As soon as Mike Wallace decided to not return to the Pittsburgh Steelers this offseason, all eyes in Pittsburgh turned to Antonio Brown to take over as the team’s main wide receiver.
Despite being a No. 1 receiver in the NFL, most fantasy owners are overlooking Brown, who is going as the 25th receiver according to FantasyPro’s average draft position rankings. But with Ben Roethlisberger as his quarterback and the lack of other options on the Steelers, Brown has a chance to catapult ahead of the injury-concerned receivers going ahead of him such as Hakeem Nicks and Jordy Nelson.
2012 Statistics | Rec. | Yds. | YPC | TDs | Fantasy Points |
| 66 | 787 | 11.9 | 5 | 111 |
2013 Outlook
Despite being a slot receiver in Pittsburgh last year, Brown still managed to produce four games of double-digit fantasy points and only three of his 13 games played produced four or less fantasy points. Brown’s production will inherently increase because of the loss of Wallace in the offseason, and Big Ben will mainly have Brown and Emmanuel Sanders to look to.
Brown carries more value in point per reception leagues, with Sanders being more of the big-play receiver. Brown only had two catches last year when the ball was thrown for more than 21 yards, and caught 23 balls when the pass was thrown behind the line of scrimmage, according to ESPN. Pittsburgh has a ton of faith in Brown’s speed, and often runs screens for him while Sanders streaks down the field.
When Pittsburgh is in the red zone, they often look for Brown. According to ESPN, Brown had more touchdown receptions (four) than any other Steeler receiver when the team was in the red zone. Potential Brown owners should also expect the Steelers to throw more this year, with a running back-by-committee system presumably in place for most of this season. Roethlisberger also was more effective the more he threw in 2012, completing 65 percent of his passes when he threw the ball 31 or more times in a game, compared to his 63 percent completion percentage when he threw the ball between 11 and 20 times in a game, via ESPN.
And with no Wallace, Brown is sure to be on the receiving end of most of those passes.
Dynasty Outlook
At only 25, Brown is a very strong dynasty option as a NO. 2 receiver. The Steelers have him under contract through the 2017 season, so he likely won’t be changing teams any time soon. As Roethlisberger gets used to life without Wallace, Brown’s performance is only going to improve as he builds a relationship with Big Ben.