This article references Bruce Gradkowski and more! The Pittsburgh Steelers have placed QB Bruce Gradkowski (hamstring) on the injured reserve list on Wednesday. Gradkowski will miss his second consecutive season in 2016 following his placement on the injured reserve list with a torn hamstring. The nine-year veteran is a journeyman signal caller who played with five teams throughout his career which could come to an end in the wake of his latest injury.Keep on reading: Steelers Place Bruce Gradkowski on the Injured Reserve List

Just a quick warning: All four starting running backs and all four defenses in this division are good, and those are pretty much the two traits that are the least conducive to scoring fantasy points through the air. Actually, a division that contains the likes of Larry Fitzgerald , Anquan Boldin , Stevie Johnson, Brandon Lloyd and Sidney Rice is hands down the best receiving division of 2014. I was certain that the New York Jets had built the greatest offense of 2014 when they signed Michael Vick and Chris Johnson this offseason, but these NFC West squads aren't going down without a fight. Kidding aside, the receiving targets of the NFC West are a pretty run of the mill field with only one sure-thing top stud ( Vernon Davis ) and only one high-risk high-upside player ( Percy Harvin ). The rest of the crop is safe and unextraordinary, but safe players who reliably fill out your lineup as injuries and byes take their toll are vital to your success as a fantasy owner, so pay attention, and ask only one simple question: Should you draft him? (ADP = average draft position. It is based on current data from 12-team mock drafts) Seattle Seahawks Percy Harvin (ADP: Mid-Round 4): Let's get the biggest question mark out of the way first. Percy Harvin is an electrifying, ridiculously versatile threat who, if healthy, is the last missing piece that would make the Seahawks completely unstoppable. With that insane defense, Marshawn Lynch , Russell Wilson's pass/rush dual threat, and Harvin's rush/catch dual threat, opposing teams are basically helpless. There's just the teensy problem of Harvin only playing in 10 games over the last two seasons, with pretty much his entire 2013 regular season going up in smoke thanks to hip surgery. However, he did manage to get through his first three seasons in the league with only three missed games and he's only 26 years old. I hate using early draft picks on overly risky running backs because serviceable replacements can't be found in later rounds, but gambling on a player like Harvin isn't as bad, since reliable lineup fillers like Kendall Wright can be had later as an insurance policy. Okay, I've convinced myself. I say go for it. Should You Draft Him: Yes. Doug Baldwin/Jermaine Kearse (ADP: Undrafted): Doug Baldwin is a good player who serves an important, reliable role in Seattle's offense, and Kearse put up the occasional big play last year, but there isn't any real fantasy appeal here. Both players would ...

Not to state the obvious, but a player's injury risk plays a huge role in where and if we draft him. Something we don't think about as much is how a potential injury will affect his teammates. Sure, we've all earmarked second-string running backs that are behind injury prone starters, but for lots of people that's where it ends. We think about it after the injury has happened, but in the draft and early stages of the fantasy season, we don't think about what might happen to the fantasy output of running backs and wide receivers in the event of an injury to a key offensive lineman, an elite blocking tight end, or most importantly, a starting quarterback. The goal here is to predict what would happen to the fantasy fortunes of the rest of the offense if a starting quarterback goes down. I have 10 quarterbacks with frequently discussed potential for injury. I will assess their actual injury risk and attempt to predict what the fantasy effect would be on the rest of the team if they were to go down. It may seem to be almost comical overthinking to seriously consider factoring the injury risk of a teammate at a different position into your draft and preseason trading strategy, but think about this: Two surgically fused vertebrae are the only things keeping Denver's receivers from playing with Brock Osweiler instead of Peyton Manning. Colin Kaepernick His backup: Colt McCoy Injury Risk: Moderate. Good speed and lack of deep threats mean few sacks, and he has great size. Still, he'll be running a bunch. What will happen if he gets hurt: The San Francisco 49ers will suffer in the real-life wins column, but a McCoy-led team bodes well for the fantasy prospects of Vernon Davis and Frank Gore. McCoy's borderline feminine arm strength means more short-range balls going Davis' way, and less quarterback running plays can only help Gore's touchdown total. Anquan Boldin's value will suffer, turning him from a borderline starter into a total bye week fill-in. ************************************************ Ben Roethlisberger His backup: Bruce Gradkowski Injury Risk: Inevitable. Even if he doesn't miss any starts, he will at least get hurt and play through some sort of brutally painful injury that hugely compromises his effectiveness. What will happen if he gets hurt: If Roethlisberger doesn't play, the Pittsburgh Steelers will be led by the weak-armed, undersized journeyman Gradkowski, who hasn't started a game since 2010. If Roethlisberger decides to gut ...

Via Ben Roethlisberger and Receiving-Corps Quality For Big Ben at least, there actually doesn't seem to be much rhyme or reason to how the quality of his receivers interacts with his RANY/A performance. In the last 2 seasons alone, he's been of pretty equal effectiveness working with both good and mediocre receiving groups, and he's also had below-average seasons in the past despite really good receiving corps (2008 particularly stands out in this regard). So between that and the uncertainty over what the future peak TRY will actually be for the young receivers Pittsburgh must rely on, it's tough to definitively predict a receiving-talent-related dip in Roethlisberger's passing efficiency in 2013. In fact, it's safe to say the Steelers' offensive fortunes in 2013 ride more on Big Ben simply staying upright and healthy all season than any decline in the quality of the players catching his passes. With a re-tooled offensive line and more experience in Todd Haley's system, Pittsburgh hopes they won't have to endure a repeat of last season, when a Roethlisberger injury forced them to give 21 percent of their dropbacks to Charlie Batchand Byron Leftwich (who oversaw an atrocious -2.0 RANY/A passing attack when they were under center). Given that the backup situation (Bruce Gradkowski; Landry Jones) isn't exactly inspiring in 2013, the biggest key to the Steelers' season will be to keep Roethlisberger in the lineup -- no matter what group of receivers he's throwing to. Since joining the RotoViz  staff a few months ago, a few NFL teams have stood out to me in terms of having players I want to draft....