It remains to truly been seen what the Pittsburgh Steelers’ offense in 2021 will look like under new offensive coordinator Matt Canada, but one thing continues to gain traction and attention in fantasy football worlds ahead of this season: the hype for Chase Claypool in his second season with the Steelers and veteran quarterback Ben Roethlisberger.
Claypool burst onto the scene in 2020, quickly becoming a viable No. 2-3 wide receiver in fantasy football for an eight-week stretch between Weeks 2 through 10. Though he hit a rookie wall and fell off a bit down the stretch before putting up back-to-back great games against the Cleveland Browns in Week 17 and the Wild Card loss, Claypool’s stock is sky-high ahead of the 2021 season in fantasy football circles.
Pro Football Focus continues to ride that train, listing Claypool as one of five young wide receivers that fantasy football owners should make sure is on every roster that they have this season.
Claypool is listed with San Francisco’s Brandon Aiyuk, Cincinnati’s Tee Higgins, Denver’s K.J. Hamler, and Minnesota’s Justin Jefferson by Pro Football Focus’ Kevin Cole.
Claypool, who compares favorably in fantasy football terms to guys like Tennessee’s A.J. Brown and Julio Jones, along with former Kansas City standout Dwayne Bowe, is considered a must-have by PFF this season.
“Claypool shares a handful of high-end comps with Tee Higgins, but also brings in Julio Jones and Dez Bryant. Though on lower volume, Claypool hit outstanding efficiency in his rookie season at 2.0 yard per route run and a healthy aDOT of 13.8 yards. He combines those numbers with the natural upside of a receiver who weighed in at 238 pounds and ran a 4.42-second 40-yard dash at the NFL combine. If you could build the next dominant fantasy wide receiver, he’d look a lot like Claypool,” Cole writes. “…Claypool’s ADP has risen somewhat over the past month and fell in recent days on injury reports, though initial indications are that it’s a minor ankle issue. Presuming Claypool can get back on the practice field soon, he has a ton of upside at his current WR26 ADP.”
The second-year star receiver will garner a bunch of looks in the red zone, and should emerge as a strong No. 2 option in Pittsburgh, potentially edging out JuJu Smith-Schuster this season in targets. It all comes down to what exactly Canada’s offense looks like and how touches are schemed up for the receivers throughout the season.
Regardless, with his skillset and the production he showed throughout his rookie season, Claypool is in line for a significant year two jump and will be a hot commodity in the fantasy football world leading up to the 2021 season.
