JamesWashington

News: 5 days agoThe Steelers activated Washington from the reserve/COVID-19 list Friday, Brooke Pryor of ESPN.com reports.

Spin: Washington is back on the active roster with plenty of time to spare before the Steelers start padded practices in mid-August. The third-year pro profiles as the top deep threat in an offense with plenty of receiving weapons, hoping to build on a 2019 campaign in which he averaged 3.8 catches for 63.8 yards and 0.33 TDs across nine games in November and December.

ESPN Fantasy Projection: A popular 2019 breakout candidate, Washington entered his second NFL campaign positioned for a big workload following the departure of Antonio Brown. Instead, Ben Roethlisberger went down for the season in Week 2 and the 2018 second-round pick had to deal with a league-high 33% of balls thrown his way registering as off-target. Washington still ended up with a decent 44-735-3 receiving line while posting the position's fourth-highest aDOT (15.9), but he simply wasn't much of a fantasy factor. Now 24, Washington joins JuJu Smith-Schuster, Diontae Johnson and rookie Chase Claypool to form a formidable young foursome for a now-healthy Ben Roethlisberger. Washington's role makes him more valuable in non-PPR, but the vertical threat is a post-hype breakout candidate and will deliver the occasional splash play. Consider him for your bench in deep leagues.