Antonio Brown and Markus Wheaton are the top two options for Ben Roethlisberger in terms of wide receivers, and here is a look at their final stats from Thursday's 26-6 loss:
Perhaps the biggest news of the first half was the fact that Brown had to leave the game with injury concerns, via public relations source Burt Lauten:
Fortunately for the Steelers and fantasy football players, Brown returned to the game. Fantasy owners should not hesitate to include Brown in their lineup going forward, presuming he is healthy, because he is one of the best and most proven wide receivers in the league. He looked the part in Week 1 and tallied 116 receiving yards and a touchdown against the Browns.
In fact, Wheaton equaled the number of catches he had all of last year in that game with six and earned some praise from Roethlisberger, via Scott Brown of ESPN.com: “Markus is building confidence in himself and that I have in him.”
Wheaton also earned compliments from Cian Fahey and Michael Tanier of Bleacher Report:
Fantasy owners know that Brown is proven, as he demonstrated again Thursday, but the emergence of Wheaton should provide confidence moving forward for both pass-catchers. Defenses won’t be able to completely focus on Brown like they usually do, which should open him up on deep balls and even for bubble screens.
Wheaton may have to produce a couple more impressive games throughout the early season to earn that type of complete confidence from fantasy football owners, especially after a relatively quiet effort Thursday. The potential is there, but the consistency is what we are looking for now.
