Pittsburgh Steelers Fantasy Football News | Shark Bites

Steelers WR George Pickens (shin) is not listed on the final Week 12 injury report. He went from no practice on Wednesday to limited participation on Thursday to full participation on Friday. The shin shouldn’t be an issue in this weekend’s game vs. the Bengals.

Steelers WR George Pickens (shin) returned to a limited practice on Thursday after being sidelined on Wednesday. We'll see what he does tomorrow and how he's listed on the final injury report for this weekend's game vs. the Bengals.

Steelers WR George Pickens (shin) did not practice on Wednesday. We don't have any other details on the shin injury. We'll see if Pickens is able to get back on the practice field tomorrow, ahead of Sunday's game vs. the Bengals.

Seahawks WR D.K. Metcalf (toe) is not listed on the final Week 12 injury report. He missed Tuesday's practice but was a full-go on Wednesday. There's no reason to believe that the toe will be a significant factor in Thursday night's game vs. the 49ers.

Seahawks WR D.K. Metcalf missed Tuesday's practice and is on the injury report with a toe. He's dealt with hip and rib injuries this season, but the toe is new. We'll see if Metcalf practices on Wednesday and how he's listed on the final injury report for Thursday night's game vs. the 49ers.

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.

Steelers RB Jaylen Warren exploded in Week 11, logging 129 rushing yards on 9 carries vs. the Browns. To emphasize his impressive performance, consider that Warren recorded a 74-yard TD run early in the third quarter. Even if you remove that play from Warren’s performance, he still would’ve had nearly twice as many total yards (71) on the 11 other touches than his teammate Najee Harris did (36) on 13 touches in the contest. Still, the Steelers held Warren to a 44.8% snap share on Sunday. This is still a frustratingly split backfield. It’s feasible, however, that back-to-back 100-yard efforts from the former UDFA could push Pittsburgh to give Warren more work over Harris moving forward. It’ll be intriguing to see how the workload is distributed in Week 12 against a softer Bengals defense (29th in run-defense DVOA in 2023).

Steelers TE Pat Freiermuth (hamstring) is active for today’s game vs. the Browns. He was a full-go in practice on Thursday and Friday, so Freiermuth should be ready for his usual role. But he’s a shaky Week 11 fantasy play coming off a multi-week hamstring injury and facing the league’s top-ranked TE defense.

Steelers S Minkah Fitzpatrick (hamstring) will miss his third straight game. Pittsburgh has ruled him out again after another week of no practice. Pittsburgh has also ruled S Keanu Neal (rib) out for the game. That should leave Elijah Riley joining Damontae Kazee at safety in the starting lineup.

Chargers TE Gerald Everett (chest) is out for Sunday’s game vs. the Packers. TE Donald Parham (hip) is off the injury report after putting in a full practice on Friday and is a viable Week 11 fantasy spot starter. Parham posted a 4-43-1 line on five targets when Everett missed Week 8. For the season, Parham leads the Chargers and ranks second among all TEs with seven end-zone targets.

Steelers TE Pat Freiermuth (hamstring) is listed as questionable for this weekend’s game vs. the Browns. He was a full-go on Thursday and Friday, so Freiermuth should play. But coming off a multi-week hamstring injury and facing the league’s top-ranked TE defense, Freiermuth is not a recommended season-long start.

Chargers TE Gerald Everett (chest) missed practice again on Thursday. He's looking unlikely to play vs. the Packers this weekend. TE Donald Parham (hip) returned to a limited practice on Thursday. We'll see what he does on Friday and how he's listed on the final injury report. If Parham plays and Everett misses, Parham will be in the mix as a Week 11 spot starter.

Steelers TE Pat Freiermuth (hamstring) graduated to a full practice on Thursday. It's confirmation that he's set to return for this weekend's game vs. the Browns. Coming off a multi-week hamstring injury and in a negative matchup. Freiermuth is not a recommended TE1 this week.

Steelers TE Pat Freiermuth (hamstring) was limited in Wednesday's practice. He's eligible and reportedly on track to play vs. the Browns this weekend. We'll see how he progresses over the next few days.

Steelers TE Pat Freiermuth (hamstring) has been designated to return from IR and is on track to play vs. the Browns this weekend, according to ESPN's Adam Schefter. Freiermuth originally hurt his hamstring in Week 4, missed Week 5, and then re-injured the hamstring in practice ahead of Week 7. He totaled just five catches on nine targets in three games to open the season. Freiermuth is certainly worth rostering in fantasy leagues of 12+ teams, but he's not a recommended Week 11 starter against Cleveland's top-ranked TE defense.

Seahawks WR D.K. Metcalf exited Week 10 with 7 catches, 98 yards, and a 25.5% target share. The 16.8 PPR points are his second most on what's been a frustrating season overall. Sunday, though, he was able to take advantage of perhaps the league’s worst secondary. (Rookie CB Emmanuel Forbes was even ejected in the first half.) Metcalf also benefited from 47 Geno Smith pass attempts. Look for more WR2 fantasy lines in the future, as Metcalf has the benefit of an excellent WR schedule.

The Steelers have ruled S Minkah Fitzpatrick (hamstring) out for the second straight game Sunday against the Browns. That'll mean another start for Keanu Neal, who played 97% and 89% of defensive snaps the past two weeks. He has managed a just-OK 7 total tackles in each game. Neal sits in DB3 territory of our Week 10 rankings.

Falcons RB Cordarrelle Patterson hurt his ankle in the first half of Sunday's game vs. the Vikings and is questionable to return. We'll update his status when we know more.

Update: Patterson returned to the game.

Seahawks WRs D.K. Metcalf (hip) and Tyler Lockett (hamstring) are off the final Week 9 injury report. Both guys were full participants in Friday’s practice and should be ready for their usual roles in this weekend’s game vs. the Ravens.

As feared, Steelers LB Cole Holcomb will miss the rest of the season with the left knee injury that knocked him out of Thursday night's win over the Titans. Details of the injury have yet to surface, but multiple reports say he'll need surgery and has been discharged from the hospital after staying over night. Holcomb's injury removes the team's lead LB and should mean more playing time for both Kwon Alexander and Elandon Roberts. It shouldn't mean much difference for the defense's overall performance. Pro Football Focus grades Roberts -- No. 3 in playing time among the trio to date -- slightly better than Holcomb in run defense. PFF also rates both Roberts and Alexander better in coverage and pass rushing. Holcomb has two more years on his contract, but the Steelers could dump him ahead of the 2024 season at a roughly $3.3 million hit in dead cap space.