With Big Ben out, do I still start Pat Freiermuth on TE?
Or rather Dan Arnold, who has a pretty nice matchup?
I’m leaning towards Arnold here. He’s been pretty steady recently. So was Freiermuth, but he doesn’t get that many targets, and the quality of targets could suffer significantly with Mason Rudolph throwing him the ball. If he throws it to him at all…
We’re talking a half and a full PPR league here.
Any thoughts?
Assuming you mean week 11, and I wouldn’t assume Ben won’t be back, or Rudolph will be as bad (remember, Rudolph had a short practice week because Ben didn’t fail the COVID test until late in the week).
Jaguars are who you play when you don’t have anyone better. Freiermuth is better.
I was indeed referring to week 10, I did indeed start Dan Arnold, and I am very happy with my decision.
Arnold is one of the few TEs who is not TD-dependent. Not on a Kelce/Kittle/Waller-level, but still.
Freiermuth is the better TE, but Rudolph is just plain terrible at football. It’s his 4th year in Pittsburgh, it was his 12th start - sorry, “short practice week” is no excuse for what he showed. Yes, it was raining cats and dogs, but it did so on the Lions’ side of the field as well. And if you can’t even beat the 0-8 Lions, then you gotta ask yourself if you have a place in that league.
I really wonder what the Steelers are planning for next year. Buy a sports rollator and drag the remains of Big Ben out there? Or tank with Rudolph for the 2023 1.01 and hope to draft a startable QB then?
I think the Steelers will do something different next year. Their fan base will revolt if they roll out Ben again. As I’ve said numerous times, I’d love to see Jameis Winston as the Steeler QB. You’ve seen how the Saints dropped off without him? That is not a coincidence.
Absolutely. But the right time to acquire Winston would have been 1.5 years ago. They could have given him some time to adjust to the new environment, and started rolling him out this year - just like the Saints did.
Winston will be a free agent after this season, but a) he’ll be a lot more expensive to sign now, and b) he’ll be injured for a good portion of the offseason, and might not be at 100% for the start of training camp.
That doesn’t mean they shouldn’t sign him, I’m just saying that I wish they had signed him earlier already.
I wonder if they have any serious plans with Dwayne Haskins. He showed at least some flashes in Washington, but also a lot of red flags both on and off the field.
Aside from Haskins and Winston, what options do they have? Trubisky or Mariota would hardly be more than an intermediate solution. Minshew is an option that I like, but again, it would then have been wiser to acquire him this year already.
And trying another rookie would be a big risk. As I wrote in another discussion, after Kyler Murray and Justin Herbert, there was a certain expectation that plug-and-play rookie QBs are the new normal. But they are still the exception, rather than the rule.
I see Winston as the best solution for any team. He is a proven commodity that can score td’s. With rookies, as you pointed out, you can never be quite sure what you’re getting. With the Steelers proven WR corps, you have a perfect setup for Winston to excel.