Steelers vs. Browns Fantasy Football Worksheet, Week 4

The Worksheet, a comprehensive fantasy football preview by Rich Hribar, breaks down everything you need to know about the Steelers vs. Browns Week 4 matchup on Thursday Night Football.

Find a breakdown of every Week 4 NFL game in our Worksheet Hub.

Trust = spike production for that player

Steelers vs. Browns Fantasy Quarterback Preview

Aaron Rodgers

Sunday was Rodgers' best fantasy day of the early season.

He still completed only 55.9% of his passes (-3.6% versus expectation), but he made the passes connected on count.

Rodgers threw for 292 yards (8.6 Y/A) and 3 touchdowns.

That was his highest yards-per-pass-attempt in a game since Week 4 of last season and his most passing touchdowns since Week 1 of 2025.

Rodgers is still more of a QB2 here for fantasy in a low-total-game environment, but at least the Steelers have been consistent in throwing the football.

And Rodgers is throwing it downfield more this season.

37.3% of his passes have been 10 or more yards downfield, his highest rate since 2011.

16.7% of his passes have gone 20 or more yards downfield, his highest rate since 2009.

The Steelers have thrown the ball over pass-rate expectations in all three games this season and are sixth for the season to date (5.9% over expectations).

The Steelers are second in the NFL in pass rate over expectations on first downs (+9.9%).

After getting shredded by Trevor Lawrence in the opener, the Browns have bounced back the past two weeks against Baker Mayfield and Bryce Young.

Cleveland has allowed a 57.3% completion rate (8th) and 5.8 yards per pass attempt (6th) the past two weeks.

Cleveland is second in pressure rate over the past two weeks (46.2%).

After playing man coverage 21.4% of the time in Week 1, they have played man coverage 64.5% and 37.8% of the time in the past two weeks.

That is not new for Rodgers, who has faced man coverage on a league-high 39.1% of his dropbacks.

The Bengals just ramped up their man coverage last week to a league-high 45.8% rate.

After going 13 of 28 (46.4%) for 71 yards (2.5 Y/A) with an interception against man coverage in Weeks 1 and 2, Rodgers was 9 of 18 (50%) for 160 yards (8.9 Y/A) with 2 touchdowns against man coverage on Sunday.

Deshaun Watson

Watson has put together back-to-back usable fantasy weeks.

After scoring as the QB12 in Week 2 (19.7 points), he was the QB14 (20.3 points) this past week.

It wasn't a pretty game, though.

Watson threw for only 4.8 yards per pass attempt, completed 53.3% of his passes, and passed for 144 yards.

But he threw 2 touchdowns, added a two-point conversion, and rushed for 45 yards.

While Watson has found his way to usable lines these past two games, I am still handling him as a QB2 in this matchup.

The Browns have focused on getting the ball out of Watson's hands over the past two weeks.

He is averaging a league-low 4.8 air yards over the past two weeks, throwing a league-low 21.4% of his passes 10 or more yards downfield.

The league rate over that span is 35.7%.

In the season opener, Watson threw the ball within 2.5 seconds of the snap 22.6% of the time.

In the past two games, those rates have been 48.6% and 40.5%.

As a byproduct, it has reduced the negative plays.

Watson was sacked 5 times in the opener.

He has been sacked 4 times since.

The wild part is that Watson was still pressured on 54.1% of his dropbacks last week, the second-highest rate of Week 3.

This has been the approach against Pittsburgh so far this season.

Opposing passers have thrown the ball in 2.70 seconds after the snap against the Steelers, the second-fastest rate in the league.

Steelers vs. Browns Fantasy Running Back Preview

Jaylen Warren

Warren had a career day on Sunday.

He set career marks in snaps (90.3%), handling 20 touches for a career-high 176 total yards.

His day could have been even larger, too.

Warren had an 85-yard run called back for holding on DK Metcalf.

On that same drive, Warren then had a walk-in 32-yard touchdown, but he lost a wheel stepping on soft dirt and stumbled down at the 6-yard line.

Without Rico Dowdle, Warren operated as a true workhorse, and the backfield had its most productive day of the season.

With Dowdle expected to miss another week due to the short turnaround, Warren is a back-end RB1/high-RB2.

Warren has averaged 15.8 PPR points per game in his 15 career games in which he cleared 15 touches.

Pittsburgh also shook up its offensive line in Week 3.

2026 first-round pick Max Iheanachor started at right tackle, and Brock Hoffman started at right guard.

Apply any grains of salt you need to for PFF grades, but Iheanachor was the second-highest-graded run-blocking lineman in Week 3.

Cleveland has allowed productive outings to Bhayshul Tuten (88 yards on 16 touches), Bucky Irving (90 yards on 20 touches), and Chuba Hubbard (110 yards on 23 touches) to open the season.

Quinshon Judkins

Judkins managed 79 total yards on 20 touches on Sunday against Carolina.

Three weeks in, Judkins has yet to crack the top-24 in weekly scoring.

He has handled 77.8%, 80.9%, and 80% of the backfield touches, but the offensive environment and lack of pass-catching have kept him as a volume-based RB3/FLEX.

Judkins is averaging 3.0 yards per carry, 39th among running backs with 20+ runs this season.

He has a 26.2% success rate (39th) and a run of 10 or more yards on 4.8% of his attempts (35th).

Judkins is averaging 0.64 yards before contact per rush, 33rd on that same list.

He has been targeted on 24.3% of his routes (RB15) but has still run a route on only 35.6% of dropbacks (RB26), sharing passing duties with Raheim Sanders.

Pittsburgh is 24th in expected points allowed per game to running backs, coming off allowing 69 total yards on 15 touches to Chase Brown on Sunday.

Steelers vs. Browns Fantasy Wide Receiver Preview

DK Metcalf

Metcalf only caught 3 of 5 targets for 31 yards on Sunday, but he got into the end zone for the first time this season to boost his afternoon.

After being targeted on 23.8% of his routes in Week 1, Metcalf has had target rates of 19.6% and 13.5% in the past two games.

We highlighted how much man coverage the Steelers have seen and what to expect here based on Cleveland's performance over the past two weeks.

Metcalf has run into a couple of tough assignments over the past two weeks against Christian Gonzalez and DJ Turner.

Against man coverage this season, Metcalf is only averaging 0.78 yards per route run.

This was an issue last season when he posted a career-low 1.48 yards per route against man coverage.

Metcalf is a WR3/FLEX option.

The upside is that he had a solid outing in his lone game against Cleveland last year, catching 4 of 9 targets for 95 yards and a touchdown, though he did not have a catch with Denzel Ward in coverage.

Denzel Boston

Boston secured 2 of 4 targets for 41 yards on Sunday and added a two-point conversion.

We knew Boston was running hot on long touchdowns the first two weeks, but he has operated the full-time X in this offense out of the gate as a rookie.

Boston has been on the field for 94.2% of the Cleveland dropbacks, WR6 early this season.

He has 49.6% of the Cleveland air yards (WR3) and 3 of the 5 targets into the end zone.

There will be volatility due to the offensive attachment, but Boston has a role you largely have to ride out as a WR4/FLEX if you want to catch his spike moments cashing in a big play or end-zone target.

This matchup isn't overly alluring.

Pittsburgh is playing man coverage at only a 7.8% rate (29th).

Boston has been targeted on only 13% of his routes against zone coverage, compared to 19.2% against man coverage.

Kevin Concepcion

Concepcion had only 2 catches for 9 yards on Sunday, but he did receive his most usage in a game early this season.

Concepcion had a season-high 9 targets (30% of the team total).

He also ran a route on 94.7% of dropbacks, up from 64.5% and 74.3% at the start of the season.

Concepcion has been targeted on a team-high 24.4% of his routes but is averaging only 3.8 air yards per target.

Just 10% of his targets so far have been 10 or more yards downfield.

With the Browns emphasizing a short passing game and expecting it to be static here against this pass rush, Concepcion has some pulse as a floor-based WR/4/FLEX in full-PPR formats.

Michael Pittman

Pittman caught 2 of 5 targets for 16 yards on Sunday.

Returning from a foot injury that sidelined him in Week 2, Pittman ran a route on 77.8% of the dropbacks, second on the team behind Metcalf.

Pittman is in WR5/FLEX territory.

It is early, and he missed two games, but Pittman has only been targeted on 4.3% of his routes against man coverage.

That is following a career-low rate in 2025 with the Colts (15.8%).

Roman Wilson

Wilson grabbed 3 of 6 targets for 60 yards and a touchdown on Sunday against the Bengals.

He got the scoring started with a 38-yard touchdown on a stack wheel route.

Wilson also had a drop that led to an interception.

After that drop, he played only 5 snaps, compared to 15 for Germie Bernard (who had 2 snaps prior).

We will see if Wilson gets any further punishment heading into Thursday.

Wilson is best left for single-game DFS, but he does have 6 targets in each of the opening three games.

Steelers vs. Browns Fantasy Tight End Preview

Harold Fannin

After a quiet season opener, Fannin has rebounded with games of 5-45-0 and 7-51-2.

He scored both Cleveland touchdowns on Sunday, becoming the first Cleveland player to get an end-zone target other than Boston to open the season.

Fannin is averaging only 9.0 yards per catch, but with Watson focusing on getting rid of the football, he has regained opportunities in the offense.

Fannin has seen 20% and 30% of the team's targets in the past two games, up from 13.6% in Week 1.

Fannin has been targeted on 23% of his routes against zone coverages compared to 13% against man coverage.

Expecting more of the same approach from the Browns here, Fannin is a back-end TE1 with more appeal in full-PPR and TE-Premium formats.

Over three weeks, Pittsburgh has allowed tight ends to catch 10 of 14 targets for 120 yards and a touchdown.

Pat Freiermuth

Freiermuth has opened the year with games of 5-46-1 (5 targets), 4-32-0 (5 targets), and 2-30-0 (4 targets).

With the Steelers actually running the ball better in Week 3, Darnell Washington ran a route on a season-high 58.3% of the dropbacks.

Freiermuth was at 63.9%.

He is at 66.9% for the season (TE19), which leaves Freiermuth as a touchdown-dependent TE2.

Tight ends have brought in 19 of 26 targets (73.1%) for 198 yards and 1 touchdown against Cleveland through three games.

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