Team news: Pittsburgh Steelers | Page 3

The Colts are ruling out WR Alec Pierce, CB Kenny Moore II, RB Tyler Goodson and S Daniel Scott.

Pierce is a bit of a surprise seeing how he's been practicing, but he did not pass the concussion protocol, according to Shane Steichen. That's his second straight game.

Related Players: Michael Pittman Jr., Josh Downs

In a follow-up question with Shane Steichen, he said "working through that" regarding Adonai Mitchell playing this week, which is all the more interesting with Pierce out. It's possible we see a condensed target tree with Pittman, Downs, and Tyler Warren taking the vast majority of the work. Pittman is a WR2 candidate, Warren an obvious TE1 and Downs would move up into a WR4 role for managers searching for WR help.

Panthers RB Chuba Hubbard, who has been dealing with a calf injury the last couple of weeks and hasn't practiced this week, is expected to miss Sunday's game against the Dolphins. Rico Dowdle is the team's backup.

Related Players: Trevor Etienne

Dowdle should make for a volume-based RB2/3 but he has slightly less juice than Hubbard, and could see a bit more Etienne than we've been used to. The rookie could be in the RB4 range, but should be reserved as a desperation play in deep leagues.

Steelers RB Jaylen Warren, who was added to the injury report Friday with a knee injury, is expected to play Sunday against the Vikings in Dublin, Ireland.

Perhaps as a precautionary measure, the Steelers also elevated RB Trey Sermon from the practice squad for Sunday’s game. Warren was limited in practice all week but also had a rest day this week. As a reminder, this game kicks off at 9:30 am eastern, so the inactives list will be announced at 8:00. Prepare accordingly. Warren sits as our RB19 this week.

The Colts ruled out WR Alec Pierce (concussion) for Sunday's game vs. the Rams.

Related Players: Michael Pittman Jr., Josh Downs, Adonai Mitchell

Pierce has been the main beneficiary of Daniel Jones' deep ball, racking up an 18.8 aDOT and 171 yards through three games. Adonai Mitchell should absorb some of that work, but it's still not enough to plug him into any but the deepest fantasy lineups.

The Steelers added RB Jaylen Warren (knee) to the injury report and he's questionable for Sunday vs. Minnesota.

TE Jonnu Smith (hip) and CB Joey Porter Jr. (hamstring) are also questionable.

Related Players: Kenneth Gainwell, Kaleb Johnson, Pat Freiermuth

It would be interesting to see what kind of role Kaleb Johnson would have if Warren misses, but that shouldn't put him in fantasy consideration. If Jonnu misses, Freiermuth would move up in the top-20 TE range.

Panthers RB Chuba Hubbard is questionable for Sunday vs. the Patriots due to a calf injury, and WR Xavier Legette has been ruled out.

Related Players: Rico Dowdle, Trevor Etienne, Tetairoa McMillan, Hunter Renfrow, Brycen Tremayne

If Hubbard is out there, we'd still expect him to put up borderline RB2/3 numbers, but if he misses Dowdle could operate in the RB4 range.

Legette's continued absence shouldn't have much of an impact on the rest of the wide receiver room. McMillan is the only option we should be considered in fantasy.

Mike Tomlin on Jaylen Warren:

"His progress has been very evident and he's to be congratulated ... Certainly he'll be our featured runner. Certainly you'll see [Kaleb Johnson/Kenneth Gainwell], but at what time and at what degree [will depend week-to-week]."

Warren just signed an extension with the Steelers for two years and now looks to be the Steelers RB1. Warren isn't the biggest back so there will be questions about his size and handling a full workload, but it's good news for his owners who snagged him later in drafts. Johnson should be able to earn some early down work at some point, but it sounds like that will vary. It's just another RB situation that will need to work itself out before fantasy owners feel comfortable.

A two-year extension for Steelers RB Jaylen Warren, per his agents.

Related players: Jaylen Warren, Kaleb Johnson, Kenneth Gainwell

The agents pointed out Warren went from Snow Community College to Utah State to Oklahoma State before signing with the Steelers as an undrafted free agent. The Steelers RB situation looks to be a complicated one as the team also drafted Johnson. Some reports suggest Johnson hasn't been as great as expected so far through camp and practices, but he is still expected to get some of the workload. Gainwell comes over from the Eagles and can pretty much do it all. He was often on the field in two-minute situations and passing downs.

The Steelers will place rookie QB Will Howard, their sixth-round pick, on injured reserve at some point, though not necessarily immediately, per sources

Dynasty managers can take note here. Howard will land on IR sometime before the season starts. He didn't get any time in the preseason thanks to his injury so the Steelers will stash him away and he'll miss the first four games of the season.

The coaches are very high on [Calvin Austin III]. Tomlin calls his trajectory "really exciting," and people I've talked to with the team noted that he gets open often. Austin just doesn't have the numbers (36 catches, 548 yards, 4 touchdowns) to reflect that ability. The offense will heavily feature DK Metcalf and the tight ends, but Austin will have chances with splash plays.

Related players: DK Metcalf, Robert Woods, Roman Wilson, Jonnu Smith

Austin is being asked to get open on vertical passing plays the story said as the offense is built around taking advantage of matchups. The Steelers WR2 may end up slotting in as the third option at best in this offense, however, with the addition of Smith at TE.