Steelers vs. Vikings Fantasy Football Worksheet, Week 4

The Worksheet, a comprehensive fantasy football preview by Rich Hribar, breaks down everything you need to know about the Week 4 matchup between the Steelers and Vikings in Dublin on Sunday morning.

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

Trust = spike production for that player

Quarterback

Aaron Rodgers: Rodgers did not do much lifting on Sunday, going 16 of 23 for 139 yards with 2 touchdowns and an interception.

To kick off the year, Rodgers has been QB7, QB26, and QB24 in weekly scoring.

He is averaging the fewest air yards per pass attempt (5.1 yards downfield), throwing 37.2% of his passes at or behind the line of scrimmage, the highest rate in the league.

The only passers with a lower rate of deep throws than Rodgers (7.0%) are Bryce Young (5.3%) and Cam Ward (5.1%).

After Pittsburgh called play action on 33.3% of his dropbacks in Week 1, that rate has dropped to 15.2% and 21.7% in the past two weeks.

With the use of play action, Rodgers has a 117.9 rating (8th) compared to an 87.9 rating without (16th).

Rodgers is a back-end QB2 here against a Minnesota defense that has had our respect under Brian Flores.

The Steelers have a 53.9% dropback rate in neutral game situations, 30th in the league.

They have had a good opening draw against Caleb Williams, Michael Penix, and Jake Browning, allowing 5.8 yards per pass attempt (9th), 9.2 yards per completion (4th), and a 2.4% touchdown rate (4th).

Even when accounting for their schedule, this defense was second in passing points allowed per attempt in 2024.

The Vikings are second in the NFL in pressure rate (49%).

When pressured, Rodgers has a 32.0 rating (30th), completing 6 of 22 (27.3%) attempts.

Carson Wentz: Wentz kept the offense on schedule and operating with efficiency on Sunday, connecting on 14 of 20 passes for 173 yards (8.7 Y/A) with 2 touchdowns.

A blowout and two defensive scores reduced the number of pass attempts we saw, but Wentz was more than usable as a fantasy option, closing as QB12 (15.3 points).

We have seen passers such as Josh Dobbs and Nick Mullens run into usable starts under Kevin O’Connell, something Wentz can do if he can avoid the negative plays that J.J. McCarthy had.

Wentz is still on the board as a matchup-based QB2 here.

Pittsburgh has allowed streamable weeks to all of Justin Fields (29.5 points), Sam Darnold (15.8 points), and Drake Maye (19.2 points).

They have been banged up, missing several starters, but have allowed 8.5 yards per pass attempt (29th), a 71.7% completion rate (28th), and a 5.4% touchdown rate (23rd).

Running Back

Jordan Mason: Getting his first run as the lead back with the Vikings, Mason rushed 16 times for 116 yards and a pair of touchdowns.

Mason did not play in the fourth quarter due to the blowout, but before his exit, he handled 16 of 21 backfield touches, playing 76.1% of the snaps.

He was not targeted but was on the field for 64% of the dropbacks before his exit, which was RB7 through three quarters last weekend.

Mason does have some receiving fragility that forces more touchdown dependency and rushing efficiency for his archetype, but he is a volume-based RB2.

Mason does have some matchup advantages here.

He is sixth among running backs in outside zone rushing attempts (17), where he has averaged 6.1 yards per rush.

The Steelers have allowed the fourth-most rushing yards on outside zone runs (128) to running backs to open the year, allowing a first down or touchdown on 22.6% of those runs (25th).

As a whole, Pittsburgh has allowed 4.2 yards per carry to running backs (18th) with a first down or touchdown on 26% of those runs (27th).

Jaylen Warren: Warren has gotten more and more work each week to open the season.

He has played 44.6%, 58.1%, and 79.6% of the offensive snaps, handling 54.2%, 66.7%, and 82.1% of the backfield touches.

Kenneth Gainwell did steal a touchdown to open the game, but Gainwell has had 10, 8, and 5 touches to open the season.

Warren has not been great in the running game, rushing for 3.1 YPC (34th) with a run of 10 or more yards on 2.3% of his attempts (35th).

But his increased usage and pass-catching have propelled him to live as an RB2.

Warren’s 14.6% target share ranks eighth among running backs.

He has been targeted on 30.8% of his routes.

The only backs with as many routes run and a higher rate have been Christian McCaffrey (31.7%) and Jahmyr Gibbs (31.1%).

Although we have not seen him score a touchdown since Week 1, Warren already has 8 touches inside the 10-yard line.

Over his first two years in the NFL, Warren has had only 9 touches and 5 touches inside of the 10.

Minnesota has been good against backfields in two of three games.

They allowed 76 and 58 total yards to the Chicago and Cincinnati backfields, sandwiching 248 yards allowed to the Atlanta backfield.

Wide Receiver

Justin Jefferson (TRUST): Jefferson pulled in 5 of 7 targets for 75 yards on Sunday.

The usage was there for Jefferson, attached to more efficient quarterback play, but the Vikings did not have to throw the ball.

Jefferson accounted for 29.2% of the team’s targets but only ran 25 pass routes.

He has yet to run more than 30 pass routes in a game so far through three weeks after averaging 36.4, 40.5, 36.9, and 36.4 routes per game to kick off his career.

That reduced team passing volume has been a restrictor plate on his fantasy output, but Jefferson is still averaging 2.53 yards per route with 30.8% of the team targets.

When we do finally get some top-down passing volume, the points will follow.

This would be a good spot for efficiency and added production if we do see passing volume.

Pittsburgh has allowed 10.1 yards per target (26th) to opposing WR1 targets.

They have been vulnerable downfield, allowing a 73.7% completion rate on throws 10 or more yards downfield to wide receivers (31st).

DK Metcalf: Metcalf secured 3 of 4 targets for 32 yards and a touchdown on Sunday.

He has found the end zone in back-to-back games, but Metcalf has yet to have more than 7 targets in any of the opening three games, managing 83, 20, and 32 yards receiving in those contests.

Metcalf is only averaging 6.3 air yards per target, while 64.7% of his targets have been shorter than 10 yards downfield.

His target share (20.7%) ranks WR33 to open the season.

That is the area where we are currently handling Metcalf as a touchdown-based WR3/FLEX.

Minnesota has not allowed 70 yards to a wide receiver yet to open the year, facing a solid group led by Rome Odunze (6-37-1), Drake London (3-49-0), and Ja’Marr Chase (5-50-0).

Jordan Addison: Addison’s suspension is up, and he is ready to rejoin the team this weekend.

Addison has delivered two solid seasons in Minnesota to kick off his career.

After averaging 4.1 catches for 53.6 yards per game with 10 touchdowns as a rookie, Addison averaged 4.2 catches for 58.3 yards per game with 10 touchdowns in 2024.

He posted 1.74 yards per route after 1.50 in 2023.

Addison was a shot-play asset in this offense.

He ranked seventh in receiving yards off play action (441) and tied for the league lead with 5 touchdowns off play action.

He has been volatile based on touchdown performance.

28.2% of his fantasy points came via touchdowns last year after 27.1% as a rookie.

The only player who scored more fantasy points last season and relied on touchdowns at a higher rate was Terry McLaurin.

Over two years, Addison has averaged 19.7 points per game in his weeks with a touchdown but just 6.9 points per game without.

With the lack of top-down passing volume for Minnesota and Addison just returning to the lineup, he is a WR3/FLEX with upside per target, based on the downfield production Pittsburgh has allowed to receivers, as highlighted earlier with Jefferson.

Calvin Austin: Austin caught 3 of 5 targets for 34 yards and a touchdown on Sunday.

It was his second touchdown through three games.

Austin has cemented himself as the WR2 for the Steelers, running a route on 85.6% of the dropbacks.

He only has 18.3% of the team’s targets (WR42), so those touchdowns are masking a lower floor attached to a low-volume passing game.

Austin is the WR51 in targets through three weeks, leaving him best used as a single-game DFS play.

Tight End

T.J. Hockenson: Hockenson showed some signs of life with the quarterback change, catching 5 of 6 targets for 49 yards and a touchdown in Week 3.

While the lack of team-level passing limited the counting stats, Hockenson had season-highs with a target on 30% of his routes, accounting for 25% of the team's targets.

We have an added wrinkle this week with Addison returning, but the Steelers provide some matchup appeal for Hockenson as a TE1.

Pittsburgh has allowed 9.2 yards per target (25th) to tight ends to go along with a 13% touchdown rate (31st).

After allowing 3 catches for 36 yards to the Jets tight ends in Week 1, they allowed 4 catches for 57 yards and a touchdown to Seattle tight ends in Week 2, and then 10 catches for 118 yards and 2 touchdowns to Hunter Henry and Austin Hooper last week.

Steelers TEs: Pat Freiermuth and Jonnu Smith continue to cannibalize each other, keeping each other as touchdown-or-bust TE2 options.

Smith has been on the field for 61.9% of the dropbacks, catching 12 of 13 targets for 65 yards and a touchdown.

Freiermuth has been on the field for 55.7% of the dropbacks, catching 7 of 10 targets for 65 yards.

Minnesota has allowed 6.0 yards per target (12th) to tight ends, but they have not faced a daunting rogue’s gallery to open the year, with opponents such as Chicago, Atlanta, and Cincinnati.

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