Michael Pittman Jr. has quietly been a productive fantasy receiver for most of his career without ever getting much credit for it. A move to Pittsburgh drops him into a far less crowded target hierarchy than the one he left behind. The quarterback throwing him the ball may be the best possible fit for his specific skill set. Fantasy managers should look closely at what that pairing could produce in 2026.
Should You Draft Michael Pittman Jr. in Fantasy Football?
We’ll start with Pittman’s ADP, which sits at 97.4 in PFN’s Free Fantasy Mock Draft Simulator. He checks in as the WR38 in our consensus ranks, which are a combination of me and my colleague Kyle Soppe. We have him projected at 11.68 fantasy points per game.
I’ve had an interesting relationship with Pittman over the years. His rookie season was not a harbinger of any sort of great success. Then, of course, he had the breakout a couple of years later, and I was really, really in on him after that breakout season. Of course, he disappointed. Then I faded him and he had another spike season. I can’t seem to get it right with Pittman.
Last year, he only averaged 11.9 fantasy points per game. I would call that a modest disappointment relative to cost, even though he wasn’t overly expensive. He also had a career-high 7 touchdowns, which probably is not going to repeat.
With that said, I do think that Pittman could be a sneaky value this season. I think his skill set meshes really well with Aaron Rodgers at this point in Rodgers’ career. Aaron Rodgers was one of the greatest deep-ball passers of all time in his prime. It’s been a while since we saw him at that level. Last season, Rodgers averaged 6.1 air yards per attempt. That was 37th in the league. He’s just a check-down specialist. He doesn’t want to take sacks. He gets rid of the ball quickly. Pittman just molds better with Rodgers than DK Metcalf did.
I know there’s an argument that perhaps the scheme could open things up more with Mike McCarthy as the head coach compared to what Mike Tomlin did, and there’s definitely some merit to that. But mostly I just believe that Aaron Rodgers can’t really do this anymore, at least not at the same level that he could at a younger age. Pittman makes a ton of sense as the guy he just peppers underneath with targets. He’s certainly more valuable in PPR.
I think we can get a nice PPR season from Pittman this season. I think that his 11.9 fantasy points per game last year really feels like his floor for this year.
As a guy who needs the volume, I do think he’ll get it, and I think that we should be taking shots on Pittman at his cost. He’s not going to be a league winner, but he could absolutely give you a solid WR3 value at a sub-WR3 cost. I’m more in than not on Pittman this season, but again, he’s not someone to ever reach for.
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Michael Pittman Jr.’s Week 1 Fantasy Outlook
Analysis provided by PFN Analyst Kyle Soppe.
Last season, 36 QBs threw 200+ passes, and 20.8% of their attempts traveled 15+ yards in the air.
For Rodgers, that number checked in at a league-low 15.1% despite having a manchild in DK Metcalf at his disposal.
Instead of trying to break into the stubborn head of the future Hall of Famer, Pittsburgh bent the knee and brought in a chain-moving expert in Pittman. I have my concerns about this offense as a whole, but we know that Pittman runs short routes and that is the one thing we know Rodgers is comfortable doing at this advanced stage in his career.
The Bears were surprisingly the eighth-best defense in terms of YPA on those short passes, but they were worse than league average in opponent completion percentage on those efforts, and that’s the path for Pittman to sneak his way into the flex conversation this week.
Metcalf has a wider range of outcomes, and that is often what catches our eye, but is that what you want in an offense that projects to be below average?
Pittsburgh’s top priority, in my opinion, will be to keep Caleb Williams off the field, and that could mean a lot of easy-button looks going to their offseason acquisition. I’m aiming for more of a ceiling in a DFS setting, but in a deep PPR league, I think Pittman is viable as a low-end play whose floor is appealing.
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Where Pittman Ranks Among 2026 Wide Receivers
- DJ Moore | BUF
- Davante Adams | LAR
- Josh Downs | IND
- Brian Thomas Jr. | JAX
- DK Metcalf | PIT
- Michael Pittman Jr. | PIT
- Quentin Johnston | LAC
- Mike Evans | SF
- Jayden Reed | GB
- Stefon Diggs | WAS
- Jakobi Meyers | JAX
Analysts Jason Katz and Kyle Soppe rank every wide receiver on PFN’s 2026 PPR Consensus Board.
