The forecast for tonight's Steelers-Browns game calls for temperatures just above freezing, 85% chance of precipitation, and winds of 15-20 mph with gusts of 25-30 mph. That's ugly. Expect an even run-heavier game plan from the Steelers than usual and for the Browns to run more than they typically do. And don't expect many points. This game has 36.5-point over/under. We'd avoid both QBs and kickers in the game and downgrade the WRs. See where all the Steelers and Browns sit in the updated Week 12 Rankings.
Steelers TE Pat Freiermuth tied his season low with a 58% snap share in Sunday's win over the Ravens. That matched his low set back in Week 2, but it also matched his snap share for Week 10. Freiermuth's playing time has been falling recently, from a Week 6 peek of 87%, to 71%, then 65%, and the 58% of the past two weeks. He has now tied or trailed TE Darnell Washington in snaps for two straight games.
Steelers QB Russell Wilson is receiving the first-team reps at practice this week, putting him in line to start Sunday night's game vs. the Jets. Justin Fields has been the QB for the first six weeks and helped Pittsburgh to a 4-2 record, but Wilson will now get his shot.
Steelers TE Pat Freiermuth (calf) is not listed on the final injury report for this weekend’s game vs. the Raiders. He was added to the injury report on Thursday but put in a full practice on Friday, so the calf shouldn’t be an issue. Freiermuth has finished as a top-15 fantasy TE in all five weeks so far.
Steelers TE Pat Freiermuth was added to Thursday's injury report as limited with a calf. That typically means the player was injured in practice. Freiermuth's availability for this weekend's game vs. the Raiders is now in question. Check back tomorrow for an update on his status.
Steelers TE Pat Freiermuth caught five of seven targets for 57 yards in Sunday's loss to the Colts, ranking second on the team in each of those categories. He also snagged Pittsburgh's only TD pass from 8 yards out late in the fourth quarter. It was Freiermuth's first TD since Week 3 of last season.
Steelers QB Russell Wilson (calf) is inactive for today’s opener vs. the Falcons. He was pushing to play, but the team will hold him out after he aggravated his calf injury in practice this week. QB Justin Fields gets the start for Pittsburgh and is a more exciting fantasy option than Wilson. But Fields dings the fantasy value of the Steelers’ skill-position players. See where they all sit in the Week 1 Rankings.
Steelers QB Justin Fields is "more likely" than QB Russell Wilson to start Sunday's opener vs. the Falcons, NFL Network's Ian Rapoport says. A final decision on Wilson's status hasn't yet been made, Rapoport adds. Wilson is scheduled to go through a workout on Saturday. But Rapoport notes that Wilson didn't do much in Friday's practice, while Fields took all the first-team reps.
Steelers QB Russell Wilson (calf) is listed as questionable for this weekend’s opener vs. the Falcons. He experienced discomfort with his troublesome calf on Thursday and was limited again in Friday’s practice.
Steelers QB Russell Wilson will start against the Falcons in Week 1, according to Fox Sports' Jay Glazer. Wilson missed a chunk of August with a calf injury, which seemingly cracked the door open for QB Justin Fields to steal the starting job. But Fields underwhelmed in the preseason. So Pittsburgh will go with Wilson at least for the opener.
ESPN's Adam Schefter believes Justin Fields has gained some ground on Russell Wilson in the race for the Steelers' starting QB job. Fields has "gotten better at practice every day," per Schefter, while Wilson missed a few days with his calf injury. "I think Russell Wilson remains in the pole position, but I also think that Justin Fields has opened some eyes, and they see the type of offense they could have," Schefter said.
The Athletic's Mark Kaboly named Steelers TE Pat Freiermuth one of the team's winners coming out of spring workouts. "Nobody performed better and more consistently for four weeks than Freiermuth," Kaboly wrote. "He had an instant connection with Russell Wilson and came across as a potential playmaker in Arthur Smith’s tight-end-heavy offense. ... Freiermuth might not have dropped a pass all month, and he’s talented enough to take a short pass and turn it into something big. Entering his fourth season, it’s the best he has looked."
The Panthers acquired WR Diontae Johnson and a seventh-round pick from the Steelers in exchange for CB Donte Jackson and a sixth-rounder, ESPN's Adam Schefter reports. It's a relatively cheap price to pay for a guy with 332 catches over the past four seasons. Johnson's production has largely been volume-based, though. His 6.7 yards per target over those last four years ranks 67th among 71 WRs with 200+ total targets during that stretch. Johnson didn't rank better 23rd in yards per route in any of those seasons. That said, he immediately becomes the Panthers' clear No. 1 WR. And Carolina figures to throw it a bunch more than the Arthur Smith-led Steelers. QB play is a concern, of course, after Bryce Young's ugly rookie season. But the move is still a win for Johnson's 2024 fantasy value. In Pittsburgh, meanwhile, George Pickens will likely get a crack at No. 1 WR duties. The Steelers will certainly be adding to the WR corps this offseason, though. And Arthur Smith's run-heavy offense will keep Pickens' upside capped.
The Steelers are set to hire Arthur Smith as their new OC, according to NFL Network's Tom Pelissero. Smith, of course, is coming off a baffling and underwhelming three-year tenure as Falcons HC, compiling a 21-30 record and oftentimes mismanaging his offensive talent. Smith, though, was much more successful as Titans OC in 2019 and 2020. Both of those teams ranked top-12 in both total yards and points, leaning on RB Derrick Henry to finish top-3 in rushing yards both years. We'd expect Smith to bring a run-heavy offense to Pittsburgh -- especially considering the team's questions at QB.
The Steelers-Bills game originally scheduled for 1 pm ET on Sunday has been moved to 4:30 pm ET on Monday. Buffalo is expecting heavy snow and wind gusts up to 60 mph on Sunday. The forecast for Monday calls for light snow, sustained winds around 15 mph, and gusts up to 30 mph. That's still tough weather for the passing and kicking games -- but significantly better than it would have been on Sunday. We're adjusting our projections for this game.
ESPN's Adam Schefter reported on Thursday afternoon that Steelers QB Kenny Pickett (ankle) has been officially ruled out for Week 16 vs. the Bengals. Although Pickett had been able to log limited practice participation on Tuesday and Wednesday, it was widely anticipated that he would not make his return this week. HC Mike Tomlin had already named Mason Rudolph as the team's starter for Saturday several days ago, which lines up with our projections. Unless you are in desperation mode, it's best to leave Rudolph out of fantasy lineups. See where he lands in our current QB rankings.
Steelers QB Kenny Pickett will miss an "extended period" with his ankle injury, according to The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette's Gerry Dulac. We'll look for a more detailed diagnosis and timetable for Pickett's return, but it sounds like it'll be QB Mitchell Trubisky under center for the Steelers for the foreseeable future. He's completed 63.8% of his passes at 6.7 yards per attempt over the past two seasons in Pittsburgh. Trubisky will be a bottom-barrel QB2 in fantasy football but probably won't be a significant downgrade from Pickett for the offense.
NFL Network's Ian Rapoport says to expect "heavy targets" for Steelers TE Pat Freiermuth again today. He's coming off a big 9-120-0 line on a team-leading 11 targets last week. "Expect them to try to replicate that ... attack the middle of the field," Rapoport adds. You certainly shouldn't be expecting another 100-yard outing from Freiermuth today. But he does sit inside the top 10 of our Week 13 TE Rankings.
Steelers TE Pat Freiermuth racked up 9 catches for 120 yards in Sunday’s win over the Bengals. He had 5 catches for 89 yards at halftime. In fact, Kenny Pickett set a single-game career-high in combined TE yardage… in the first half alone. Clearly, this was a point of emphasis for new play-caller Mike Sullivan. Freiermuth will be back on the streaming radar next week in a nice scoring matchup at Arizona.
The Steelers have fired OC Matt Canada, who has been running the unit since 2021. In that time, Pittsburgh has ranked 21st, 26th, and 28th (so far this year) in scoring. Each season has found the offense ranking 28th in yards per play. NFL Network's Tom Pelissero reports that the team plans to promote RBs coach Eddie Faulkner to OC but hand play-calling duties to QBs coach Mike Sullivan. Faulkner has coached Steelers RBs since 2019 (and previously served in the same role for the team in 2012). His only OC experience to date has been with Ball State in 2009-10. Sullivan has been coaching at the college level or higher for 30 years. He has been in the NFL since 2002, including stints as Buccaneers OC (2012-13) and Giants OC (2016-17). Those offenses finished -- in order -- 13th, 30th, 26th, and 31st in scoring; eighth, 32nd, 24th, and 25th in yards per play. Sullivan didn't get great QB play across those offenses. He started with fourth-season Josh Freeman in Tampa, and then got primarily Mike Glennon the following year. His two seasons at the Giants' offensive helm came in Eli Manning's age-35 and age-36 campaigns. NFL Network's Mike Garafolo says Sullivan has a "strong relationship" with Steelers QB Kenny Pickett, but the new guy probably isn't an upgrade on those previous situations. The switch should be positive for usable skill-position Steelers, though. Canada never won as a play caller and often sported questionable run-pass splits given the output. This year's Steelers also should find upside in a softening schedule. According to FTN's Aaron Schatz, Pittsburgh faced the league's toughest schedule so far this year by total defensive DVOA. Over a full season, the 2023 schedule to date would rank third-toughest of any team since 1981. You can see the negative fantasy impacts of those opponents on our Strength of Schedule pages. The remaining schedule ranks fifth-best for RB scoring and ninth-best for WRs. (Just 17th for TEs, though.) We'll see whether the run-pass splits change. That question plus Pickett's limitations make the WRs tough to get excited about. RB Najee Harris looks interesting, though -- especially because his trade cost has been driven down by meager production and Jaylen Warren's recent numbers.
Search
