Bengals at Steelers
Two of the most exciting wide receivers face off against each other in this divisional game that boasts a Vegas total of 48. The Bengals travel to Pittsburgh to face the Steelers and are three-point road underdogs currently.
Bengals
Writer: John Proctor
QB – Andy Dalton
While A.J. Green has historically performed well against the Steelers, Dalton has not, underperforming his career average by five points per game against the Steelers. FantasyLabs Editor-in-Chief Matt Freedman also found that QBs tend to perform worse when facing divisional foes. These AFC North matchups are often messy affairs, and Dalton seems like a tough quarterback to roster at his price point.
RB – Jeremy Hill
The most maddening backfield in football saw Hill carry the ball nine times for 31 yards and a touchdown in Week 1. Hill’s week-to-week usage looks to be totally dependent on game flow, and the Bengals are a three-point underdog this week against the Steelers. Generally, running backs perform worse as road dogs, with a FanDuel Plus/Minus of -0.09.
RB – Giovani Bernard
In theory, Bernard should be the running back to target in games in which Hill does not see heavy usage. Unfortunately, that theory did not pan out in Week 1, as Gio had only seven touches. Neither of these backs can be used with any confidence after both received fewer than 10 touches in Week 1.
WR – A.J. Green
Green has dominated the Steelers when playing in Pittsburgh:
In fact, he’s just dominated the Steelers in general.
Widely projected to see a major boost in targets this year, Green saw 13 targets in Week 1, catching 12 of them for 180 yards and a touchdown. In what is expected to be a high-scoring game, the Bengals are going to have to throw to A.J. to keep up. And the Pittsburgh secondary also allows a slate-high +3.4 FanDuel Plus/Minus to wide receivers.
WR – Brandon LaFell
After struggling in 2015, LaFell finished Week 1 as PFF’s 15th-highest graded receiver. LaFail no more. He caught all four of his targets for 91 yards against the Jets. Currently ahead of rookie Tyler Boyd on the depth chart and starting on the outside, LaFell draws a good matchup in Week 2. According to the FantasyLabs Matchups tool, he should spend most of his day squaring off with Ross Cockrell, PFF’s 61st-ranked cornerback.
WR – Tyler Boyd
A preseason standout, Boyd managed to get three targets last week, corralling two of them for 24 yards. Behind Green, LaFell and Gio on the receiving pecking chart, Boyd is going to struggle to have fantasy relevance until he earns a larger role. This week, according to the FantasyLabs Matchups tool, he’s likely to square off against the Steelers’ highest-PFF graded cornerback, William Gay.
TE – C.J. Uzomah
Last week, Uzomah rewarded that one person who started him in a tournament with two receptions for 59 yards on five targets. However, while being used as the starting tight end in the preseason, Uzomah caught only one pass for 10 yards and was essentially irrelevant to the offense. With a healthy Ryan Shazier, the Steelers were able to limit Jordan Reed to seven catches for 64 yards. Look elsewhere.
Steelers
Writer: John Proctor
QB – Ben Roethlisberger
On Monday night against the Redskins, Big Ben showed that a a Martavis Bryant-less offense can still function. He threw for 300 yards and three touchdowns but did struggle at times with an interception and a fumble.
In Week 2, we should expect Ben to be less sharp than usual, as he historically has fewer fantasy points against AFC North opponents than others.
RB – DeAngelo Williams
Wow. Since joining the Steelers last year, Williams has had a complete rebirth into serious fantasy relevance. He has averaged 23.44 points-per-reception points in games in which he has had more than eight rushing attempts for the Steelers. Against the Bengals this week, Williams has the third-highest median, floor, and ceiling projections in the Player Models.
WR – Antonio Brown
Only twice in the past two years has a receiver been priced over $9,500 on DraftKings. In those two games, Odell Beckham Jr. scored 39.5 points and Brown scored 35.6 points.
While continuing to operate in God mode, Brown has been priced $400 higher on DraftKings than the next wideout, OBJ. However, Brown has only the third-highest receiver salary on FanDuel this week. Per the FantasyLabs ownership projections, he’s expected to be the highest-owned receiver on the slate.
WR – Eli Rogers
Rogers stood out in the preseason and earned the starting slot receiver role on this offense. He continued to impress in Week 1. Catching six of seven targets for 59 yards and a touchdown last week, Rogers finished as the second-highest scoring Steelers receiver. Even after having an impressive Week 1, Rogers still saw his price drop $100 on DraftKings. Rogers also has a chance to square off against special teamer, Josh Shaw, if slot cornerback Darqueze Dennard misses another game.
WR – Sammie Coates
After struggling this preseason, Coates outsnapped Darrius Heyward-Bey 44 to 15 in the Steelers’ first game. He only saw three targets, but so long as he continues to operate in the Martavis Bryant role Coates has some deep flyer appeal. Coates currently ranks as PFF’s 86th overall wide receiver after one week.
WR – Darrius Heyward-Bey
Wildly discussed as the heir apparent to Martavis Bryant, DHB only played 15 snaps last week. Unless he passes Coates on the depth chart, Heyward-Bey is going to remain irrelevant.
TE – Jesse James
After a solid Week 1 outing, James is expected to be more popular this week (per the FantasyLabs ownership projections). While his ownership may increase, he faces a tougher matchup against a strong group of Cincinnati linebackers. He doesn’t even have a top-20 DraftKings rating in the Levitan Player Model.
News Updates
After this piece is published, FantasyLabs is likely to provide news updates on a number of players herein mentioned. Be sure to stay ahead of your competition with our industry-leading DFS-focused news blurbs:
