Game Info
Kickoff: Thursday, October 1, 2026, 8:15 PM ET
Location: Huntington Bank Field, Cleveland, OH
Network: AMZN
Pittsburgh Steelers
Quarterback
Aaron Rodgers: SIT
Well you gotta give it to the aged husk of Aaron Rodgers. He proved in week three if he eats the right combination of clay, pixie dust, and Mr. Goodbar’s he can conjur up a multiple touchdown game. But let’s not overreact here people. Rodgers is sitting at a 58.4% completion percentage. Fiftey-eight point four. He’s chucking the ball nearly 40 times per game and averages less than 250 passing yards. A-a-ron will have his occasional muti-touchdown game. But he’s nothing more than a desperation superflex start in potential high scoring affairs. The Browns defense has stiffened up after a rough Week 1 and given up just two passing touchdowns over the past two weeks. Pass. (No, not you Aaron. The people wanting to start you).
Running Back
Jaylen Warren: START, RB2
Rico Dowdle: SIT
Travis Homer: SIT
With Rico Dowdle trending towards missing Thursday Night Football, Jaylen Warren is set to carry the full workload for a second straight week. Problem is, the Browns aren’t a great matchup for opposing RBs. They’re allowing the ninth-fewest fantasy points to opposing running backs and have yet to allow a rushing touchdown. The volume and expected slow-paced defensive-type battle plops Warren right around the high-end RB2 range.
Wide Receiver
DK Metcalf: START, WR3
Michael Pittman Jr: SIT
Roman Wilson: SIT
Sure. The eight targets per game are swell. Look up in the air at a Steelers game? That’s probably one of DK Metcalf‘s league-leading (tied) nine deep targets from A-A-Ron. But averaging 33 receiving yards per game isn’t so swell. Top 10 matchup? Sure is. Do I want to start Metcalf? Sure don’t. The implied game total sits at 38.5 at the time of writing, so there’s no shootout expected. A sad excuse for a volume-based WR3. Please get DK out of Pittsburgh. He deserves better. Michael Pittman Jr. is averaging four more reception yards on four fewer targets per game. Big whoop. Bench him and any other Steelers WR.
Tight End
Pat Freiermuth: tHe gLoB
Pat Freiermuth has officially returned to tHe gLoB.
What is tHe gLoB, you ask? The fantasy football equivalent of store-brand Jell-O. You can expect the same thing just about every time (three-ish catches, forty-ish yards), and you pray that your mother-in-law decides to add whipped cream to the top…errr…the guy catches a touchdown.
Defense/Special Teams
Pittsburgh Steelers: START
Among the top 10 in both sacks and takeaways in this young season, the Steelers are shaping up to be an every-week start.
Cleveland Browns
Quarterback
Deshaun Watson: SIT
What in the 2020 is going on here?! Is he startable? Is he back? Two games. Two touchdowns thrown. EACH. Not total. Yeah, I’m talking about Deshaun Watson. I can’t believe it either. The passing yardage total is still low, throwing over 205 yards just once. But adding an average of 35 rushing yards per game is helping keep the grotesque floor a bit higher. High enough to start? Not yet. But high enough he should be on your radar in Superflex leagues. A game total under 40 isn’t one I’m looking to start a quarterback who hasn’t thrown for over 250 yards since 2023.
Running Back
Quinshon Judkins: FLEX, RB3
Raheim Sanders: SIT
Jaleel McLaughlin: SIT
Really. REALLY QUINSHON? You get all the work, a cake matchup against the Carolina Kitties who couldn’t stop a high school running back, and you can only muster up 70 yards? Oh, but he had a season high in fantasy points. Oh yeah? That season high wasn’t even double-digit points. Saying to start Judkins after last week is basically Seth Rogen in Step Brothers. Is that onion and ketchup?You could do so much better in your FLEX with a WR3 instead.
Wide Receiver
Denzel Boston: START, WR3
Kc Concepcion Jr: FLEX, WR4
Jerry Jeudy: SIT
The Boston-Concepcion tango goes a bit like this. Both Denzel Boston and KC Concepcion Jr. get five-ish targets per game. When Boston booms, he booms bigly. When he doesn’t…help. KC Concepcion has the higher floor in theory, but it hasn’t amounted to much just yet. With Watson playing better ball as of late, KC should emerge as a safeish WR3, but he’s not there yet. Jerry Jeudy …I got nothin. And neither does he.
Tight End
Harold Fannin Jr.: STREAMER
You’re starting Harold Fannin Jr. if you have him more likely than not, but simmer down before you get all excited. Six targets and 13 fantasy points per game at tight end is SAG (slightly above gLoB), but the Steelers are a bottom-ten fantasy matchup for tight ends.
Defense/Special Teams
Cleveland Browns: START
After getting burned by Sunshine Lawrence in Week 1, the Browns defense has settled down while simultaneously turning up the pressure. They have a half dozen sacks in their last two games.