Daily Fantasy: The one Steelers player you need to start in Week 3 on DraftKings

Diontae Johnson is flourishing with Ben Roethlisberger at QB and is the Steelers DraftKings player to start in Week 3 against Houston.

The Pittsburgh Steelers are 2-0 and getting back to their balanced offensive attack with future of Hall of Fame quarterback Ben Roethlisberger healthy and resuming his climb up the NFL record books.

The Steelers returned to practice on Wednesday to prepare for the Texans in Week 3, and both wide receivers JuJu Smith-Schuster (knee) and Diontae Johnson (toe) sat out practice. Johnson currently leads the Steelers with 14 receptions for 149 yards and a touchdown and with Pittsburgh facing a Texans defense that currently ranks 25th in defensive efficiency, the young wideout is the Steelers player to pick up in DraftKings’ DFS format.

Fantasy football managers on Draftkings and all platforms should not only roster but start the second-year wideout who led the team with 59 receptions last season, and has become one of Roethlisberger’s most reliable targets.

Johnson has reached double-digit targets in each of the first two weeks including eight passes for 92 yards and a touchdown against the Broncos last Sunday. Johnson and Smith-Schuster are looking like one of the top wide receiving duos in the league and the second-year pro should flourish while continuing to fly under the radar.

Daily Fantasy: The one Steelers player you need to start in Week 2 on DraftKings

Benny Snell is coming off a great performance in relief of James Conner.

The Pittsburgh Steelers officially got their swagger back on offense and all it took was the return of a future Hall of Famer and the team’s all-time passing leader Ben Roethlisberger.

In Sunday’s season-opening road win over the New York Giants, Benny Snell Jr. played the role of workhorse back in relief of an injured James Conner, rushing for 113 yards on 19 carries in Sunday’s win.

With Connor’s status uncertain going into Week 2 against the Broncos, expect Snell ($4,500 DraftKings salary) to receive plenty of attention on the waiver wire and a healthy number of carries. The Broncos gave up 116 yards on the ground to Derrick Henry on Monday night and once Roethlisberger opens the passing lanes early on, it’ll allow Snell to exploit Denver’s defense.

Snell poses an interesting dynamic as a pass-catcher, as well, making him a must-start on Sunday.

If Connor’s injury lingers, Snell, who’s already owned by 16% percent of DraftKing participants, could see his value and cost rise as the Steelers increase his usage rates.

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Daily Fantasy: The one Steelers player you need to start in Week 1 on DraftKings

Daily Fantasy: The one Steelers player you need to start in Week 1 on Draft Kings

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The 2020 NFL season is upon us and that means fans and experts alike will be closely watching their favorites players stat lines for fantasy football. The Pittsburgh Steelers open up on the road against an NFC East bottom-feeder, the New York Giants.

The Giants went 3-13 in 2019, leading to a coaching change that saw Joe Judge go from a special teams/wide receiver coach for the Patriots to earning New York’s most appealing head coaching job.

With the regular season set to kick on Thursday night, the Steelers vaunted defense is the one unit that is must start in DraftKings and daily fantasy this week.

Pittsburgh has the 6th ranked D/ST in DraftKing’s fantasy football rankings and the Steelers are coming off a campaign in which they were second in fantasy points per game last season, utilizing a ferocious pass rush and talented secondary that played off the charts after the arrival of Minkah Fitzpatrick. The Steelers led the NFL in sacks and takeaways last year and face the Giants’ second-year signal-caller Daniel Jones, who just so happen to lead the NFL with 23 giveaways in 2019, good for second in the NFL.

With a mostly virtual offseason because of the pandemic, the Giants will look for rhythm in an offense that’ll be looking to gain coherency on the fly, a definite advantage for a Steelers defense that returns just about every integral piece from last season, including one of the top passers in all of football in Ben Roethlisberger.

If the Steelers offense can muster points and a ball-control offense, it could force the Giants to become one dimensional, straying away from Saquon Barkley, while leaning more on Daniel Jones.

If Pittsburgh can make the Giants one-dimensional that will create more opportunities for turnovers and the Steelers thrive off such a scenario.

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