Pittsburgh SteelersOur read
Written Oct 19, from his facts through last season
Two games, zero points, zero carries, zero targets. That is the entire Eli Heidenreich file through week 5 of 2026, and it is not a small sample, it is the whole sample. Pittsburgh has given him nothing, and nothing is what he has produced. The offense around him does not help a young back break in either: it ran 59% of situation-neutral plays as passes in 2025, and DK Metcalf and Kenny Gainwell combined for 39% of the targets that year, so the scraps for a third-string rookie are thin.
Then the availability question, which was always the bigger one. We set his expected games at 4 before the season, with a range from 0 to 11 once injury risk counted, and he has already missed weeks 3, 4 and 5 of 2026. He carries an O designation going into week 6 of 2026. Even if he gets back on the field, the role behind him is third on the depth chart behind Jaylen Warren, Connor Heyward and Rico Dowdle, and a first-year staff under Mike McCarthy is not going to manufacture touches for a seventh-round rookie while the names ahead of him are healthy.
Our preseason number for him was 14 points across 2026. Against the 3.5 a game that came with it, his 0.0 is not a slump, it is a total absence of opportunity. With no ADP on record for him, chances are you got him for nothing anyway, so if you are holding him you can wait no longer than the week 9 of 2026 bye before moving on. Pick up a back with actual touches and drop this name.