When we speak of a 2013 fantasy surprise for the Pittsburgh Steelers, we aren’t projecting any outrageous developments. Saying that fourth-string quarterback John Parker Wilson will start multiple games or that LaRod Stephens-Howling will lead the team in rushing simply isn’t in the cards for this discussion.
However, predicting that Antonio Brown will nearly double his receiving output from last season or that rookie back Le’Veon Bell will exceed the 1,200-yard plateau during his first year on the job isn’t out of the question.
Let’s split the difference and argue why soon-to-be 36-year-old Plaxico Burress will produce over 400 receiving yards and six touchdowns.
Plaxico Burress, Wide Receiver
Burress compiled four 1,000-yard campaigns and 51 touchdowns between 2001 and 2007. He accrued those impressive numbers in four seasons with the Steelers and an additional three with the New York Giants.
After sitting out two years following his incarceration, Burress put up a respectable 612 yards and eight touchdowns for the quarterback-deficient New York Jets in 2011. He unfortunately played in just four games the following season upon returning to Pittsburgh and caught only three balls for 42 yards and one score.
How then is he supposed to post ten times as many yards and six times as many touchdowns during his seventh season in the Steel City and 12th overall NFL campaign?
For starters, Mike Wallace, the Steelers leading receiver from 2012 with 836 yards and eight touchdowns, is no longer on the squad. The blazing downfield threat will be catching passes down in South Beach in 2013.
Moreover, one of the league’s most productive tight ends in Heath Miller will likely miss the first six games of the season. Pittsburgh’s second-leading pass-catcher with 816 yards and eight scores is in the midst of an extensive recovery after tearing his ACL, MCL and PCL in Week 16.
That leaves Brown, Emmanuel Sanders, rookie Markus Wheaton and seldom used Jerricho Cotchery as the potential top four wideouts. There is not another reliable tight end and only Cotchery of the aforementioned receivers stands above six feet tall (6’1’’).
Ergo, enter the 6’5’’, sure-handed Burress. The former 1,000-yard, double-digit TD-receiver has proven time and again his effectiveness in the red zone. He possesses tremendous leaping ability and can secure the football at its highest point.
He and Ben Roethlisberger also established a rapport in the quarterback’s rookie season. Burress hauled in five of Roethlisberger’s 17 TD passes, or nearly one-third.
The one potential obstacle to this development is the Steelers power-run game that will materialize with the big-bodied Bell and Jonathan Dwyer. The rook brings an imposing 6’1’’, 244-pound frame to the field—and produced 33 touchdowns in three years for Michigan State—while Dwyer is no small man himself at 5’11’’ and 229 pounds. They will surely be effective close to the goal line.
At the end of the day, though, Burress will get just enough touches between the 20’s for 500-plus receiving yards and ample red-zone opportunities for six touchdown catches. Peg him as a solid WR3 option in your fantasy league with his near 100-point output in 2013.
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