Never Too Early: Pittsburgh Steelers Fantasy Football Preview

Hear that? It's the pitter-patter of fantasy football season approaching. Fantasy FanHouse is here to get you ready by previewing every team from a fantasy perspective.

Meet The ...
Most balanced offense in the NFL. With the addition of Rashard Mendenhall the Steelers now have a talented between the tackles runner to go with Fast Willie Parker. This is thunder and lightning to a higher level with the single-back abilities each guy has. They can go deep to Santonio Holmes, or to the reliable possession receiver Hines Ward. Add the extremely athletic 6'4" Limas Sweed to the fray to catch jump balls, and the very solid over-the-middle TE Heath Miller. Oh yeah, and Ben Roethlisberger is coming off easily the most prolific season of his career.

The Breakout
Really tough call here. Did Santonio already have his breakout season last year? (YES) Is Sweed really ready to have a good enough season to call it a breakout? (HMMM ... ) Hasn't Mendenhall received enough hype that he's accurately "rated" (as opposed to underrated or overrated)? I guess if pushed I'll go with Mendenhall. Ward seems a lot less ready to yield his spot outside than Fast Willie is in the backfield to me, plus Nate Washington clouds things at WR. Mendy (yeah, just made that up) will at least vulture the goal-line TDs and has enough speed to fully take over should Parker go down via injury.

The Bust
Willie Parker still carries a lot of name recognition -- as well he should -- but Fast Willie is going to lose a substantial amount of touches to Mendenhall, including those all-important goal-line carries. Sure, he can break free for the long TD from time to time, but if you are expecting the Fast Willie is the past few years you better brace yourself. Also, remember how much more balanced the offense has become than the running-and-defense machine Bill Cowher ran. Willie's more likely a 1000-yard back with only a small handful of TDs at this point. Still usable, obviously, but burning a second round pick on him is not advisable.

The Depth Chart
QB1 - Ben Roethlisberger
QB2 - Charlie Batch
QB3 - Dennis Dixon
RB1 - Willie Parker
RB2 - Rashard Mendenhall
RB3 - Mewelde Moore
WR1 - Hines Ward
WR2 - Santonio Holmes
WR3 - Limas Sweed
WR4 - Nate Washington
WR5 - Willie Reid
TE1 - Heath Miller
K - Jeff Reed

The D/ST
Oh mama does that Steel Curtain carry some weight in name. The problem, last year, was that it didn't match up. They tied for last in the league with only 11 interceptions and only scored three times. Still, they did record a respectable 36 sacks, recover 14 fumbles, and only the Colts allowed less points. Overall they ranked 13th in points in a standard format. You just expect more from the rugged Steel Curtain. This year you'll get more. They'll bounce back, and a full 16 games from Troy Polamalu won't hurt. Neither will Lawrence Timmons taking over full-time at ILB. I expect the Steelers to return to top-5 D/ST form.

The Skinny
It's another fantasy goldmine! Including the K and D/ST, I count nine players that should be owned in the majority of fantasy leagues, and all but Sweed should be starters in leagues that use flex players (I've got Mendenhall as a flex in a 12-teamer to start the season) when the season kicks off. I expect this to be one of the best teams in the NFL, and you'll be plenty pleased with their fantasy personnel as well.