Are you working on a major medical breakthrough or about to reconcile with your estranged grandparents? Well, put that stuff on pause, because fantasy football is back in its rightful place as the most important thing in our lives. It’s all the fun of being an easily aggravated NFL GM without a pesky seven figure payday getting in the way. Real GMs must be jealous we pay to do this, right? Right?
We’re currently in that mystical preseason place where anything can happen with your fantasy football squad. (Remember to get that lewd joke or Simpsons-based team name sorted out in advance.) Optimism is plentiful, you’ve decided to never trust Jeremy Langford again, and your would-be superteam is destined for glory. We at UPROXX believe in you and your holy quest and we want to help.
Every NFL squad always has a player (or six) that are bound to seduce you into drafting them too high and put you in some variety of Archer certified Danger Zone. These are the sort of fantasy options that could still pay off huge, but come with some serious questions before you make your official selection. We’ve wrangled together a tidy collection of 32 players (one for each team, including the dead mall of a football club that is the New York Jets) that we think are worth having a think about before joining your roster.
Today we peer into the seedy underbelly of the AFC North. The Steelers are stacked with the likes of Le’Veon Bell and Antonio Brown in their black and yellow attack, although the Ravens, Bengals and Browns deserve your attention too. Here are the players you’ll want to think twice about before selecting in your draft and mailing them a $40,000 check. (Or whatever it is you do in your fantasy league.)
AFC North
Baltimore Ravens – RB Danny Woodhead
Reason To Salivate: Danny Woodhead returns after an injury-ravaged 2016 in a bid to establish himself as a scary rushing/receiving threat in Baltimore’s attack. Steve Smith Sr. has retired at age 58 (approximately) and Dennis Pitta is off the Ravens too, so Woodhead could be in line to feast on a variety scoring options too.
Reason To Worry: Woodhead is on the wrong side of 30 in a busy backfield and last season he got his parting gift in Week 2 in the form of an ACL tear. BACK AT THE TICKER TAPE! Woodhead is capable of bouncing back to his 2015 form and he’s equally capable of being knocked around in what’s been a weak run game. Touches will be there for diminutive back, but go in knowing that Terrance West projects to be handling early down work and still has the capability to return to the shining moments he sometimes served up in Baltimore’s already forgotten 2016 campaign.
Cincinnati Bengals – WR John Ross
Reason To Salivate: A.J. Green (a man that has to dress as a tiger at his day job) is in line to get some much-needed help with ninth overall pick John Ross being helicoptered into what was a stale Bengals offense in 2016. Plucked from Washington, Ross wowed NFL scouts with a Combine record 4.22 in the 40-yard-dash. Sure, he experienced calf issues after that, but who says a wide receiver heralded for speed needs his legs to be 100 percent?
Reason To Worry: The ghost of Al Davis might strangle me with his cold phantom hands for saying this, but speed isn’t always everything. If it were, other 40-yard-dash successes (like Dri Archer and Marquis Goodwin) would be selected to Pro Bowl after Pro Bowl. Frankly, for every Chris Johnson, there’s a handful of DeMarcus Van Dykes. Cincy has a number of potential busts or overreach candidates (Dalton and Eifert ahoy!), so Ross isn’t alone in this predicament. Top 10 draft picks spent on receivers are reliably a mixed bag, so know there’s a lot of potential pain attached to his would-be deep threat.
Cleveland Browns – RB Isaiah Crowell
Reason To Salivate: Why not Cleveland? There’s mild optimism (as there is every year) that maybe the slow shift towards success might/could/should be happening. The prospect of such a thing makes Isaiah Crowell an alluring running back option. He’s the lead back behind a significantly improved offensive line, and in 2016, Crowell finished with healthy stats for a Brown (952 yards rushing, 319 yards receiving). Right now, Isaiah Crowell is ranked 30th on the overall ADP index.
Reason To Worry: *hands you a pamphlet titled So You’ve Decided To Trust The Cleveland Browns* Is Isaiah worth snapping up in a late second or early third round situation? That’s between you, your gambling magic, and what you think Duke Johnson Jr.’s role is going to be in Cleveland’s offense. Crowell may be the lead back heading into 2017, but Johnson’s been the go-to back for receiving glory and is bound to get more looks with Terrelle Pryor plying his trade for Washington. If Cleveland does something novel and scores touchdowns in 2017, Johnson’s rising play (he underrated carrying the ball for the Browns) might result in the 23-year-old former Hurricane leapfrogging Crowell in the depth chart before Columbus Day. Something to consider before grabbing Crowell early so no one else can have him.
Pittsburgh Steelers – QB Ben Roethlisberger
Reason To Salivate: Despite his tendency to be juggling sixty ailments at once Mr. Burns’ immune system style, Ben Roethlisberger has been more than capable of making his mark in fantasy. Not to mention, Big Ben has superhuman Antonio Brown and the still-to-be reinstated Martavis Bryant as targets in the Steeltown offense and an offensive line that should keep No. 7 upright most of the time as Pittsburgh aims to knock off New England to reach the Super Bowl.
Reason To Worry: Big Ben was fantastic at home last campaign, but on the road? That’s where it gets ugly. At home, Roethlisberger threw 20 TDs, five picks and registered a 2016 passing rating of 116.7. On the road? Nine touchdowns, eight interceptions and a far less flattering QB rating of 78.4. Situated around the No. 13 mark in quarterback ADP, you might be in danger of not getting a full season of value out of that pick thanks to an inevitable future injury or three and Roethlisberger’s drop in quality while on tour. (It could be a very frustrating year is what I’m getting at.)
