- Germie Bernard makes his case to start: The second-round rookie for the Pittsburgh Steelers led the Steelers' offense throughout the first half, primarily making plays out of the slot in a position that D.K. Metcalf and Michael Pittman Jr. don’t typically occupy.
- Tyler Allgeier and Jeremiyah Love split-first quarter carries: The Arizona Cardinals were one of a few teams to play their starters on Thursday night. Love got the first nod, but Allgeier also saw three carries on their first drive.
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PFF's fantasy football recap focuses on player usage and stats, breaking down all the vital information you need to achieve fantasy success in 2026.
Detroit Lions @ Cincinnati Bengals
Colbie Young plays with the starters: Young took two snaps on the first two drives in place of Tee Higgins while Joe Burrow was still playing.
The Bengals spent the last two seasons with Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins as their top two receivers, with Andrei Iosivas joining them in three-receiver sets. The Bengals are one of the top teams in 11-personnel usage, leading to Iosivas playing over 75% of snaps each of the last two seasons. His snap rates have been helped by Higgins missing a few games each of the last two years.
Young was drafted in the fourth round, and appears to have already passed players like Mitch Tinsley on the depth chart. One of Young’s snaps with the starters was in 11 personnel, but he also took a snap in place of Higgins in 12 personnel, rather than Iosivas taking the 12 personnel snap. Often, when starters leave the game, key backups are included. The Bengals' top two running backs and top two tight ends left the game, but Iosivas kept playing with the backups.
This suggests Iosivas' job as the third wide receiver might not be secure. If Young plays well enough and Chase or Higgins suffers an injury, it’s possible that Young, instead of Iosivas, could be the player to pick up off the waiver wire.
The Detroit Lions reworked their wide receiver room: The Lions' backup wide receiver room looks very different from last season.
Amon-Ra St. Brown and Jameson Williams are locked in as the top two wide receivers on the Lions' depth chart, and they were both among the starters who didn’t play in this game. Last season, Isaac TeSlaa, Kalif Raymond, Tom Kennedy, Dominic Lovett and Jackson Meeks were the top backups. Raymond is now with the Chicago Bears, while free agent addition Greg Dortch was expected to take his place. The Lions added to that depth by adding veteran Cedrick Wilson in May after not adding to the room in the draft.
It was no surprise that TeSlaa was one of the primary receivers for this game, but Wilson appears to have overtaken all of the other backups, as he played all 15 snaps on the first three drives. Detroit used 11 personnel for all 15 snaps and deployed a rotation of Dortch and Meeks for the third spot. Both Wilson and Dortch stopped playing at the end of the first quarter, making it seem like their roster spots are secure. TeSlaa played on the first drive of the second quarter, which was odd considering he’s the favorite for the third spot, and two other receivers already stopped playing. Kennedy and Levett, who were two of the top backups last season, didn’t suit up until the middle of the second quarter, suggesting their roster spots are in jeopardy.
While TeSlaa is still the clear favorite for the third receiving spot, the fact that he played so much in this game while other starters didn’t suggests his role isn’t as locked in as it could be.
Miscellaneous Notes
- Detroit didn’t play most of its starters, including quarterback Jared Goff, running back Jahmyr Gibbs, wide receivers Amon-Ra St. Brown and Jameson Williams and tight ends Sam LaPorta and Brock Wright.
- The Lions were without running back Isiah Pacheco with an MCL sprain, but he is expected to be ready for the start of the season. Projected third-string running back Sione Vaki suffered a broken nose and eye injury a week ago, which has held him out of practice.
- The Bengals used running backs Chase Brown and Samaje Perine over the first two drives. Their usage was extremely similar to last season, with Brown playing more on early downs and Perine more on third downs. Brown took a third-and-short snap, and Perine received some time on early downs during a long drive. Neither of those exceptions was abnormal.
- While Bengals tight end Erick All is expected to be ready for Week 1, he was held out for this game. All missed all of last season, but should see significant playing time, replacing Noah Fant as an early down tight end for Cincinnati.
- Cam Grandy took All’s place in this game, with Drew Sample playing his usual early-down blocking role, and Mike Gesicki continuing his third-down role. It is very unlikely that Gesicki will see enough playing time to be fantasy-relevant this season if he wasn’t playing in early downs even with All out.
Green Bay Packers @ Pittsburgh Steelers
Matthew Golden plays in 12 personnel: Golden took both snaps out of 12 personnel with the starters over Jayden Reed.
Green Bay had a crowded receiver room when everyone was healthy last season, with Christian Watson, Romeo Doubs, Dontayvion Wicks and Golden typically working outside. Reed has spent his entire career in the slot in 11 personnel, rarely taking snaps in other groupings. Doubs signed with the New England Patriots and Wicks was traded to the Philadelphia Eagles, and the Packers made no significant additions this offseason, instead letting Savion Williams and Bo Melton move up the depth chart. That led to speculation Reed could see more work in 12 personnel, or even start over Golden.
The starters played one drive and largely stuck with 11 personnel, with Watson and Golden outside and Reed in the slot. The Packers ran only two snaps of 12 personnel, and Reed was off the field for both. Williams took one snap with the first unit, replacing Watson in 11 personnel rather than appearing in the heavier grouping. That makes Reed unlikely to be the primary receiver in 12, which caps his ceiling, though it doesn't rule out more of those snaps than usual. Watson and Golden should both play more than they have in the past, but neither is likely to hold above 90% of the offensive snaps, which leaves Reed in position to be the first man off the bench for either.
Starting in 12 personnel helps Golden's fantasy ceiling. He is likely fourth in the target order behind Watson, Reed and tight end Tucker Kraft, but there is room to climb if he plays well.
Pat Freiermuth remains in a tight end rotation: Freiermuth played less than half of the offensive snaps with the starters, primarily playing in passing situations.
Freiermuth was a top-10 fantasy tight end as recently as 2024, but the emergence of Darnell Washington mixed with the addition of Jonnu Smith led Freiermuth to play 50.6% of snaps last season, culminating in a TE25 performance. Smith is no longer on the Steelers, and Pittsburgh didn’t make a significant addition to its tight end room. Reports suggested the Steelers wanted to make an effort to get Freiermuth more involved in the offense this season.
He and Washington played two drives with the starters, with Washington playing more on early downs, and Freiermuth more on third downs. Unlike last season, Pittsburgh has a fullback in fifth-round rookie Riley Nowakowski, leading to a notable decrease in 12 personnel usage relative to last season. Washington was used in a mix of run and pass situations, while Freiermuth was only on the field in more obvious passing situations.
While it’s possible for a tight end to become a fantasy starter in this kind of rotation, it typically needs to be in a better offense. While Freiermuth could be a bye-week replacement, it’s unlikely he has a significant bounce-back this season.
Germie Bernard makes a case for the third wide receiver spot: Bernard was the Steelers' primary source of offense throughout the first half.
D.K. Metcalf has been the top Steelers wide receiver since last season, while Pittsburgh traded for Michael Pittman Jr. to be the second option. When Bernard was drafted in the second round, it was generally expected he would win the third spot. Throughout training camp, third year receiver Roman Wilson has been playing ahead of Bernard.
Metcalf and Pittman have been missing practices due to injuries and didn’t play in this game. This means we didn’t find out which of Wilson and Bernard are currently ahead, as they were the two primary receivers. One hint that Bernard might be further in the pecking order is that he played more than twice as many snaps as Wilson out of the slot. Both Metcalf and Pittman have spent their careers as outside receivers, so it’s likely that Bernard or Wilson will play primarily out of the slot this season.
Bernard caught four passes for 51 yards, while Wilson only caught one pass for 7 yards, although they were catching passes from backup quarterbacks instead of Aaron Rodgers. The fact that both receivers played the entire first half after several starters exited the game suggests there is no clear winner at this point.
It’s unlikely the winner of this battle will have much fantasy value this season, unless injuries continue to impact Metcalf or Pittman. In that case, one of these receivers could finish second on the team in targets.
Miscellaneous Notes
- Green Bay running back Josh Jacobs is dealing with a groin injury, which will keep him out at least this week. Backup Chris Brooks recently returned from a hamstring injury, he was held out of this game.
- MarShawn Lloyd started for Green Bay, took every snap on the first drive and played every snap on the second drive with the backups. While this doesn't mean much in terms of where he sits relative to Brooks on the depth chart, it was good to see him used on all three downs.
- Packers backup tight end Luke Musgrave remains on the PUP list. While Tucker Kraft is no longer on the PUP list and he has been practicing, he was held out for this game.
- Josh Whyle was the Packers' primary tight end on the first drive, only sitting out the first play in a run situation. He didn’t play with the backups, suggesting Green Bay views him as a key member of the offense. Reports suggest Whyle could be the second tight end on the depth chart, ahead of Musgrave.
- Pittsburgh chose to sit quarterback Aaron Rodgers as well as running backs Rico Dowdle and Jaylen Warren, but most other healthy starters on offense and defense played.
- 2025 third-round pick Kaleb Johnson didn’t receive his first offensive snap until the middle of the third quarter, playing well behind both Travis Homer and Lew Nichols, making it seem very unlikely Johnson makes the 53-man roster.
Indianapolis Colts @ New England Patriots
DeMario Douglas is locked into the third wide receiver spot: Douglas was among the starters who rested, while others ahead of him on the depth chart last season played.
The Patriots had a crowded wide receiver room last season, with Kayshon Boutte as the X receiver, Mack Hollins as the Z and Stefon Diggs in the slot, while Kyle Williams and Douglas were the top backups. New England released Diggs, signed Romeo Doubs in free agency and traded for A.J. Brown. In practice, Brown has been the primary X receiver, Doubs the Z and Douglas the slot. There has still been some rotation, including Boutte coming in at X, allowing Brown to move around.
While Boutte and Hollins were starters last season, they had to play with Williams and Efton Chism III among the backups in this game. This suggests that Douglas is the clear third wide receiver on the depth chart. Chism was consistently the slot receiver, while the other three rotated on the outside. Boutte remains the subject of trade rumors, and it’s likely that one of Boutte, Hollins or Williams won’t make the roster unless the Patriots keep seven wide receivers.
It will be difficult for any wide receiver in New England to have fantasy value this season outside of Brown, considering the depth at receiver and the likelihood that there will still be more rotation than most such rooms.
The Colts' wide receiver depth chart has a clear order: Ashton Dulin was among the Colts starters who didn’t play in this game.
Indianapolis’ wide receiver room has been straightforward in recent seasons, with Alec Pierce at X, Michael Pittman Jr. at Z and Josh Downs in the slot. Pittman was traded to the Pittsburgh Steelers, opening the door for Downs to play more snaps, but also for a third receiver to emerge in 11 personnel. Indianapolis didn’t make any significant additions to its wide receiver room, adding Nick Westbrook-Ikhine in free agency and Deion Burks in the seventh round of the draft.
The Colts rested their starters in this game, including both Downs and Dulin. This suggests Dulin might not be competing for playing time at this point. His primary competition was expected to be Laquon Treadwell and Nick Westbrook-Ikhine. Both Treadwell and Westbrook-Ikhine started this game, with Treadwell at X, Westbrook-Ikhine at Z and 2025 undrafted player Coleman Owen joining in the slot. Treadwell was taken out after one drive, while Westbrook-Ikhine kept playing for an additional two possessions, suggesting Treadwell is ahead of Westbrook-Ikhine.
There has been rampant speculation the Colts will add a free-agent wide receiver, with Keenan Allen at the top of the wish list. This game doesn’t rule out the possibility Indianapolis adds someone, but it also suggests the team is reasonably happy with Dulin and Treadwell.
Miscellaneous Notes
- New England rested its starters, including quarterback Drake Maye, running backs Rhamondre Stevenson and TreVeyon Henderson, wide receivers A.J. Brown, Romeo Doubs and DeMario Douglas and tight end Hunter Henry.
- Patriots backup running back Terrell Jennings landed on injured reserve on Thursday, ending his season. He was the favorite for the third running back spot. JaMycal Hasty was signed to take his place on the 90-man roster. Hasty played 15 games for the Patriots in 2024. Seventh-round rookie Jam Miller appears to be the favorite for the third receiver role.
- Colts wide receiver Alec Pierce remains on the active PUP list.
- Backup running back D.J. Giddens is dealing with a hamstring injury, which is likely why he didn’t play. He is competing with Seth McGowan for the backup running back spot, so this game gave no indication of where the two sit relative to each other on the depth chart.
- Indianapolis also rested most starters, including quarterback Daniel Jones, running back Jonathan Taylor, wide receivers Josh Downs and Ashton Dulin and tight ends Tyler Warren and Mo Alie-Cox.
- Drew Ogletree only played on the first drive with the starters for Indianapolis, suggesting he is locked in to the third tight end spot.
Arizona Cardinals @ Las Vegas Raiders
Coming soon!
Los Angeles Chargers @ Houston Texans
Coming soon!
Tennessee Titans @ San Francisco 49ers
Coming soon!
Table Notes
- Snaps include plays called back due to penalties, including offensive holding or defensive pass interference. The other three stats have these plays removed.
- Targets may differ from official NFL sources. The most likely discrepancy would be from a clear thrown-away pass, where the NFL may give the target to the nearest receiver, while this data will not.
- Carries are only on designed plays. Quarterback scrambles won’t count for the total number of carries in the game.
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