Fantasy Upside
James Washington's rookie season was a wash, as he caught just 16 passes for 217 yards and one touchdown. He was, however, targeted 38 times. And he came on strong down the stretch, catching eight passes for 140 yards in the final four games. Washington has gotten a lot more practice time with Ben Roethlisberger this offseason -- something that never happened in 2018 -- and with Antonio Brown now in Oakland, the opportunity is there for a lot more work in a high-volume passing attack.
Fantasy Downside
It's a show-me league, and Washington does have competition for targets from JuJu Smith-Schuster, Donte Moncrief and Vance McDonald. He's shown ability in practice situations, but he hasn't done it much in an NFL game yet, so there's some projection here.
2019 Bottom Line
Somebody has to make up those 104 receptions and 1,200 yards Brown produced in 2018. Washington is a solid bet to catch at least 50 passes this season, with the potential to post even more than that. He was a big-play specialist in college and Roethlisberger likes to go downfield as much as any QB in the league. Washington is a nice gamble to take as your No. 4 or 5 receiver with the potential to be more than that.