Summer Series: Pittsburgh Steelers

By: Josh Frey-Sam

There’s nothing sexy about the Pittsburgh Steelers on the surface.

For the first time in two decades, there is a new man at the controls, as Mike McCarthy takes over his hometown team. We also have confirmation that this is Aaron Rodgers’ last ride.

But even with those as subplots to the 2026 season, the Steelers don’t present as a team that will have a ton of impact on fantasy football. At least that’s what one might think.

I spoke with beat writer Nick Farabaugh (@FarabaughFB) of PennLive to get some answers on what we should expect out of the Steel City.

Below are a few key takeaways I had, but if you’d like to hear everything Nick said, listen to the audio above.

Is Kaleb Johnson out of the picture?

Takeaway: It’s going to be very tough for Johnson, a highly touted third-round pick last year, to find his way onto this roster. Jaylen Warren and Rico Dowdle are locked in, which likely leaves two spots at most between three guys: Johnson, Travis Homer and rookie Eli Heidenreich.

Where Johnson finds himself as the odd man out is that he doesn’t possess a skillset that is different from anyone else. For example, Homer is an excellent special teamer, and Heidenreich has supreme versatility as a RB/WR hybrid.

Johnson dynasty owners’ best hope is that he’s cut and then picked up by a team that will give him more opportunity.

How should we expect Jaylen Warren and Rico Dowdle to be used?

Takeaway: Both players While we could see a 50-50 split where they rotate series, Nick anticipates Rico Dowdle will be the early-down RB, while Jaylen Warren is used for his pass-protection and pass-catching skills on third down.

Don’t take that as a knock on Warren, though. Nick said Warren will be a massive piece of this unit. Like Kenneth Gainwell last year, he is going to be used a lot in the passing game and could be a PPR standout. Nick believes Warren could “easily” eclipse 500 rushing and 500 receiving this season.

What will be interesting to see shake out is who gets the goal-line carries. Conventional wisdom would suggest the bigger back in Dowdle, but Warren could see plenty of scoring opportunities as well.

Warren is being drafted as the RB27 in the fifth round of drafts right now, and I think you could argue that it is a tremendous value for a guy who will be extremely involved.

How should we be viewing DK Metcalf and Michel Pittman?

Takeaway: Nick suspects DK will find his way to a 1,000-yard season in his second year with Aaron Rodgers, but he also thinks that DK might not take the most consistent path to get there. Like he’s been his entire career, DK will likely be a boom-or-bust player for fantasy, but it helps that he has better chemistry with Rodgers and has a proven No. 2 in Pittman to take some attention away from him. Nick coined DK as a clear bounce-back candidate this season.

As far as Pittman goes, Nick believes he will be a trusted chain-mover for Rodgers. So, we could see a bit more consistency from Pittman’s weekly scores, but we’re also likely to see a much higher ceiling for Metcalf.

DK is going in the sixth round of drafts right now. Frankly, I’m not sure I’ll have many shares of him this season. Pittman, meanwhile, is going in the eighth round. I could see myself taking a shot on him as a high-floor WR4, but even that might be a stretch for me.

Sleeper that no one is talking about? 

Takeaway: I’m not sure I’ve heard this much conviction from a beat writer to this point in the Summer Series. Rookie second-round pick Germie Bernard was the clear standout during OTAs and minicamp, and has even received the stamp of approval from Rodgers, which is a massive deal. If you’re someone Rodgers trusts, you’re going to play.

Obviously, Pittman and Metcalf restrict Bernard from starting in two-WR sets, but the No. 3 job seems like his to lose right now. And if he can make good on his opportunities, we can probably peg Bernard as a clear breakout candidate in 2027.

Find the right time to strike at Bernard in fantasy.

Thanks for reading and, as always, have a great day.

Josh