Who Should I Start? Pat Freiermuth or Chase Brown

Friday, October 17, 12:29 AM

Pittsburgh Steelers tight end Pat Freiermuth caught four of his five targets for 111 yards and two touchdowns during Thursday's Week 7 loss against the Cincinnati Bengals. His touchdowns came on 19-yard and 68-yard receptions, the latter of which gave Pittsburgh a late lead (that they would ultimately relinquish). Freiermuth had not yet posted a fantasy performance with more than 6.1 fantasy points this season (PPR), so Thursday's breakout was admittedly unexpected. It should give fantasy managers optimism moving forward, but there's no denying that the 26-year-old continues to face competition at the tight end position. Fellow tight ends Jonnu Smith and Darnell Washington each scored touchdowns on Thursday night, too, offering Aaron Rodgers plenty of options when he's looking to target big, physical receivers in the passing game. As a result, managers should view Freiermuth as a low-end TE2 for Week 8.

Friday, October 17, 9:26 AM

Cincinnati Bengals running back Chase Brown had 11 carries for 108 yards and added two catches for -8 yards on Thursday night against the Steelers. It was the most productive game of the season for Brown as he went over 100 rushing yards for the first time since Week 9 of last season. Coming into the game, he had just 304 total yards from scrimmage and one touchdown in six games. But he was able to find plenty of running room against a Pittsburgh defense that had been tough against opposing running backs. His snap share also rebounded to 63.2% in this one after being closer to 50% in the previous two games. Hopefully, this signals better days ahead for Brown as the Cincinnati offense is trending in the right direction with Joe Flacco under center.