Steelers vs Browns Fantasy Football Worksheet, Week 11

• Since acquiring Minkah Fitzpatrick, the Steelers are allowing 227.0 passing yards per game (sixth) to opposing passers and 6.0 yards per pass attempt (fifth).
• Over that span, the Steelers are second in the NFL in pressure rate (36.6%) and sack rate (9.7%).
• Baker Mayfield has been under pressure for 26.8% of his dropbacks since Week 6 (the lowest rate in the league over that span) after being pressured on 37.4% of his dropbacks through five weeks (11th-highest).
• Pittsburgh has forced multiple turnovers in eight consecutive games, the longest streak for any team in a single season since 2013.
• The Steelers have a turnover on offense in 16 consecutive games, tied for the longest streak in the league (Giants) and their longest streak as a franchise since the 2008-2009 seasons.
• The Steelers are 32nd in the league in expected points added via their rushing offense (minus-41.9).
• The Steelers average 4.5 yards per play on first down, ahead of only Washington (4.4) and Miami (3.9).
• The Browns allow 6.7 yards per play on first down, the most in the league.
• Nick Chubb is second in the league in opportunities from inside of the 10-yard line (21) but ranks 44th in fantasy points from that area of the field (19.0).

On the Cusp (proxy of a player’s average)

• Nick Chubb: In Chubb’s first game with Hunt game active, he played 81.4% of the snaps, ran 25 pass routes and received a touch or target on 42.1% of his snaps (his season average was 44.5% coming in). Chubb also handled 8-of-9 red zone opportunities for the backfield and all seven opportunities inside of the 5-yard line. After hitting 17 fantasy points or more in three of his first four games, Chubb has been below 15.0 points in four of his past five games due to some poor touchdown fortune. The Steelers have only allowed four touchdowns to opposing backs this season (third). 
• Odell Beckham: Beckham received a season-high 12 targets last week (32% of the team total) and 168 air yards. Unfortunately, the results remained similar (5-57-0) to his season totals. Beckham came out of his three-game run versus Stephon Gilmore, Chris Harris, and Tre’Davious White with 15 catches for 196 yards. The Steelers aren’t a good matchup by any means for wideouts (13th in points allowed per game), but at least Beckham isn’t running into a premier corner exclusively once again. Joe Haden has played 91% of his snaps this season at LCB, where Beckham runs 37% of his routes at RWR. 
• Jarvis Landry: Landry has double-digit targets in three straight games. That could be a byproduct of Beckham having such a tough string of games, but Landry still had 10 targets last week when Beckham had 12 looks go in his direction. Landry has been a WR3 or better in five of his past six games. 
• James Conner: Expected to return this week, Conner has been a top-eight scorer in three of his past four games played, despite rushing for more than 55 yards in just one game this season. Over that span, he’s had games with 8-83-1 and 7-78-1 receiving. Cleveland is 28th in yards per carry allowed (4.81) to opposing backfields while ranking 19th in rushing points allowed per game (13.8) and 14th in receiving points allowed per game (10.1) to backs.

Bust (down-week production for that player’s standards)

• Mason Rudolph: Rudolph has been higher than QB16 in just one of his six starts. He’s hit 7.0 yards per pass attempt in only one game so far, and that was against the Bengals.

If You Must (intriguing bench option or deeper league play) 

• Baker Mayfield: Mayfield has just one QB1 scoring week on the season, but he has at least 17 fantasy points in three of his past four games. That includes matchups against the Broncos and Bills, who rank third and fourth in passing points allowed per game in the league. Mayfield is not a top-12 option, but has shown a usable floor in a string of tough matchups. The Steelers haven’t allowed a QB1 scoring week since Week 2, but the highest passer they’ve faced in passing points per game over that span is Philip Rivers, who ranks 15th.
• Kareem Hunt: Hunt played 38 snaps in his Cleveland debut. He rushed the ball just four times, but the Browns utilized his receiving ability as he ran 23 pass routes and was targeted on 23.7% of his snaps, the highest rate for a running back in Week 10. That receiving usage is enough to keep him in play as a lower-end RB2/FLEX option, but Hunt is going to need to be used near the end zone to unlock his fantasy upside. 
• Steelers WRs: Since Week 3, JuJu Smith-Schuster has caught 25-of-41 targets for 341 yards and three touchdowns (77.1 fantasy points) while Diontae Johnson has caught 26-of-37 targets for 321 yards and three touchdowns (76.9 points). Over the past two weeks, James Washington has entered the frame, matching Smith-Schuster’s 11 targets, while catching a team-high 10 passes for 159 yards and a touchdown. The flat target distribution from a bottom-half quarterback makes this a tough group to rely on stability outside of WR3 levels, but if picking on a target in the Cleveland secondary, T.J. Carrie has allowed a 114.3 rating in his coverage this season, the highest of the group. Smith-Schuster runs 61% of his routes in the slot, where Carrie plays 73% of his snaps.
• Vance McDonald: McDonald has seven targets in each of the past two games, but has done little with them, catching eight passes for 41 yards and a touchdown. In his games without a touchdown, he hasn’t finished higher than TE21.