RADIO
The Pittsburgh Steelers' passing attack is going through a transitional stage in the post-Ben Roethlisberger era. Veteran Mitch Trubisky started the first four games before he was benched during Week 4. First-round rookie Kenny Pickett then took over and logged starts in Weeks 5 and 6.
Pickett suffered a concussion last week, so the Steelers will turn back to Trubisky against the Miami Dolphins in Week 7. All of this goes to say that the Pittsburgh wide receivers have been tough to decipher on a weekly basis.
Chase Claypool got off to a slow start in 2022 but he's shown some signs of life over his past two games. Should fantasy managers be adding Claypool off of waivers ahead of Week 7? Let's dive in and take a look.
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What Did Chase Claypool Do In Week 6?
Claypool had his best game of the season against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Week 6, catching all seven of his targets for 96 yards and a touchdown. His seven targets tied for a team lead and registered a season-high 25.9% target share. Claypool on the season is now sitting on a 16.4% target share through six games.
7 REC | 96 YDS | 1 TD@ChaseClaypool's best game of the season propelled the @steelers past the Bucs! pic.twitter.com/kAfAdW7OcD
— NFL (@NFL) October 17, 2022
The Week 6 performance gives Claypool two strong outings in a row as he caught five of his nine targets for 50 yards in his team's Week 5 loss to the Buffalo Bills.
This comes after Claypool did very little over the first four games of the season, catching just 11 passes for 79 total yards over that span, likely causing many fantasy managers to send him to the waiver wire in their leagues.
Should I Add Chase Claypool Off the Waiver Wire in Fantasy Football?
A second-round draft pick in 2020, Claypool had an excellent rookie season but has struggled to replicate that success in 2021 and this season. As seen below, Claypool is an explosive athlete who should be able to use his size and speed to do damage with splash plays down the field.
The problem in 2022 has been that the Pittsburgh passing attack has been pretty conservative. Former starter Mitch Trubisky is averaging just 6.2 yards per passing attempt while Pickett also checks in at 6.2 yards per attempt. The lack of downfield passing has not played into Claypool's strengths on the football field.
There is some reason for optimism, however, as Trubisky was much more aggressive in the Week 6 win over Tampa Bay, averaging 12.0 yards per attempt. Not surprisingly, Week 6 was also Claypool's finest performance of the season. Here's an example of a Week 6 play that was not a common sight in Pittsburgh over the first month of the season.
.@ChaseClaypool with an incredible grab 🤯
📺 #TBvsPIT on FOX pic.twitter.com/JRBMXpk7zH
— Pittsburgh Steelers (@steelers) October 16, 2022
Based on his solid play over the past two weeks, Claypool at least needs to be rostered in leagues of 12 teams and larger. A conservative FAAB bid is recommended unless you are in a rough situation due to injury or bye weeks where you absolutely need to start him in Week 7. With the bye week crunch coming up, Claypool will have some value as a boom/bust flex option moving forward.
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