Friday Football Footnotes — Fantasy Football edition: When to draft certain Steelers, how to best construct your team
Share this post:
As the NFL preseason wraps up over the next 10 days or so, this is going to be a huge week for fantasy football drafts across Pittsburgh and the rest of the country.
So for “Friday Football Footnotes” this week, we spoke with Jeff Erickson of Rotowire. He’s our long-time fantasy sports analyst at “Breakfast With Benz.” And he answered a six pack of important fantasy football questions for us.
I assume that more than a few six packs will be consumed at many fantasy football drafts this weekend. So the number seemed appropriate.
Is Najee Harris a first-round pick?
“Yeah. He’s a first-rounder,” Erickson said of the Steelers running back.
Assuming Indianapolis Colts star Jonathan Taylor is at the top of most running-back boards, Erickson said you won’t have to go too much deeper before getting to Harris.
“I’d put (Austin) Eckler (LAC) and (Dalvin) Cook (Minn.) before him. I’d actually put Najee ahead of Derrick Henry (Tenn.). And what you do with (Christian) McCaffery (Car.) is your business,” Erickson said, referring to some concerns about McCaffrey coming off of injury the past two years. “Somewhere around eight or nine (for Harris) in the first round overall.”
Right now, RotoWire is tracking Harris’ average draft position is at 6.9.
How do you rank the three top Steelers wide receivers?
“Pickens is the guy with all the helium. All the buzz. But Diontae Johnson is still the first receiver,” Erickson said. “I think you can debate Claypool versus Pickens. I have Claypool ahead of Pickens. But I wouldn’t fight you if you wanted to go Pickens over Claypool on the dream of what might be.”
RotoWire currently has Johnson as the 37th-rated player. Claypool is 107. Pickens is 157. Erickson said the difference between Claypool and Pickens might be the touches that Claypool gets out of the slot in the run game.
“The NFL is a copycat league. We all saw how much success the Niners had with Deebo. We’ve seen Claypool carry the ball on jet sweeps and wouldn’t be surprised if that happened again,” Erickson said.
Related
• Tim Benz: If Pittsburgh thinks Aaron Donald shouldn’t be suspended, then we are moving the goalposts
• With future up in the air, Mason Rudolph not looking beyond Steelers’ preseason finale
• Elijah Riley hops on moving train, plays nickel and free safety in 1st practice with Steelers
How early should you take Kansas City’s Travis Kelce as the No. 1 tight end?
“I’ve got Kelce in the second round somewhere. Early in the second round, in the range of 13 to 18,” Erickson said.
Erickson thinks the next tight end should be Baltimore’s Mark Andrews early in the third round, followed by Atlanta’s Kyle Pitts late in the third. He’s got San Francisco’s George Kittle as the fourth tight end off the board, followed by the Raiders’ Darren Waller. But Erickson is a bit leery of Waller, given a nagging hamstring injury and the acquisition of Davante Adams. He may take some of Derek Carr’s red-zone targets away from Waller.
As far as the Steelers’ Pat Freiermuth? He has him as roughly the 10th tight end on the board.
Who are the first-round wide receivers?
Looking to break up the running back party? This year more than ever, the wise guys are saying soak up some wide receivers early.
So in a typical 12-team league, how many receivers are going in the first round?
“Usually five,” Erickson said. “There is a big three. There is (Justin) Jefferson (Minn.), (Cooper) Kupp (L.A. Rams), and (Ja’Marr) Chase (Cinn.), in any order. I think Stefon Diggs (Buffalo) is a clear first-round player. And I think you can make an argument for Davante Adams (Las Vegas) as well.”
Right now, RotoWire has Jefferson as the second overall selection in both standard scoring and PPR (points per reception) leagues.
What’s the earliest I should pick a QB? Who? And how fast should I do it?
“It’s (Josh) Allen,” Erickson said. “If he is sitting there in the fourth, I’ll pull the trigger.”
Erickson said it’s normally wise to wait on quarterbacks. But if Allen goes in the fourth round, going for Patrick Mahomes and/or Justin Herbert in the fifth isn’t a bad plan.
Is Kenny Pickett worth taking late in a keeper league?
“Not a bad idea,” Erickson said. “But if you are in a one-QB league, I wouldn’t bother chasing Pickett too much unless you think he is going to be a top five or six quarterback. Because you can always get a quarterback at a reasonable price.”
Erickson said the same premise applies to Pickens at wide receiver, even though some may be willing to chase him early after the rapid success enjoyed by Jefferson and Chase.
“If you get him in the 10th round, he has that next leap,” Erickson said. “We got spoiled by Chase, Jefferson and other rookie wide receivers. Usually, there are some growing pains. I would probably temper some expectations. But I like taking guys like that, taking a flier and seeing what you can get.”
In addition to how to best pick your fantasy teams, Tim Benz talks with Erickson about how the Steelers’ bad offensive line may influence draft positioning, independent defensive player drafting and the demise of kickers in some leagues.