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USATSI

The biggest offseason storyline in Pittsburgh revolved around re-establishing their run game. Once Najee Harris was drafted, the spotlight moved to the offensive line. How would a unit that ultimately dropped four veteran starters come together to protect Ben Roethlisberger?

We have an answer. Sort of. On the 10 pass attempts Roethlisberger had, I charted nine plays where the O-line did an acceptable job keeping him clean enough to make a good throw. Mind you, this was against a mix of first- and second-team defenders from the Lions -- a group that had some pretty good speed, but really about as soft of a preseason test as you could imagine in the NFL. The Bills' starting front-seven will be a much stiffer test in Week 1. 

The better takeaway from this small sample size is that Roethlisberger was as sharp as ever. Both of his red-zone touchdowns to rookie Pat Freiermuth involved the accuracy, velocity and clever ingenuity Roethlisberger has leaned on for years. He also made a correct read on a deep lob to Diontae Johnson, who sped past second-year cornerback Jeff Okudah for a 43-yard gain.

He even had a beauty of a throw while on the run dropped by Eric Ebron. 

In short, Roethlisberger did not look like a 39-year-old statue with a dilapidated arm. That's good. 

The Steelers offense looked a lot like last year's -- a lot of short passing and quick throws. But at least this year there figures to be more pre-snap motion and play-action passing to keep defenses off-balance. It'll be that way most of the time until the O-line can protect like they did against the Lions versus everybody. 

Roethlisberger should be on Fantasy radars as a late-round insurance policy for those who select a quarterback with an earlier pick who has some downside -- namely Jalen Hurts, Joe Burrow and Trevor Lawrence. He's also a priority No. 2 Fantasy quarterback in Superflex and two-QB formats. And even if you go with a stud passer and have no reason to take Roethlisberger whatsoever, at least you know he's got the goods to help his receivers and running backs put up numbers.

Laying down the Lawrence

There is no way anyone could come away impressed with the Jaguars rookie after his outing in New Orleans. He completed 61% of his throws with none of his completions traveling 20 yards. A lot of it had to do with three starting offensive linemen getting hurt and the Saints dialing up pressure. That's going to be the standard operating procedure for every defense until Lawrence consistently beats the blitz. 

It doesn't help that Lawrence has been holding the ball too long on several plays and has really only developed chemistry with Marvin Jones. Losing Travis Etienne to a long injury would also be bad since Etienne figured to be a short-area target capable of piling on the after-catch yardage. 

Is it still safe to take Lawrence as a borderline Week 1 starter? Probably not. What about as a draft-and-stash pick like Trey Lance and Justin Fields? That's up for debate. Lawrence is too talented a quarterback to just throw to the waiver wire, but the long-term upside for the other rookie passers has surpassed Lawrence's. Fields definitely looks ready to play; Lance might not be quite as ready (you'll read below) but has ridiculous statistical upside thanks to his legs. At this point, I'm more prepared to draft and wait for those quarterbacks than draft and wait for Lawrence to turn his game around. The only exception is if I needed a Week 1 starter -- Lawrence should have that role while the others do not. 

Round 2: Lance vs. Fields

Last week's darling, Justin Fields had another solid week of looking like a three-year veteran. He wasn't quite as accurate, but he looked smooth as silk and knew when to escape a pocket and when to throw a ball away when the pressure was too much. His final stat line -- 9 of 19 for 80 yards -- would have been considerably better if three reserve receivers (two who probably won't make the final roster) hadn't dropped passes. The Bears won't start Fields against the Rams in Week 1 (at least they're saying that now), but the writing is on the wall: He will start for them soon. When he does, he'll be a borderline must-start. That's why he's worth the late-round stash right now. 

Trey Lance had a roller coaster game against the Chargers that may have proved that he's not quite ready to start in Week 1. While he did make another excellent deep throw to Trent Sherfield and led the 49ers on two touchdown drives, he also was off-target in the early going (resulting in one interception) and was skittish in terms of reading defenses and holding on to the ball too long. Frequently, he stuck to his first read, though that's part and parcel with Kyle Shanahan's offense (and it wasn't what he did on his second touchdown). 

Through two games, it feels like Fields is readier than Lance is. He seems calmer in the pocket and more accurate overall, plus he looks very comfortable running to pick up yardage; Lance will get there if he isn't already, but we haven't seen it save for one carry against the Chargers. 

What's more relevant is that both rookies figure to start their respective seasons on the bench. The Bears aren't budging on sitting Andy Dalton and Kyle Shanahan said he will name a Week 1 starter "whenever I feel like it." 

For right now, Lance remains ahead of Fields in my Fantasy ranks since there's technically a chance he could start Week 1, plus I think his scheme and O-line is better for him than Chicago's is for Fields. But if you're sold on Fields, don't think it's a mistake to take him as your late-round quarterback stash ahead of Lance. And I'm good with taking both ahead of Lawrence. 

Win with Winston?

Jameis Winston has all but earned the starting role with the Saints after a great second preseason game (and he wasn't too bad in the first preseason game, either). His deep throws to Marquez Callaway against the Jaguars involved heroic receptions, but his ball placement should be commended. His mistakes were limited to some off-target throws, the interception at Baltimore wasn't quite his fault, and his long passes have been exceptionally impressive. 

So, can he earn you massive Fantasy points? There's a chance, but keep some things in mind: One, Sean Payton might give Winston a quick hook if he turns into an interception machine and give Taysom Hill some starts. Two, Hill figures to play a bunch even with Winston starting, just like he did with Drew Brees last year. These are problems to consider, but if we're talking solely about a streaming quarterback option with no guarantees of long-term success, Winston will do the trick. That's why he's ranked among my top-24 passers. 

Going deep

  • Tua Tagovailoa has pretty much passed the test as a reliable starter for the Dolphins. He's missed open receivers (Jaylen Waddle at least once in each game) but he's done a nice job of quickly distributing the ball. The Dolphins offense might just mirror the Seahawks (and other) offenses in terms of quick, short throws. He's among the late-round quarterbacks to consider for your bench if you're so inclined to speculate, but he's not a must-take in one-QB leagues. He's much safer in two-QB formats than he was before training camp started. 
  • A week ago, I thought Drew Lock was the better quarterback option for the Broncos. Now I'm not sure what to think -- I can only imagine what the Broncos are thinking. Teddy Bridgewater swiftly navigated the Denver offense to a pair of touchdown drives in as many tries, missing on only one throw very early on to KJ Hamler (his other incompletion was a Javonte Williams drop). Lock was hindered by a worse O-line and really had one great throw on the evening. The one thing I think I see with Bridgewater is that he's got juice with Jerry Jeudy, and I think that matters quite a bit. 

So which sleepers, breakouts and busts should you target and fade? And which QB shocks the NFL with a top-five performance? Visit SportsLine now to get Fantasy cheat sheets for every single position, all from the model that called Josh Allen's huge season, and find out.