Michael Pittman Jr. Fantasy Football Start or Sit Advice for Week 4

Michael Pittman Jr. Start or Sit Advice for Week 4

The Pittsburgh Steelers tried to upgrade their wide receivers this past offense, acquiring Michael Pittman Jr. in exchange for a late-round pick swap with the Colts. Pittman agreed to a two-year extension with the Steelers, but he has started the season slowly with his new squad. If you drafted Pittman for your fantasy football team, the early returns haven’t been very encouraging, but should you start or sit Pittman in Week 4 on the road against the Cleveland Browns? Let’s take a look at what to expect from Pittman this week.

Pittman played 88% of snaps in Week 1 but only had three targets. He did catch all three of those targets for 58 yardsa nd 8.8 FPTS. He missed Week 2 with a foot injury, but he was able to play 73% of snaps in his Week 3 return. While he had a season-high five targets in that contest against the Bengals, he only finished with two catches for 16 yards and 3.6 FPTS.

Aaron Rodgers typically does a good job spreading the ball around to the different receivers, and last week, six different Steelers had at least four targets in their win over Cincinnati. Roman Wilson has emerged as a legitimate sleeper from behind Pittman on the depth chart, catching three of his six targets for 60 yards and a touchdown in Week 3.

With Wilson’s emergence, Pittman doesn’t bring quite as high a ceiling as he would if was the only option across from top receiver DK Metcalf. Pittman des still bring a solid floor, though, since he should get targets as long as he’s healthy and on the field.

He’s a fringe WR4 with FLEX upside only if he gets into the end zone this week. That could definitely happen against the Browns, who have allowed five W touchdowns in their three games, along with an average of 155.3 receiving yards per game to the position.

Pittman has only a 11.7% target share and 62.5% catch rate, and his aDOT is lower than Metcalf’s, Wilson’s, and rookie Germie Bernard’s. His aDOT of 9.1 yards limits his big-play upside, making him a high-floor but low-ceiling option.

At this point in the season, the Steelers are using Pittman as more of a possession option instead of a big-play threat, and the other receivers bring more value upside in single-game contests like the NFL Showdown $1.5M Thursday Night Showdown [$500K to 1st] (PIT @ CLE). His salary of $7,000 in a FLEX spot could be worth it if he finds the end zone for the first time as a Steeler, but he’s best left for tournaments or GPP builds.

Unless you’re in a very deep league that requires lots of receivers, Pittman should be left on the bench for this week’s contest.

Start or Sit: Sit Michael Pittman Jr.