither is an elite fantasy option. You’ll stream the Steelers in friendly matchups, but this is not a D/ST you’ll want to hold all season.
And that’s that, gamers. Another Juggernaut season is behind us. On Thursday night, fantasy stats will be rolling in, and the true ridiculousness of these rankings will begin to reveal itself.
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2015 Offensive Stats & Ranks
Points per game – 26.4 (5)
Pass YPG – 287.7 (3)
Rush YPG – 107.8 (16)
Yards per play – 6.2 (1)
Plays per game – 63.3 (22)
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Previous Juggernaut Index entries: 32) Cleveland, 31) San Francisco, 30) Philadelphia, 29) Baltimore, 28) Tennessee, 27) Los Angeles, 26) Miami, 25) Detroit, 24) Chicago, 23) San Diego, 22) Minnesota, 21) Tampa Bay, 20) Atlanta, 19) Washington, 18) Buffalo, 17) Kansas City, 16) Oakland, 15) NY Giants, 14) Indianapolis, 13) Jacksonville, 12) Houston, 11) Denver, 10) NY Jets, 9) Dallas, 8) Cincinnati, 7) New England 6) New Orleans, 5) Seattle, 4) Carolina, 3) Green Bay, 2) Arizona, 1) Pittsburgh
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