Kenny Pickett fantasy outlook: Should you draft Steelers QB in 2023?

Kenny Pickett is going into his second year in the NFL. The quarterback bounced in and out of the starting lineup with middling results. Mitch Trubisky wasn't much better, and the team is rolling with Pickett as their present and potentially their future.

He wasn't a very viable fantasy option, except for a few weeks randomly sprinkled in against poor defenses. With that experience under his belt, will 2023 be better? More importantly, should he be a fantasy target?

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Kenny Pickett's fantasy outlook in 2023

Kenny Pickett is entering his second year, first full season as the Pittsburgh Steelers' starting quarterback. His rookie year didn't encourage a lot of hope, but this year should be better.

Kenny Pickett might not be a good fantasy choice

For starters, the additions of Darnell Wright and Allen Robinson give him new weapons to play with. Diontae Johnson and George Pickens is a very good duo as well.

However, there's one person still present. Steelers fans were fed up with offensive coordinator Matt Canada last year, regularly calling for him to be fired. That didn't happen, and he's back this year, so expectations should be tempered.

The second-year growth should kick in, but the expectations for this offense are not exactly high. Pickett could be fine, but he could also struggle again with Canada. That would not be surprising.

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Where should I draft Kenny Pickett in 2023?

Kenny Pickett is ranked as the 19th quarterback and is being selected 155th overall. If you're getting your starting quarterback in this range, you are probably in big trouble. For a backup, it's not as bad.

Nevertheless, Pickett probably isn't a wise pick. In that same range, Jared Goff and Matthew Stafford are being selected. Both of them, particularly Goff, present a lot more upside. If you need a starter here, consider the other two options.

If you're looking at a backup, it's still probably not all that useful to land Pickett. The Steelers quarterback is fine, but he's a relatively known commodity. You'd be better off taking someone with higher upside, like Bryce Young or C.J. Stroud.

Those two players have no baseline, so they could be bad. For one week only as a backup, it is what it is. But, they could also be very good. They could blow up and be the Rookie of the Year, which would give you a lot more value and could turn into a valuable trade pick.

If you end up with Pickett, don't fret. He could be fine and certainly isn't a bad selection as a backup quarterback. He looked great in preseason, so he could be poised for a solid quarterback. There are just better and safer options for you.