With Kenny Pickett currently banged up and questionable for their Thursday Night Football showdown with the Tennessee Titans, the Pittsburgh Steelers‘ talented WR duo of Diontae Johnson and George Pickens puts fantasy football managers in a tricky spot. If given the option between both players, which Steelers WR should you start in your fantasy lineup in Week 9?
Should You Start Diontae Johnson or George Pickens This Week?
In the Pro Football Network Start/Sit Optimizer, PFN’s Consensus Rankings say that Johnson is the player to start. His projected 12.7 points include a projection of 63 receiving yards and six receptions. That doesn’t seem like a big stat line, but it outperforms the consensus projection for Pickens (12.4 points).
Pickens has been a consistent producer despite the struggles of the Steelers’ offense this season. He has posted three 100-yard receiving performances and scored three touchdowns this season, which has helped him get in the WR2 conversation on a weekly basis with his current WR28 ranking in PPR formats. However, his production does require a bit of context with regards to this decision between him and Johnson.
Johnson missed four of Pittsburgh’s seven games this season with a hamstring injury, which has likely helped stabilize Pickens’ weekly volume in the passing game. Pickens still salvaged his fantasy performance in Week 8 with a touchdown, but he was out-targeted by a wide margin — with Johnson seeing 14 targets to his five against the Jacksonville Jaguars.
It’s worth noting that Pickens saw more targets in the other two games both receivers played earlier this season. But with Mitchell Trubisky potentially seeing work this week if Pickett can’t play due to a rib injury, it makes it pretty difficult to project exactly who will see the most work.
The good news is that the Steelers’ matchup against the Titans’ secondary is a favorable one for fantasy wide receivers. Tennessee has been giving up an average of 31.7 fantasy points per game to opposing wideouts this season.
Keep in mind, this is a secondary that just traded away arguably its best defensive back in Kevin Byard before the trade deadline. If Tennessee’s secondary continues to have issues on the back end of the defense, there is room for both players to post Flex-worthy numbers in a plus-matchup.
For some context, Johnson significantly saw more targets in 2022 when Trubisky was the starting quarterback. Trubisky targeted Johnson 45 times in comparison to just 17 times for Pickens.
Since it’s unclear whether or not Trubisky will be the starting QB, I will still lean with going Johnson over Pickens in this matchup due to his superior route-running ability and path to more targets in the short to intermediate area of the football field.
Pickens still has top-25 upside against the Titans this week, but his floor feels a bit lower with the Steelers’ uncertainty at quarterback heading into the matchup.
Looking to make a trade in your fantasy league? Having trouble deciding who to start and who to sit? Setting DFS lineups? Check out PFN’s Free Fantasy Football Trade Analyzer, Start/Sit Optimizer, and DFS Lineup Optimizer to help you make the right decision!