Germie Bernard became the focal point of the Pittsburgh Steelers passing offense this week with Michael Pittman out with a foot injury. He turned 9 targets into 6 receptions for 80 yards and a 29% target share. Roman Wilson left the game with a finger injury, and fellow wide receiver DK Metcalf was held to 12 yards on 4 targets.
This was Bernard’s second game with at least 8 targets this year. He’s building the trust of quarterback Aaron Rodgers and should be added in all fantasy football leagues from the waiver wire this week.
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As reported by ESPN’s Brooke Pryor, Steeler’s head coach Mike McCarthy stated on Thursday, “It’s the same foot, so it’s going to be a multiple-week injury”. Michael Pittman was reported to be dealing with a foot injury since Week 1 and was spotted at Wednesday’s practice using a scooter to keep weight off his injured foot.
This news spells opportunity for all the Steeler’s pass catchers as go into a Week 5 home-game versus the Colts, seeded at third-place in the AFC North. Subscribers to the Podfather’s weekly FAAB guidance know that fellow Steelers wide out Roman Wilson, has been on the up and up. Wilson is coming off two consecutive games recording a receiving touchdown, has been a steady option for Rodgers, collecting six targets in each game so far, giving him a 24% target rate, while averaging 92 air yards per game this season.
Burt Lauten reports that the Steelers have downgraded WR Michael Pittman Jr. to OUT for Sunday’s game vs. the Patriots with a foot injury. Pittman ranked No. 21 in targets last season at the WR position and was expected to be a great fit with Aaron Rodgers, but his 2026 season is off to a slow start after missing time in training camp with a hamstring injury and now this foot injury.
DK Metcalf and Pat Freiermuth should get more looks as a result of Pittman missing the game, making Freiermuth a fine streaming option. This likely moves Roman Wilson to the WR2 role and rookie Germie Bernard to the WR3 for the Week 2 tilt against the Patriots. Hopefully Pittman can recover quickly and get back on the field for Week 3’s game against the division rival Bengals.
Roman Wilson delivered a subtle breakout performance in Week 1. He posted a 21.0 Average Target Distance (ADOT) while earning 2.9 yards of separation, matching efficiency metrics put up by Justin Jefferson and CeeDee Lamb.
The third year receiver exploited the Atlanta secondary on deep routes despite not impressing in the official box score. Wilson has established trust with Aaron Rodgers and has seized the No. 3 wide receiver job. Stashworthy in deep dynasty leagues, Wilson is the WR97 on PlayerProfiler’s dynasty rankings with room to rise based on this downfield usage.
The Steelers are keeping 42.6 year old Aaron Rodgers, 31 year old Mason Rudolph, 2025 6th round pick Will Howard, and their 2026 3rd round pick, Drew Allar, all on the active roster. NBC’s Mike Florio speculates that one of these QBs could be put on the short-term IR, or soon be traded or cut.
For the impact on fantasy gamers, well, it’s probably best to keep a safe distance from this situation. Aaron Rodgers can be added for those who are desperate in superflex leagues, but can be avoided unless desperately seeking streaming in non-superflex leagues. As for their other QBs, it may be worth a taxi-squad stash dart-throw on the youth, Drew Allar, in Dynasty formats. But unfortunately, the situation is an uninspiring stayaway for fantasy football.
-Jason Diaz
Despite early offseason chatter about a potentially wide open offense in Pittsburgh, training camp reports indicate the offense will stay run-heavy, nerfing Germie Bernard‘s rookie year upside. Regardless of the offense’s identity, Bernard has remained parked behind Metcalf, Pittman, and Roman Wilson and will struggle to post a meaningful Target Share in Year 1.
Given his camp struggles, Bernard projects to be useless in redraft. He is also a dynasty league falling knife that will continue to leak lifetime value for the foreseeable future.
