Week 4 Fantasy Football Thursday Night Preview: Who Should You Start From the Steelers, Browns?

Thursday Night Football brings a division matchup between two teams that sit at 2-1 and aim to secure their position in the playoff race early. The entire AFC North is 2-1, and most people assume that Baltimore and Cincinnati are better than the two teams in action tonight, so it's important to rack up as many wins as possible early so that the Browns and Steelers don't have to try to make up ground in the final months.

Let's look at the fantasy-relevant players in action in the Thursday Night Football game and which guys are worth putting into your lineup in Week 4. Most stats are from NFL.com, and fantasy points and rankings are from FantasyPros.

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Quarterback

• Deshaun Watson, Cleveland Browns
• Aaron Rodgers, Pittsburgh Steelers

Let's start with Rodgers: he has been slightly below average the past few years, far from the prime player who was a fantasy fixture. Rodgers struggled mightily against good pass defenses in Atlanta and New England the first two weeks, but he was much better last week in a better matchup against the Bengals. Rodgers is simply a player to deploy against good matchups now, nothing more.

Watson has brought intrigue early in the season, ranking as fantasy QB12. He was above average with both completion percentage and yards per pass attempt in the first two weeks, and while he struggled more last week, he threw two touchdowns and ran for 45 yards, putting him over 20 fantasy points.

The Browns rank right in the middle in both yards per pass attempt allowed and fantasy points given up to quarterbacks. The Steelers have allowed the ninth-most yards per pass attempt but the fourth-fewest fantasy points to QBs. The disparity for the latter can be explained because Pittsburgh has faced the third-fewest pass attempts, not giving opponents the chance rack up as many fantasy points.

I kind of like Watson's outlook here, but I'm not trusting Rodgers. The latter is only worth considering in positive matchups; this one is middling. Pittsburgh offers a bit better matchup, and Watson has been a better fantasy player overall, creating a little value. Don't bench a weekly starter for Watson, but if you are navigating an injury or just playing matchups each week, Watson is a decent option.

Running Back

• Quinshon Judkins, Cleveland Browns
• Jaylen Warren, Pittsburgh Steelers

Both the Browns and Steelers have been a little worse than average with yards per rush attempt allowed, giving up the 11th-most and 13th-most, respectively. Pittsburgh has been worse from a fantasy perspective, allowing the 11th-most fantasy points to RBs, while Cleveland has given up the ninth fewest.

Judkins has had a rough start to the season, averaging just 3.0 yards per carry and combining for 54 rushing yards in the first two games. He had his best performance last week, racking up 70 yards on 18 attempts, and Judkins has added some work in the passing game, catching nine passes for 53 yards. We can expect some better performances moving forward, but it's worth being a little skeptical until we see him perform more consistently.

Warren gets a boost this week because Rico Dowdle will miss his second straight game, leaving Warren to handle most of the workload. He excelled last week, running for 127 yards and adding three catches for 49 yards. Dowdle struggled to find any efficiency in the first two games, so it wouldn't be a surprise to see Warren continue to get more work even when his backfield-mate returns.

Both RBs are worthy of consideration and will be in a lot of lineups. It seems like Warren is the better player and Judkins has the better matchup here, so they are close in value, though I prefer Warren, especially in PPR leagues.

Wide Receiver

• Denzel Boston, Cleveland Browns
• KC Concepcion, Cleveland Browns
• DK Metcalf, Pittsburgh Steelers
• Michael Pittman, Pittsburgh Steelers
• Roman Wilson, Pittsburgh Steelers

We said in the quarterback section that Cleveland is in the middle in yards per pass attempt, but they have been vulnerable against wide receivers, giving up the sixth-most fantasy points to the position. Pittsburgh sees the same dynamic as at QB, where they have given up the eighth-most yards per pass attempt but the seventh-fewest fantasy points to WRs. It seems like volume is the driving force there, but we can't simply ignore the numbers.

That brings a few more questions for Boston and Concepcion, two rookies who are leading Cleveland's receiving corps. Boston scored a long touchdown in each of the first two games but we held to just two catches and 41 yards last week. Concepcion has touched the ball more but has been wildly inefficient, gaining just 80 yards on 12 receptions and nine yards on four carries. Both guys are in that big WR3/4/flex group and worth considering, but it's likely that each will need a touchdown to really have a successful week.

While Metcalf and Pittman are bigger names, Wilson is the one who has at least a tie for the team lead in receptions, yards, and touchdowns. Pittman has the lowest numbers, but he missed Week 2, so that makes sense. Metcalf has had three mediocre games, catching either three or four passes for between 27 and 40 yards each week; he finally found the end zone last week. Though a few names here might make you more inclined to play them, the numbers say that they are only in that WR3/4/flex range with the Cleveland guys.

If you have any of these players, you can reasonably consider them all. Neither matchup looks great, but neither is disqualifying. I'm also not terribly enthralled by any receiver listed here and would be fine leaving them on the bench. I like how much Concepcion touches the ball, and he is going to hit some bigger plays eventually, so he might be the one I pick from the group with the best outlook.

Tight End

• Harold Fannin, Cleveland Browns
• Pat Freiermuth, Pittsburgh Steelers

It's more of the same here from a defensive perspective, as the Browns rank in the middle against tight ends in fantasy while the Steelers are better than average. Three weeks isn't enough to truly know what a team is going to be; so much goes into the players they face and volume at which they are attacked, as we've seen with Pittsburgh. Neither team seems like a great one to target with this position, though, leaving plenty of questions.

Freiermuth had a good first week, catching five passes for 46 yards and a touchdown, but he has been more middling since then, combining for six receptions and 62 yards the past two games. That's the best way to think about Freiermuth, as a middling (or worse) fantasy player who needs to find the end zone to have a good week, leaving him with a lower floor.

Fannin is a higher-ceiling player, and he finally had a strong performance in Week 3: seven catches, 51 yards, and two touchdowns. Fannin was a surprising breakout rookie and brought plenty of intrigue into 2026. His first two games were a little disappointing, but we can expect more out of the second-year player, even if he might not be a weekly fantasy starter yet.

Freiermuth should stay on your bench, but Fannin can be deployed this week. The matchup seems to be in the middle based on numbers, and Fannin will get his looks with a chance to maybe find the end zone again.