Slate Stats › NFL › Injury impact

DK Metcalf injury: status, history and who gets his targets if he is out

Pittsburgh Steelers · Wide receiver · status this week: not on the week 7 injury report (week 7 report, captured Wed 21 Oct, 6:15am)

Checked Oct 21, 2026.

Over his 7 full seasons on record, DK Metcalf played 112 of 117 regular-season games (96%), and 6 of 6 so far in 2026. Season by season.

The Pittsburgh Steelers room absorbs +5.42 receptions, and Roman Wilson takes the largest single share at +0.85. The work stays overwhelmingly inside the wide receiver room.

Where the work goes

Change in projected receptions for every other player in the offense. The bars are small on purpose — a vacated role is shared out, and any tool showing one replacement absorbing a whole target load is telling you something the data does not support.

Receptions gained if DK Metcalf sitsRoman Wilson+0.8WR 46% snapsKaden Wetjen+0.7WR 0% snapsBrandon Johnson+0.6WR 4% snapsBrandon Smith+0.6WR 40% snapsBen Skowronek+0.5WR 14% snapsMichael Pittman+0.5WR 72% snapsGermie Bernard+0.5WR 66% snapsPat Freiermuth+0.1TE 68% snapsDarnell Washington+0.1TE 67% snapsRobert Tonyan+0.1TE 6% snapsJaylen Warren+0.1RB 84% snapsRico Dowdle+0.1RB 26% snapsEli Heidenreich+0.1RB 0% snapsTravis Homer+0.1RB 4% snapschange in projected receptions

Every player in the room

PlayerCatches nowIf he sitsChange
DK Metcalf WR · 95% snaps4.90—OUT
Germie Bernard WR · 66% snaps4.805.29+0.49
Jaylen Warren RB · 84% snaps3.303.43+0.13
Michael Pittman WR · 72% snaps3.003.51+0.51
Pat Freiermuth TE · 68% snaps3.003.15+0.15
Darnell Washington TE · 67% snaps2.502.65+0.15
Rico Dowdle RB · 26% snaps1.701.83+0.13
Roman Wilson WR · 46% snaps1.101.95+0.85
Brandon Johnson WR · 4% snaps0.801.44+0.64
Brandon Smith WR · 40% snaps0.601.24+0.64
Eli Heidenreich RB · 0% snaps0.600.73+0.13
Ben Skowronek WR · 14% snaps0.400.94+0.54
Robert Tonyan TE · 6% snaps0.300.45+0.15
Kaden Wetjen WR · 0% snaps0.200.85+0.65
Lew Nichols III RB · 9% snaps0.100.23+0.13
Travis Homer RB · 4% snaps0.100.23+0.13

Injury history

Over his 7 full seasons on record, DK Metcalf played 112 of 117 regular-season games (96%), and 6 of 6 so far in 2026.

SeasonTeamPlayedMissedListed outQuestionableInjuries listed
2026PIT6 of 6000—
2025PIT15 of 17200—
2024SEA15 of 17210Knee
2023SEA16 of 17103Ribs, Back
2022SEA17 of 17002Hip, Knee
2021SEA17 of 17000—
2020SEA16 of 16000—
2019SEA16 of 16000—

Regular season only. Games played counts games with at least one offensive snap; designations are from the official weekly injury report, which does not list players on injured reserve, so a long absence shows as missed games rather than as weeks listed out.

What the data says happens

Measured across every regular-season game from 2018 onward, each beneficiary compared against his own trailing four-game form and net of what the same players do in weeks the room’s number one actually plays.

When a team’s number-one wide receiver does not play, what each position group gains:

RoomReceptions gainednt
Receivers+0.5841,53711.16
Tight ends+0.1751,0803.33
Backs+0.1131,0112.00

The room total is predictable. Which player takes it is not. Every candidate predictor of who gains — pecking order, snap share, route depth, trailing targets — correlates at roughly r = 0.02. In any single week one player usually takes about 60% of what was vacated; it is simply not predictably the same one.

DK Metcalf’s full stats and usageSnap share, target share, game log and this week’s projection

Cascade effects 2018–2026, paired within player, net of control · projections as-of-week with no lookahead · 2026 week 7