Pittsburgh Steelers vs. Cleveland Browns Fantasy Football Matchup Breakdown For Week 8
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Pittsburgh Steelers vs. Cleveland Browns Fantasy Football Matchup Breakdown For Week 8

John Laghezza breaks down the AFC North clash between the Browns and the Steelers for Week 8.

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Do not adjust your computer screen; it’s true — the Cleveland Browns are heading to the Steel City to face Aaron Rodgers for sole possession of the AFC North’s divisional lead. What a wild season so far …

Steelers vs. Browns matchup Breakdown For Week 8 Fantasy Football

*Fantasy Football Rankings listed are Fantasy Life's half-PPR consensus ranks at the time of writing.

CLE_browns-logo.svgCleveland Browns Fantasy Preview For Week 8

Not sure too many sharps penciled the Browns in for five wins total, let alone before Halloween. While Cleveland’s offensive metrics scream negative regression (19.0 PPG, 5.0 yards/play, 43.3% success, -0.07 EPA/play), Deshaun Watson’s still dropping back +37 times a game while adding +30 rushing yards per contest. Remove character quality from the equation. This iteration of Watson under Todd Monken protects the ball, doing a demonstrably better job avoiding sacks, which provides the pathway to consistent, though not stellar QB2-level production — he’s yet to finish inside the top-10 or outside the top-25 this year.

Despite a Denzel Boston deep ball to earn a top-12 finish all the way back in Week 2, Cleveland's struggled to highlight a single WR in any of their first six games — not one player logged a top-20 weekly rank. That is, until KC Concepcion went off in Week 7 (8-129-0), finally fulfilling those first-round expectations. If Cleveland’s going to stand a chance against a stout Pittsburgh defense, Concepcion’s the skeleton key. The word of the day? Versatility. Not only did KC reel in four grabs from the slot, plus two more of +20 air yards, he even carried the ball three times for 29 yards.

So long as the OC’s designing custom-made touches for the rookie, Concepcion’s going to present a force to be reckoned with. Hard to start anyone else in orange Sunday, other than trying to time Harold Fannin’s — which probably stands a low shot of hitting this weekend against a PIT defense allowing the third-fewest TE receptions/game this season (4.1).

Cleveland’s ground game appears uninspiring from a surface view of the spreadsheets (-0.13 EPA/rush, 4.1 yards/carry), but I’m more than ready to discard the lot with the return of Dylan Sampson. Not only is the second-year fourth-rounder a good player in his own right as a legitimate complement to Quinshon Judkins, but his versatility challenges the defense to guess more than they would otherwise. Still firmly behind Judkins on the depth chart, there’s standalone value here for deeper leaguers, with a major contingency boost in case of emergency.

  • Start: Quinshon Judkins (RB25), KC Concepcion (WR28)
  • Sit: Dehsuan Watson (QB23), Harold Fannin (TE14)
  • Sleeper: Denzel Boston (WR35)

PIT_steelers-logo.svgPittsburgh Steelers Fantasy Preview For Week 8

Aaron Rodgers’ streak of four straight QB1 finishes with multiple TDs in each came crashing to a halt early Sunday against the Saints of all people. Go figure. Maybe it's international travel to blame; we’ll never know. Anyways, the old man’s gotta be champing at the bit to play stateside again, though I’m tempering expectations against what’s shaping into a solid defensive unit in spite of Myles Garrett’s departure — the combination of Quincy Williams, Carson Schwesinger, and Mason Graham up front’s no joke. Cleveland’s allowed the fifth-lowest completion rate (60.1%), while leading the NFL in splash plays/snap (2.7). Could be another long day at the office for the Steelers and a good spot for fantasy managers to back off starting any secondary pieces.

Denzel Ward patrolling the secondary allows CLE to run the highest rate of man coverage by a mile (42.4%), though DK Metcalf (5-115-0) did get his in their initial Week 4 matchup. Not sure I trust PIT to run the offense efficiently, which they’ll have to do considering they’re also the slowest-moving unit in the league. Obviously DK Metcalf and Germie Bernard garner weekly interest via route volume, but I’d sit the rookie one more week — his reliance on slot work at a low aDOT doesn't match up well Sunday.

Speaking of players we’re morally obligated to start out of principle, Jaylen Warren’s been forced back into the committee-shaped box he’s spent so much of his career in. After seemingly giving management all the ammunition they needed to anoint him a rest-of-season bellcow, Rico Dowdle returns and those hopes are firmly laid to rest. Sure, Warren played 68% of snaps in two weeks as a tandem — but it only translated to a 59.7% backfield opportunity share, with equal splits in both Pittsburgh’s receiving game and red zone work. Sigh.

  • Start: Jaylen Warren (RB11), DK Metcalf (WR21)
  • Sit: Aaron Rodgers (QB21), Pat Freiermuth (TE16)
  • Sleeper: Germie Bernard (WR24)

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