The Pittsburgh Steelers' offense has been surprisingly potent to begin the 2026 campaign, with Aaron Rodgers playing well and the team scoring 30 or more points twice already this season. (For reference, the team reached that mark just three times all of last season.) A big reason why the Steelers' offense has been so dynamic has to do with tight end Pat Freiermuth playing a large role.

Freiermuth has 19 receptions for 169 yards and leads the team with four touchdowns in five games. He's tied for the NFL tight end lead in that last category, but that is in jeopardy with his questionable status for Pittsburgh's Week 6 game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Freiermuth was a late addition to the injury report with a calf injury and was given a questionable diagnosis ahead of Sunday's tilt.

Is Pat Freiermuth playing today? Steelers' top red zone threat likely to play

Steelers fans got good news on Sunday morning on Freiermuth, as ESPN's Ian Rapoport revealed that the team is "optimistic" that he'll be able to play. Now, optimism isn't a guarantee, but it sure makes it seem as if he's far more likely to suit up than not.

If the Steelers feel confident in Freiermuth's ability to play, we should too, but in the unlikely event that he cannot suit up, here's a look at what their tight end depth chart would look like.

Steelers TE depth chart if Pat Freiermuth can't play

If Freiermuth can't play, that'd leave the Steelers awfully shorthanded at the tight end position, with only two options for Mike McCarthy to turn to. The first of which is Darnell Washington, who has actually been listed as the team's top tight end alongside Freiermuth anyway. Washington has only one touchdown to Freiermuth's four, but he's been an active participant in the team's offense, reeling in 11 receptions for 131 yards thus far.

As for Robert Tonyan, the other tight end option, he's been used more sparingly, recording just one catch for two yards this season, and he has just two receptions in the last three seasons combined. That doesn't sound promising, but this is a player who has as many as 586 receiving yards in a single season (although that occurred in 2020). As a third-string tight end, you can do worse than someone with his track record. If Freiermuth can't play, we'd likely see a lot of Washington in single tight end sets.

Fantasy football replacements for Pat Freiermuth

Freiermuth has been a pleasant surprise from a fantasy perspective thus far, but he's been pretty touchdown-dependent, making him hard to trust on a weekly basis. Given that, I'm not sure how many teams are relying on him to start this week anyway. But if anyone is, here's a look at some possible replacements. (And no, you probably shouldn't start a different Steelers tight end.)

It's too late to stream Brenton Strange, who played in the London game on Sunday morning, but Dallas Goedert, even with Tanner McKee, is an interesting play given the state of the Eagles' offense. DeVonta Smith is expected to play, but he'll command all the attention, especially with Saquon Barkley out, leaving room for Goedert to shine.

And what about Tyler Higbee? The Rams are loaded with tight end options, but Higbee has three straight games of at least five receptions for 60 yards, and faces an Arizona Cardinals team that just allowed 45 points last week. Higbee could be in for a big one for a Rams team in dire need of a victory.