Pittsburgh Steelers Fantasy Football News | Shark Bites

Steelers WR Roman Wilson left Tuesday's practice on a cart. Per The Athletic's Mike DeFabo, Wilson was injured on a jet sweep. KDKA TV's Bob Pompeani believes it's an ankle injury. We'll update the rookie's status when we know more.

Update: HC Mike Tomlin confirmed after practice that Wilson injured an ankle and is under evaluation to determine the severity.

Steelers WR Calvin Austin has impressed throughout the offseason, from OTAs to minicamp, and is now in training camp. He has shown his versatility by playing inside and outside and running a variety of routes. He appears to be the second-best WR on the team since the start of the year.

Eagles RB Kenneth Gainwell is receiving some first-team reps in camp. It has not been exclusively RB Saquon Barkley with the first team, per Brandon Lee Gowton of Bleeding Green.

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."

Steelers WR George Pickens has been lining up in the slot more in new OC Arthur Smith's offense. Pickens played just 15.4% of his snaps inside as a rookie in 2022 and 16.9% last year. It sounds like that number will rise considerably in 2024.

Coming out of OTAs, Mark Kaboly of The Athletic says that he'd call Van Jefferson the Steelers' No. 2 WR "right now." He added that the answer certainly isn't clear yet. "To be honest, you can throw [Quez] Watkins, [Cordarrelle] Patterson, Calvin Austin III, Scotty Miller, Marquez Callaway and Denzel Mims in there as well," Kaboly writes. Notably, he didn't include Round 3 rookie Roman Wilson in that group. Kaboly also says he expects the team to "add a legit No. 2" before the start of the regular season.

The Steelers drafted Michigan WR Roman Wilson in Round 3 of the NFL Draft. It took Wilson until his fourth season to lead Michigan in receptions or receiving yards. But his 2023 campaign was impressive. Wilson tallied a 48-789-12 receiving line, accounting for 25.1% of the team’s receiving yards and half of the receiving TDs. Wilson caught 71.6% of his targets on a 13.9-yard average target depth. That led to a huge 11.8 yards per target. Wilson ranked 29th in yards per route and 22nd in Pro Football Focus receiving grade among 286 qualifying WRs. The 5’11, 185-pounder played 65% of his snaps in the slot last year and figures to primarily stick inside as a pro. But don’t mistake him for just a short-range target. Wilson regularly won deep at Michigan last year and blazed a 4.39-second 40-yard dash at the Combine. He also has one of the most reliable pairs of hands in this year’s WR class, dropping only one of 50 catchable targets last season, per PFF. The Steelers lost 136 targets via trade/free agency. Wilson should handle a chunk of those alongside George Pickens. While QB play is a question mark for 2024, the Michigan product is firmly in play as a late-round stash.

The Steelers signed WR Cordarrelle Patterson to a two-year, $6 million deal, NFL Network reports. He's reuniting with OC Arthur Smith, who coached Patterson in Atlanta the past three seasons. Patterson averaged 10.2 carries and 3.4 targets per game across his first two years with Smith but just 3.6 carries and 0.9 targets per game last year. That was largely due to the arrival of RB Bijan Robinson -- but Patterson also struggled to just 3.6 yards per carry and 4.2 yards per catch. He turned 33 earlier this month. Patterson is unlikely to be a fantasy asset this season, although he could siphon some work from RB Najee Harris and especially RB Jaylen Warren in the passing game.

The Seahawks are expected to hire Ryan Grubb as their new OC under HC Mike Macdonald, according to multiple reports. This will be Grubb's first NFL coaching job. He's been in the college ranks since 2005, most recently serving as Washington's OC for the last two seasons. Both of those Huskies teams finished top 13 in the nation in both total yards and points per game. They were especially lethal through the air, ranking first and then second in passing yards per game. Grubb joins a Seahawks squad with plenty of passing-game firepower in WRs D.K. Metcalf, Tyler Lockett, and Jaxon Smith-Njigba. QB Geno Smith will very likely be back under center in 2024. We'll see if Seattle reunites Grubb with QB Michael Penix, who was at the helm for Washington the last two years.

Steelers HC Mike Tomlin confirmed Tuesday that Edge T.J. Watt (knee) will miss Sunday's playoff game at Buffalo. That likely leaves rookie Nick Herbig as the playing-time leader in Watt's spot opposite Alex Highsmith.

J.J. Watt reports that the injury to his little brother's knee isn't as bad as originally feared. He says Steelers Edge T.J. Watt sustained a mere Grade 2 sprain to his left MCL. That could still knock the younger Watt out of Pittsburgh's playoff opener. But it gives him a better chance to play than previous reports or a tear or Grade 3 sprain. We'll see about Watt's status heading into Wild Card weekend.

Steelers RB Jaylen Warren saw a diminished workload in Week 18 vs. the Ravens. The second-year back tallied 33 rushing yards on 9 carries, along with 5 catches for 17 yards as a receiver in the contest. Though he played second fiddle on Saturday, Warren posted very solid production this season (nine games of 10+ PPR points) in a near-50/50 workshare with teammate Najee Harris. Warren also logged nearly twice as many targets (74) as Harris (38) in 2023, further solidifying himself as the preferred option in the Pittsburgh backfield for managers in half- or full-PPR formats. Look for him to continue yielding high-end RB3/low-end RB2 level value in 2024.

ESPN's Adam Schefter reports that the Steelers believe Edge T.J. Watt suffered a Grade 3 sprain to his left MCL in Saturday's win over the Ravens. Watt reportedly wanted to re-enter the game after sustaining the injury, but the team would not let him. He'll have further testing to confirm what is typically a multi-week injury. If the Steelers make the playoffs -- they need some help Sunday -- we'll see whether Watt can return for the opener.

Update: NFL Network's Ian Rapoport reports that it's believed to be an MCL tear. That would seem to make Watt unlikely to play in the playoffs, if Pittsburgh qualifies.

Steelers S Minkah Fitzpatrick (knee) is inactive for today's game against the Ravens. LB Elandon Roberts (pec) is active.

The Steelers list S Minkah Fitzpatrick (knee) and LB Elandon Roberts (pec) as questionable for Saturday's game against the Ravens. Each guy remained limited in practice all week and will carry some risk even if active. We'll check their statuses ahead of Saturday's kickoff.

Steelers S Minkah Fitzpatrick (knee) and LB Elandon Roberts (pec) put in limited practices Wednesday. It marked the first workout for Fitzpatrick since he left Week 15 with the injury. Roberts also practiced for the first time since leaving Week 16 early. We'll see whether the defensive starters are ready to play Saturday against the Ravens.

Steelers WR George Pickens paid off again, hauling in 7 catches on 9 targets for 131 receiving yards and a TD in Week 17 vs. the Seahawks. The second-year wideout’s efforts mark the fifth time this season that he’s surpassed the 100-yard mark and the fourth instance in which Pickens totaled 20+ PPR points per game. His big-play upside has been clear. But the QB play has been poor, and Pickens has struggled to find regularly strong target shares. A QB change could boost Pickens' dynasty value. For now, it’s appropriate to treat him as a low-end WR3.

Seahawks WR D.K. Metcalf (back) is active for today’s game vs. the Steelers. He missed the final two practices of the week, but we never sensed any concern about his availability for this one. Metcalf seems safe to keep in Week 17 fantasy lineups.

Seahawks WR D.K. Metcalf (back) is expected to play vs. the Steelers today, according to ESPN's Adam Schefter. Metcalf missed the final two practices of the week, but HC Pete Carroll didn't express any concern about his availability for this one on Friday. Metcalf seems safe to keep in Week 17 fantasy lineups.

Steelers S Minkah Fitzpatrick will miss a second straight game with his knee injury. He has yet to practice since sustaining the injury. This will be the sixth missed game among the past nine for Fitzpatrick, leaving a severely depleted safety corps to face the Seahawks. Eric Rowe started in Fitzpatrick's place last week, collecting 7 tackles (3 solo) and an INT against the Bengals. He's still tough to use in Week 18 IDP lineups after just one start.