Fantasy Football Player Notes
2021 Half PPR Draft Rankings
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22.
Najee Harris
RB - (at BAL)
Running backs are at their prime when they enter the NFL, which makes them the most valuable their rookie season, unlike quarterbacks, wide receivers, and tight ends. Because of that, Harris, who takes over as the Steelers' lead back, is someone you want to have on your roster. The Steelers are a team that hasn't been shy about giving running backs 18-plus touches per game with Mike Tomlin at the helm. You don't draft a three-down back like Harris in the first round and put him in some timeshare. I wouldn't be surprised to see him average 20-plus touches per game, which puts him smack dab in the middle of the RB1 conversation.
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49.
Diontae Johnson
WR - (at BAL)
Despite missing one full game and a large portion of another, Johnson finished with 144 targets in 2020, which ranked sixth among wide receivers. Unfortunately, he was not particularly efficient with them, averaging just 6.4 yards per target. Part of his issues were drops, but Ben Roethlisberger's drop-down mentality certainly didn't help, either. Still, chasing targets at wide receiver is never a bad thing. If Johnson would've averaged just 7.4 yards per target (easily attainable), he would've finished as the WR14. He should be a safe high-floor WR2 with upside for top-12 numbers.
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74.
Chase Claypool
WR - (at BAL)
Claypool may have finished as the WR19 on the season, but his year was littered with lackluster performances. He posted WR3 or better type numbers in just 50 percent of the games last year, which was tied with Jamison Crowder and DeVante Parker for 34th among wide receivers. His four-touchdown game in Week 5 really catapulted his numbers at season's end, as he failed to top 59 yards in 11-of-16 games, making him a touchdown-or-bust option most weeks. With Ben Roethlisberger's arm strength seemingly deteriorating by the day, it's tough to see Claypool having a true breakout season in 2021, as he relies on those high value targets more than JuJu Smith-Schuster and Diontae Johnson do. Claypool is an upside pick for sure, but not one I'd bet heavily on.
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79.
JuJu Smith-Schuster
WR - (at BAL)
Though it was better than his 2019 season, there were plenty of ups and downs from Smith-Schuster in 2020. Part of the reason for inconsistency is due to Ben Roethlisberger's volatile performance, but even if he rights the ship in 2021, the bigger part of the problem for Smith-Schuster is the competition he has for targets. Chase Claypool will be entering his sophomore season, Diontae Johnson seemed to figure out his drops as the year went on, and they added Najee Harris and Pat Freiermuth in the first two rounds of the draft. Suddenly, Smith-Schuster might be third in line for targets in this offense. He'll probably finish as a WR3, but I just don't see the upside to drafting him as anything more than a low-end WR3.
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165.
Pittsburgh Steelers
DST - (at BAL)
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167.
Ben Roethlisberger
QB - (at BAL)
It's rare to see a quarterback who has three wide receivers being drafted inside the top-30 and a running back being drafted as a borderline top-12 option, yet he's not being drafted as a fantasy starter. That's the case with Roethlisberger. He's not going to finish as a top-five quarterback or anything, but Roethlisberger has thrown at least 28 touchdowns in each of the last six seasons he's played more than 12 games. He's a perfectly fine QB2 in Superflex/2QB formats.
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170.
Eric Ebron
TE - (at BAL)
Ebron saw more targets than most expected last year, finishing with 91 of them, which ranked eighth among tight ends. Unfortunately, he wasn't particularly efficient with them, finishing 15th in fantasy scoring. The reason was because he lacked upside and never scored more than 13.7 half PPR points all season. That's going to happen when you're the No. 4 option behind the three wide receivers. Now we add Najee Harris to this offense, and suddenly, Ebron may not even get the volume he did last year, and we haven't even talked about the addition of Pat Friermuth in the second round of the draft. Ebron should be labeled as a streamer, and not an every-week option.
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216.
Benny Snell Jr.
RB - (at BAL)
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254.
James Washington
WR - (at BAL)
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280.
Anthony McFarland Jr.
RB - (at BAL)
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281.
Chris Boswell
K - (at BAL)
Boswell missed a few games in 2020, but convered 19 of his 20 field-goal attempts on the year, adding to his reputation as one of the more accurate kickers in the game. The issue for Boswell from a fantasy perspective, however, is that playing his home games on Heinz Field's difficult turf, as well as just his natural skill set, generally limits his attempts from 50 yards or beyond. Indeed, he's attempted just four field goals from that range in the last three seasons. Boswell is your classic high-floor, low-ceiling play, who is better utilized as a weekly streamer when you're favored to win.
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324.
Kalen Ballage
RB - (at BAL)
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348.
Pat Freiermuth
TE - (at BAL)
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365.
Sam Sloman
K - (at BAL)
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473.
Jaylen Samuels
RB - (at BAL)
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500.
Ray-Ray McCloud
WR - (at BAL)
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559.
Dwayne Haskins
QB - (at BAL)
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573.
Derek Watt
RB - (at BAL)
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609.
Zach Gentry
TE - (at BAL)
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685.
Tyler Simmons
WR,TE - (at BAL)
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687.
Isaiah McKoy
WR - (at BAL)
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691.
Rico Bussey
WR - (at BAL)
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698.
Cody White
WR - (at BAL)
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780.
Kevin Rader
TE - (at BAL)
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785.
Dax Raymond
TE - (at BAL)
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818.
Anthony Johnson
WR - (at BAL)
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824.
Mason Rudolph
QB - (at BAL)
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966.
Joshua Dobbs
QB - (at BAL)
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