Fantasy Football Daily - 2021 Franchise Focus: Pittsburgh Steelers

Episode Date: August 5, 2021

Joe Dolan (@FG_Dolan) and Tom Brolley (@TomBrolley) preview the Pittsburgh Steelers 2021 season in the companion podcast to the 2021 Franchise Focus piece on FantasyPoints.com. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/fantasy-points-podcast/support Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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It's time for the Fantasy Points podcast, brought to you by FantasyPoints.com. Top level fantasy football and NFL betting analysis from every perspective and angle, from numbers to the film room, with a single goal to help you score more fantasy points. Yin's ready for this. Pittsburgh Steelers Day here on the franchise focus series at the Fantasy Points podcast. I'm Joe Dolan. His name is Tom Brawley. this podcast needs listened. Let me tell you something about the Pittsburgh Steelers.

And you know, Tom, it's good that we saved it for today. The Hall of Fame games tonight between Pittsburgh and Dallas. I know you're excited for that. Oh, yeah. Can't wait to see all the backup quarter. Yeah, Mason Rudolph and the, you know, the Haskins, the big showdown for the backup. Oh, yes. How's that battle been going, by the way? It sounds like Haskins has been playing fairly decent. But we'll see if that actually translates to the field. But, you know, the Steelers fans this week, oh, you've got to trade Mason Rudolph to the Colts, you know, get a third, you know, a day three pick for them. Like, okay, yeah, that's exactly what the Colts are. Yeah, the Colts, Chris Ballard, he is like, let me call up.

Let me call up. Mason Rudolph. Yeah. No, I don't think that's going to happen. Who the hell is even starting for Dallas? I think Garrett Gilbert, but I'm not in time. They still have Danucci. Dak Prescott's hurt.

Anyway, if you're listening to this before the Hall of Fame game, I know people are like, yeah, the Hall of Fame game, and then it's always the worst football game. But Tom, we have preseason this year. It's football again. It's back, at least. It is football again. We'll be watching it at least for a little bit.

Is Najee Harris expected to play for the Steelers? I haven't seen that. I know they want to get him in to game action. I think he is supposed to take like maybe a series tomorrow. Yeah, oh, that would be nice to see. Tomlin is big on that getting rookies. He's not going to... He did talk about that earlier in the preseason

that he wants to, you know, Naji Harris to play in preseason games. Well, Najee Harris is going to be a big focus of conversation on this podcast as it is, of course, on the franchise focus series up at fantasy points.com where, quite frankly, you should be looking right now. You should go and subscribe. I'm seeing the subscriptions roll in as we talk.

Tom, that means A number one. We're obviously extremely impressive and people just absolutely love listening to the podcast. But also, there is, it's August. And people are remembering that fantasy football exists. So absolutely get to fantasy points.com and sign up right now. Tom Pittsburgh Steelers, you're, you're, I mean, I think this is one of those teams. I think I could see him going five and 12.

I could see him going 12 and 5 and competing to make the Super Bowl. I mean, there is just a wide range of outcomes for Pittsburgh. Hell Tom, we saw it last year when they went what, 11 and up and O and then like lost for last six games. Essentially, I mean, they were completely volatile last year. Yeah, I even wrote that in my betting preview that, you know, I see the Steelers and basically the Saints as being the two most volatile teams this year. I would not be surprised if, you know, either one of those go, you know, either one of those teams

go 6 and 11 or, you know, 11 and 6 and, you know, competing for their, you know, division titles. But, you know, they showed a lot upside last year with the 11-0 start. And the offense devolved into, you know, just all these short passes, the offensive line, couldn't block and create any room for the backfield. The running backs couldn't, you know, create on their own. It was a complete mess by the end of the year. and this off-season was dedicated to kind of tearing it all down and kind of rebuilding it back up here. You know, maybe one last season with Ben Rafflesberger. We'll see how it goes.

And, you know, he's coming to camp in, you know, better shape. And, you know, it wasn't, you know, wasn't stressing his arm out, you know, coming back from a rehab, you know, the major elbow surgery that he had to undergo at the end, you know, during the 2019 season. So, you know, there's just mixed exasers. expectations with this team. It feels like it could go, you know, just, you know, kind of spiral out of control or, you know, this is a team that's done it every year, you know, winning record ever since Ben Rafflesberger has been in the lineup here, 17 straight years. So, you know, this thing could go a lot of different directions this season. Eight and a half to the win total. Actually, minus the minus 135 to the under, plus 450 to win the AFC north of Baltimore,

are a pretty heavy favorite Cleveland up there as well. So you have those two teams who are riding ahead of Pittsburgh. Plus 140 to make the playoffs. Again, you have Pittsburgh kind of lined as the third best team in this division. Plus 2,200 to win the AFC, plus 4,000 to win the Super Bowl, Tom. I mean, again, you're betting previews out on the website, but I think you can make an argument for anything here. I think you can make an argument to bet the Steelers to win the Super Bowl.

Yeah, those odds have been moving down, though, if you want to, you know, get the plus 4,000 odds there. You know, it started earlier this summer plus 3,000. But, you know, I can understand why. They did lose some pretty significant pieces, you know, along the offensive line in Alleyville, Nueva. You know, Marquise Pouncey retires. David DeCastro, sounds like he's on the brink of retirement. He had ankle issues and losing Bud Dupree and Mike Hilton. You know, so even the defense, it's still expected to be one of the best in the league, a top five unit,

still have a, you know, the best or, you know, one of the best defensive lines in the league. But all of a sudden that depth on the defense is going to be tested a little bit more. They're, you know, all the cap casualties. And it's just a thinner defense overall as well. So, you know, just major questions, you know, on the offensive line and, you know, at quarterback. is, you know, to put it frankly, does the quarterback still have something left in that arm? Second round pick on Najee Harris, Tommy. He was actually a first round pick in the NFL.

And, you know, this is where the argument comes in. It's interesting. First and foremost, I don't see the workload landmine that maybe Clyde Edwards-Alaire had last year as the first round running back. Or even Travis E.T.N. has this year as the first round running back. I think the Pittsburgh Steelers, Mike Tomlin, Kevin Colbert, they are using, they drafted Najee Harris to use him as a bell cow running back. I expect that's going to be the usage. You know, I think it says something that this, which is a, look, it's an extremely good coaching staff in front office. They looked at the available players and decided, you know who's the best player for us, the running back.

They thought the running back was a huge problem. I think a lot of Steelers fans would argue the offensive line was a bigger problem. But this very successful front office has determined the running back was the problem. Because of that offensive line, Naji Harris is a second round pick. Are you buying Naji Harris right now early to mid second round, Tom? Yeah, I have been. I just love the potential workload that's coming his way. I mean, we got nothing behind him.

I mean, Benny Snell is a cut candidate. They bring him Caleb Belage to challenge him for that early, you know, that backup early down runner rule. Anthony McFarland is an interesting prospect, but, you know, kind of flopped in his opportunities last year. And, you know, it's just, it's barren behind him. So, you know, just excellent, you know, he did excellent work in Alabama, you know, as a after the contact, making guys miss. You know, you can do it in the passing game. You know, he developed that as his career went along in at Alabama there.

So it's, it's just. all comes kind of comes down to that offensive line play because we know, you know, from years of experience here doing this, that Mike Tomlin just loves to use these guys in Belcal, you know, Belcal back kind of situation. So we love that for fantasy. You know, he has the potential to be a 20 touch kind of guy in this backfield, but it all comes down to that revamped offensive line. And just, just, I think the Steelers must be, must have. like maybe they think higher of their younger prospects that then the outside world did because they're giving a lot of these guys opportunities to play and it's really going to come down to

you know and that's why his price like you said it's not a first round price it's not even an early second round he's kind of slipped you know he's kind of fallen into that mid to back in second round at this point with some other guys like joe mixon and Antonio gipson rising up draft boards. So, you know, it's all going to come down to this offensive line play. But I do think the scheme will be much better, too, with, you know, we really didn't touch on that. Matt Canada's coming in.

You know, he was part of the coaching staff last year, but, you know, they're expected to go under center more, expected to use more motion and, you know, play action, things that should help out the running game here a bit, which is, you know, they're expected to. Those things, you know, you'd think they'd be a part of an offense, but they were not last year. They were dead last in play action. Ben, you know, God forbid, he got under center last year. So those are things that are actually going to happen this year. And they could look like an actual, you know, running style offense here this year.

Is there any player in the NFL who looks less athletic than Ben Rufflesberger at this point when he's out there on the field? Like, he's got this like, he's almost. got like this thin lower body and his upper body is just gigantic and it looks like it's like kind of the brawley look the braw he looks like he's a popsicle or something like he's about to fall over i mean like for somebody who was like a second reaction player early in his career tom i'm not sure there's a guy who looks less athletic out there than ben ralphus per yeah i always think back to last year was that dreaded monday night football game for the steelers uh you know it was i think week 15 Cincinnati yeah they

had a disastrous first, first driver to, and, you know, they wanted to come out and establish the running game. So Ben actually went under center, and of course, he, like, basically got, you know, he couldn't get out of there fast enough. He drops the fumble and, you know, the Bengals pick it up at, you know, the Steelers, like, 25-yard line, they score another touchdown and go up 14 to nothing. And, you know, that was just the epitome of, you know, the offense last year. We'll see he's, you know, he actually came in probably closer to his listed weight. He's been coming. What do we say, Joe? They list him at like 250. They list him at like 240, which is freaking hysterical. I mean, Ben Rothesberger hasn't weighed 240 since he was in high school. I mean,

come on. Yeah, he's been closer probably pushing the three bills there. Yeah. But this year he actually looks like he might be like a 260 this year coming into camp. So, you know, maybe. a little bit extra mobility will help him out and help this Russian game out. The wide receivers, Tom, I think you can make an argument to drafting any of them. Juju's the cheapest. I think Claypool's been my favorite to draft in best ball. And I think Deontes probably the most consistent. And the thing I've kind of liked about him, Tom, I don't think any of them are overpriced.

Like, maybe Deontay, like, Deontay's kind of going in that range where Robert Woods and Adam Thielen are coming off the board. but I don't view him as somebody who, you know, is definitely a tier below those guys. I think they're all kind of fairly priced. Yeah, Juju is probably the guy I've had the most, you know, the least amount of here. I agreed, yeah. Yeah, Claypool, I mean, I've been getting a lot of Deontes. He's my, uh, Claypool is, by the way, my most drafted player on Underdog. Oh, really? Well, I mean, a lot of things are pointing towards him, you know,

a little bit of that D.K. Metcats vibe from last year. Cat Calf was being drafted a little bit earlier than where Claypools going in the, kind of in that sixth round there. But, you know, he was kind of a part-time player with James Washington. Only played 63% of the snaps last year. They didn't utilize them enough in the end zone last year. Only had, I think, eight targets in the end zone. And you think that would be an area where they focus and, you know, get him more looks in the end zone. And if Ben has any kind of arm strength, you know, if he gets some back here,

if this offense gets a little more downfield mobility here, he would be the guy that kind of pays off. So, yeah, he's a guy that has a lot upside. He gets those, you know, those big time targets. You want the downfield targets. He want the end zone targets. So, you know, he's pretty nice price at sixth round. But, you know, Deontes, I'm still feeling really good about Deonti as well.

He's in that, you know, that coveted role, the ex-receiver role, and the Steelers offense with Antonio Brown. and, you know, the San Antonio Holmes role, you know, Ben has always trusted those guys. He lets his perimeter receivers, you know, win on the outside, and that's Deontes is one of the finest route runners. So, I mean, I would be shocked if he dips down below, you know, eight targets a game and, you know, this year, even if there is a little bit less pass volume. So he just doesn't have maybe the high upside targets that Chase Claypole is going to get. but he's got a nice path to getting over 100 catches this year.

Well, that'll wrap up the Pittsburgh Steelers discussion here on the franchise focus series at the Fantasy Points podcast, at Tom Brawley on Twitter. I'm at FG underscore Dolan. Make sure you go to FantasyPoints.com. Check out the written edition of the Pittsburgh Steelers. There's a lot more information there with all players covered, strategy, scheme breakdowns, odds, pace, everything you could possibly want. Follow the site on Twitter at Fantasy PTS.

well. And that way you know when we release new articles and everything, it is going to be a massive year at FantasyPoints.com. For Tom Braille, I'm Joe Dolan. Thanks for listening to this edition. Enjoy the Hall of Fame game tonight for as long as you have it on the television. Pray for no injuries and we will talk to you soon. Thanks for tuning in to this edition of the Fantasy Points podcast. Remember to subscribe, rate, and review on your favorite platform and come join the roster at FantasyPoint.com.