Pittsburgh Steelers Fantasy Football News | Shark Bites

Steelers WR George Pickens caught 4 of 6 targets for 83 yards and a TD in Sunday's loss to the Bengals. He had 2 other targets wiped out by penalties, 1 an offensive hold and the other a defensive PI. Pickens also dropped a 2nd-half deep ball that would have added significant yardage to his line. WR Diontae Johnson matched Pickens' 4 catches but tallied just 21 yards. Next comes a potential pass-funnel matchup with the Colts and then the soft Atlanta defense.

Steelers TE Pat Freiermuth doubled his nearest teammate in targets in Sunday's loss to the Bengals. His 12 looks accounted for 28.6% of Pittsburgh's total pass attempts. Freiermuth's 8 catches also doubled the nearest Steeler, while his 79 yards trailed WR George Pickens' team lead. It's the 2nd 8-catch game among the past 4 for Freiermuth, who has seen 7+ targets in 4 straight and 7 of his 8 healthy outings for the year.

Steelers Kenny Pickett didn't do anything special in Sunday's loss to the Bengals, but he did enough to sit 14th among fantasy QBs heading into the Monday night game. The rookie completed 25 of 42 passes (59.5%) for 265 yards (6.3 per attempt) and 1 TD. He missed connections with WR George Pickens on 2 other occasions that could have added quite a bit more -- 1 a drop by the rookie wideout. Pickett did hit Pickens for his only score from 24 yards out. He also took just 2 sacks and avoided turning the ball over. The QB added 14 yards on just 2 carries. The rushing has helped him be viable for 2-QB and superflex leagues. You should still be able to do better in 1-QB formats. Pickett and the Steelers visit the Colts and Falcons the next 2 weeks.

Steelers RB Najee Harris took 20 carries for 90 yards and 2 TDs in Sunday's loss to the Bengals. Its' the 2nd straight game in which he has reached 20 carries, 90 yards and 4.5 yards per rush -- coming out of the Week 9 bye -- after Harris failed to reach any of those marks through the 1st 8 games. Harris also seemed to benefit from Jaylen Warren's early departure for a hamstring injury. Harris tied for 2nd on the team with 6 targets and 4 catches after losing receiving work to the rookie in Week 10. Harris gets a tough rushing matchup with the Colts in Week 12, but a much better spot at Atlanta in Week 13. His final 4 fantasy weeks find potentially tough matchups with the Ravens sandwiching a pair of softer rushing matchups: at the Panthers, home for the Raiders.

Steelers RB Jaylen Warren was knocked out of Sunday's game vs. the Bengals with a hamstring injury. That leaves Najee Harris to dominate backfield work. We'll update Warren's status when we learn more.

Steelers RB Najee Harris (knee) put in a full practice on Wednesday. HC Mike Tomlin said Tuesday that Harris was dealing with "knee discomfort," but it's obviously not a major issue. Harris should be ready for his usual workload vs. the Bengals on Sunday.

Steelers HC Mike Tomlin said Tuesday that he's "optimistic" S Minkah Fitzpatrick will be ready for Sunday's game against the Bengals, according to Chris Halicke of DKPittsburghSports.com. Fitzpatrick missed last week's game for appendicitis. We'll watch to confirm his readiness for Week 11.

Steelers HC Mike Tomlin said Tuesday that RB Najee Harris is dealing with "knee discomfort" but that it won't impact his status for this weekend's game vs. the Bengals. We'll keep an eye on Harris throughout the week. Backup RB Jaylen Warren should be rostered in most fantasy leagues at this point.

Steelers LB Myles Jack didn't play in Sunday's game against the Saints. He opened the week not practicing with a knee issue but finished with a full Friday workout and didn't appear on the final injury report. But LB Robert Spillane started in his place, next to Devin Bush. We'll see whether coaches reveal the motivation this week.

Steelers WR Diontae Johnson caught 4 balls for 63 yards on 5 targets to lead a lackluster passing effort in Sunday's win over the Saints. TE Pat Freiermuth tied Johnson for the team lead in catches. RB Jaylen Warren and WR George Pickens checked in next at 3 receptions apiece, with rookie TE Connor Hayward the only other Steeler to catch multiple passes. Week 11 brings a Bengals defense that has been better than New Orleans'.

Steelers QB Kenny Pickett went just 18 of 30 passing for 199 yards and took 6 sacks in Sunday's win over the Saints. He did tally 51 yards and a TD on the ground. That's nice, but the passing performance against a beat-up Saints D missing its top CB confirms Pickett should be well outside of lineup plans for 1-QB fantasy football leagues.

Steelers RB Najee Harris ran for 99 yards on 20 carries in Sunday's win over the Saints. He went without a catch on just 1 target. RB Jaylen Warren played his 2nd-largest snap share of the season (43%), matching Harris in routes run. Warren caught all 3 of his targets for 40 yards, ranking 3rd on the team in that category. Warren remained clearly behind Harris in the run game, taking 9 carries for 37 yards. Week 11 holds a challenging matchup with the Bengals.

The Commanders have ruled LB Cole Holcomb (foot) out for Monday night's game against the Eagles. They also ruled out #3 LB David Mayo, leaving Jamin Davis as the clear #1 at the position.

The Steelers on Saturday returned EDGE T.J. Watt to the active roster. He’s officially good to go for Sunday’s game against the Saints. Watt said earlier in the week that he doesn’t expect to be on a snap count

Steelers S Minkah Fitzpatrick will miss Sunday’s game against the Saints because of appendicitis, the team announced Saturday. Pittsburgh also placed CB William Jackson (back) on IR. He’ll now miss at least 4 games. That makes for a beat-up secondary against New Orleans

Commanders LB Cole Holcomb missed Thursday's practice with the foot injury that has cost him the past 2 games. That doesn't bode well for Holcomb's chances of returning this week. Jamin Davis led the team's LBs at 85% playing time with Holcomb out Sunday, with Jonathan Bostic following at 65%.

The Steelers placed K Chris Boswell (groin) on IR, knocking him out for at least the next 4 games. He'll be replaced by K Matthew Wright at least for Sunday's game vs. the Saints. Look elsewhere for your fantasy lineups.

Steelers LB Myles Jack did not practice Wednesday because of a knee issue. He saw his usual level of playing time in the Week 8 loss to the Eagles, but missing practice coming out of the Week 9 bye seems ominous. HC Mike Tomlin gave no insight into expectations for Jack this week. We'll see about his status the next 2 days.

Steelers HC Mike Tomlin and EDGE T.J. Watt expressed optimism Tuesday about Watt returning for this Sunday's game against the Saints. Watt has been out since Week 1 with a pectoral injury, and then had knee surgery during his layoff. He has been targeting a Week 10 return. We'll watch to make sure that comes to fruition this week. Barring any stated limitations on Watt's playing time, we'd get him back into IDP lineups right away.

Steelers HC Mike Tomlin was asked on Tuesday about his backfield coming out of the bye week and said this: "...when we were talking about a division of labor and who's done what and who's done well, I know that was a topic of discussion and very evident in our tape review." Tomlin went on to praise RB Jaylen Warren. "We've gotten some awesome contributions from Jaylen and it's reasonable to expect that to continue," Tomlin said. "He's a quality back that's made some plays." We'd be very surprised if an undrafted rookie supplanted Najee Harris, a former 1st-round pick, as Pittsburgh's lead back, but it sounds like Warren could be in for a bigger role going forward. He's worth stashing as we wait to see what the Steelers' backfield looks like vs. the Saints this weekend.