By: Jake Rajala

The Pittsburgh Steelers have a special long-term wide receiver in Chase Claypool. The 23-year-old from Abbotsford, Canada has already stated that he doesn’t care who his starting quarterback is, as he’s still fully prepared to be a reliable weapon for any QB in many seasons to come.

Claypool has been quite a slightly effective chess piece for the Steelers offense in his two seasons thus far. In 2020, he recorded 62 receptions (109 targets), 873 yds, and 9 touchdowns. After his rookie season, he notched 59 receptions and 860 yards.

Claypool will definitely have an increased role in the JuJu Smith-less offense in Pittsburgh. Diontae Johnson was a monster in 2021 (107/1,161/8), but Claypool will certainly attract his fair share of targets. He should also really help replace JuJu’s red-zone presence (9 touchdowns in 2020). I expect Mitchell Trubisky to be the starter in 2022 and he should be an upgrade over the 2021 version of Big Ben, too.

Trubisky may not be a true MVP-caliber QB, but he did help his mediocre Bears offense reach the playoffs in 2020. He reached the Pro Bowl in 2018 and I believe he could be an “a prime Andy Dalton” or “prime Matt Schaub” for the Steelers for a couple of seasons. If Pickett is groomed as the QB2 at the start, he should soon be the starting QB.

I honestly am a big fan of Chase Chase Claypool’s outlook. His WR partner in Johnson is ranked as the 14th ranked WR in dynasty PPR via Fantasy Pros, while he is cemented as the 35th best WR. I love the floor for Claypool, as he should be very involved and he could really be a secret superstar. If Pickett can be the “next Big Ben”, Claypool could have a tremendous career, to say the least. It’s time to buy the WR that was often compared to Calvin Johnson Jr. as a draft prospect.

The post Chase Claypool: dynasty outlook appeared first on Pro Football Mania.

By Calvin K (Twitter: @Calvin_SGF)

The fantasy season is nearly here, and now that it’s later in August, most redraft leagues are finally getting started. The weeks leading up to the NFL’s opening games are always an exciting time, as tidbits of training camp and preseason news flow into social media feeds constantly throughout each day. As usual, there are many players that carry a lot of risk in redraft leagues this year. Below are three who pose difficult decisions for fantasy managers.

1. Tyler Lockett (WR, Seattle Seahawks)

Lockett finished as fantasy’s #9 receiver last year, yet he recorded just three top-10 fantasy weeks. His overall finish was drastically inflated by those weeks, and because of that, he likely wasn’t performing for your fantasy team at a WR1 level overall. Lockett’s first seven weeks were solid, as he had two blowup games and a couple of others where you probably weren’t mad about starting him. However, from Weeks 8-16, Lockett was disastrous for fantasy, posting just one week as a top-30 fantasy receiver. In that stretch, managers were likely starting him for many of those games due to his early-season production. Lockett’s Week 17 blow-up was obviously not counted in most fantasy leagues due to the season having ended, but anyone who played in that week likely didn’t start him then either.

To be fair to Lockett, Russell Wilson’s second-half performance in 2020 was very bad, and whether it was due to the play-calling, decision-making, or something else, that undoubtedly affected Lockett’s stock in a major way. However, Seahawks HC Pete Carroll has committed to reemphasizing the running game, something that could cause efficiency for Wilson, but major inconsistency from Lockett. Lockett is almost certain to be the second option in this offense behind D.K. Metcalf, and the additions of TE Gerald Everett and second-round WR D’Wayne Eskridge only hurt his potential. Lockett is almost certain to provide multiple great weeks again next year, but if he remains inconsistent, it’ll be maddening trying to predict when he’ll be startable.

2. Chase Claypool (WR, Pittsburgh Steelers)

Claypool is an amazing talent and a freak athlete, but like Lockett, consistency struggles could end up plaguing his fantasy performance this year. Claypool finished as the overall WR19 last year, but he put up top-36 WR numbers in just half his games. Part of that could be attributed to his acclimation period as a rookie, but three of his first five weeks had top-12 finishes, so that line of reasoning doesn’t make much of a difference in where he should be valued. Claypool could certainly see a second-year bump in production, but he could also struggle to gain targets with Pittsburgh retaining Diontae Johnson and JuJu Smith-Schuster again.

Claypool’s main target competition from 2020 will return again this year, but on top of the WR duo mentioned, there will be additional mouths to feed in Pittsburgh’s offense. First-round running back Najee Harris will likely command a major carry workload in year one, making Pittsburgh more run-heavy than it has been in the past. On top of that, Harris should also compete for receptions, further cutting into Claypool’s potential passing work. The addition of tight end Pat Freiermuth may only be a hindrance to the short-yardage work that Smith-Schuster specializes in, but even so, adding another capable pass-catcher to the offense certainly doesn’t help Claypool’s status. To reiterate, Claypool is a very talented receiver and a great athlete, however, the pass-catching room may end up being too crowded to make him a consistent starter.

3. Trey Sermon (RB, San Francisco 49ers)

Sermon is a fine late-round flier, but the multitude of options in this 49ers backfield makes it difficult to trust anyone in it, let alone the third-round rookie. Raheem Mostert is expected to lead this backfield in Week 1, but the hope of fantasy players is that Sermon takes over later in the season. It’s certainly possible that he grabs the starting role eventually, but with so many other options available on the team, the 49ers shouldn’t feel a need to give him a big workload in year one.

Along with Mostert, there are many other options in this backfield. Jeff Wilson is currently injured, but like in 2020, he should be a factor in the offense when healthy. Wayne Gallman also produced solid numbers last year with the Giants, and he could siphon away touches from Sermon as well. On top of that, it’s hardly a guarantee that Sermon surpasses Mostert for the lead role at all this year, as Mostert’s speed and explosiveness allow him to be a very efficient rusher. At cost, Sermon isn’t a terrible investment. However, fantasy managers need to be aware of the risk that he carries, and because of that risk, he could easily be seen as a bad draft-day value when the year is over.

The post The Biggest Fantasy Risks for 2021 appeared first on Pro Football Mania.

By: Corey Dunn

The NFL is an entity with constant change and moving parts. No team can escape the inevitable hard decisions that seem to linger in the offseason. The team that will be focused in this article are the Pittsburgh Steelers, mainly Diontae Johnson and Chase Claypool. They played in an amazing offense that seemed to stall out towards the end of the season, coupled with an elite head coach and plenty of question marks. Will Ben Roethlisberger return? Will he be effective? Will they have similar roles in the upcoming season? Let’s dive into the analysis a little here.

For starters, Diontae Johnson and Chase Claypool are by far from identical, despite finishing close to each other in the higher end WR20 range. Diontae is a smaller receiver at 5’10” 183 pounds and fits more of the Antonio Brown role that has been void since his departure in 2019. He is the kind of volume dependent wideout that Big Ben loves to turn into a star. With 10 plus targets in 10 of his 14 healthy games, he filled the role admirably, albeit only 6.4 yards per target. On the other hand, Chase Claypool is basically a superfreak that was created in a laboratory. He’s a freak at 6’4” 238 pounds, also running a 4.42 forty. He has a rare combination of size and speed that GM’s and head coaches drool over. He was routinely a downfield target, ranking in the top 10 in the NFL in air yards and an average target distance (aDOT) of 13.3 yards. 

Next, we need to know who is throwing them the ball. This is where it gets tricky. Ben Roethlisberger is rumoured to be returning to the Steelers with a new contract to be less of a cap hit, ESPN reports. I still don’t think it’s set in stone that he is returning, but I think it is around 65-35 leaning that he gives it one last go around. Mike Tomlin runs the most pass heavy offense in the league, averaging a league high 42.6 attempts a game. The Steelers have a good history of quarterbacks, so I have confidence in their ability to bring in a quality signal caller and trust Mike Tomlin’s so support multiple wideouts in the top 24. 

Finally we get to talk about the outlook of the wide receivers. First up is Diontae Johnson.He has elite footwork and has established himself as one of the best route runners in the NFL in just his second year. Despite being a smaller receiver, he carried a large load for the offense. We mentioned the intangibles earlier, but let’s dive deeper into the numbers now. The former Toledo Rocket carried the WR1 load for the Steelers offense with 144 total targets, but disappointed with 923 yards and a 61% catch rate. He was banged up a little early, which is concerning given the fact that he is a smaller receiver. The flashes of talent showed up inconsistently, however I did enjoy watching him work underneath. Most of his success came from slants, curls, and screens and him turning it upfield for a chunk gain. The biggest red flag was the league leading 11 drops during the season. The fact of the matter is that you cannot be an Alpha wideout with these types of stats nowadays. He can enjoy success but I’m not quite sure he can be a trusted fantasy WR1. He will consistently be around the WR2/3 range for the rest of his career. I do think he has a very solid future as a slot receiver in the NFL, but is a better real life football player than fantasy asset. Now, onto Chase Claypool.

Chase Claypool has a ton to be excited about, but first let’s dive into the blemishes.  I noticed that he would disappear a lot in games, most likely to the amount of go routes to open up the field underneath. Also, like his colleague Diontae, he struggled with drops. He had 5 drops on the season, which is not terrible and will likely be chalked up as rookie struggles.I don’t think that will be a major issue going forward though. His 56.9% catch rate on 109 targets is a tad concerning too. I think this is due to most of his targets being downfield and having less shallow routes for higher percentage targets. Now the good news. He had an 80.5% true catch rate and opened up a new page of the playbook as a field stretcher. His huge frame was also used a ton in the red zone, having 13 targets within the 20. He is only getting better and will be fun to watch going forward. I think that he has the type of frame and future workload to be a Mike Evans caliber of player. He simply has too much talent to keep wrapped up and it will be bad news for the league when he figures it all out.

To sum everything up, both wideouts will be someone you want to own in dynasty. Diontae will have his best seasons as a target hog, but with his role being a question mark after next season, he might be a sell high candidate.The futures of both hinge on where Juju Smith-Schuster goes. If he stays on a long term deal, it will be interesting to see how he eats into the shallow targets of Diontae Johnson. Chase Claypool is the piece of the offense that I would want, as his role is off of big plays and he doesn’t need a lot of targets to get to his value. His ceiling is 40+ points and we have already seen him hit that as a rookie. His speed will sneak up on slower defensive backs and he will have many chunk plays. Diontae’s ceiling is lower to me at around 26 points, which isn’t bad, but is purely volume based. A ceiling comparison for Diontae Johnson and Chase Claypool  would be Steve Smith and Vincent Jackson, respectively. I don’t believe DJ will reach his full potential once Big Ben retires though. I would recommend selling high on Diontae and getting as many shares of Chase Claypool like he’s GameStop or AMC.

The post Dynasty Outlook: Chase Claypool and Diontae Johnson appeared first on Pro Football Mania.