Kenny Pickett Dynasty Fantasy Football Outlook | Is Pickett's Time in Pittsburgh Up? How to Handle Pickett in Dynasty Leagues

The Pittsburgh Steelers’ offense has been much maligned this season (and for multiple years really). The quarterback is going to be at the focal point of a struggling offense, and Kenny Pickett definitely has been this season.

Pickett had a winning record when starting this season, but has now been forced to the bench even though he’s been medically cleared to return from his ankle injury.

Let’s discuss Pickett’s future, trying to determine if he’ll ever start for the Steelers again, or if he’s possibly going to get moved in the offseason. This article will be focused primarily on dynasty leagues.

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Pickett’s Season

Pickett started all 12 of the games he appeared in this season, going 7-5 in those contests. He completed 62% of his passes and has thrown just six touchdowns to four interceptions - it’s hard to believe a QB could ever post those kinds of numbers across 12 games, but it’s what has happened.

For as weak as some of his numbers are, Pickett did lead three game-winning drives. He’s rushed for 54 yards and a score on 42 attempts.

Pickett did not top 300 passing yards in a game this season, and was held under 200 passing yards in half of his starts. He threw multiple touchdowns in just one game, which means he only had a touchdown pass in five games overall. One positive (sort of) was that Pickett only threw interceptions in four contests. Pickett only fumbled twice this season.

Comparing this season to his rookie one, Pickett’s numbers are pretty much identical in most statistics. He only had seven touchdown passes in 13 games (12 starts) as a rookie, while throwing nine interceptions. Pickett threw for 334 less yards this season. His quarterback rating is up nearly 5%.

Pickett’s Future

Of course, Pickett is still on his rookie deal, which ties him to Pittsburgh through at least 2025. The organization will have a fifth-year option available to them, but that seems unlikely to happen at this point.

Most NFL organizations nowadays aspire to win the Super Bowl when their quarterback is on their rookie contract so they can spend money to build a strong team around him. Pittsburgh has a pretty solid team in place, but the quarterback position hasn’t elevated the team to a contender status.

Mason Rudolph is the quarterback that Pittsburgh has been starting the past couple weeks, but he’s likely not the team’s long-term answer. Neither is Mitch Trubisky, who originally took over for Pickett.

Pickett’s struggles could force the team into selecting a quarterback early in the 2024 NFL Draft. At this point, I’d be pretty surprised if the Steelers didn’t use one of their draft picks on a quarterback, to at least give themselves another young option.

There’s also the chance that the team brings in a veteran in free agency, but Pittsburgh doesn’t have the cap space to do that right now.

How to Move Forward

The future is extremely murky for Pickett, but right now, I’d advise dynasty owners to just hang on to Pickett.

Teams usually give their first-round picks plenty of chances, and if Pittsburgh doesn’t do that, another team probably will. 

While Pickett wasn’t a league winner in fantasy purposes, he really didn’t do much to hurt his fantasy numbers. Of course, he wasn’t start worthy almost all season, so he’s basically burning up a roster spot.

This is still a first-round talent we’re talking about here, and it’s only been two years. If these kinds of struggles continue into next season, that’s when you can move on from Pickett - he’d probably lose his starting job and be a career backup if that comes true anyways.

Not many fantasy owners out there are going to be actively trying to acquire Pickett, but there might be some dynasty owners who are looking for any kind of QB help they can get at this point. Not much would be needed in return for Pickett, but at least you could free up a roster spot and get something in return that could potentially help you out more in the years to come.

If you are one of those desperate dynasty owners I just mentioned, now is when you should go after Pickett. His fantasy value is really low right now, but if he turns things around and becomes even an average fantasy QB, you’ll come out of the trade looking like a genius.

Pickett should at least be given one more true test to prove he can be an NFL starter. If he doesn’t win a starting job and moves into a backup role, then you simply drop him and look for more QB help. You shouldn’t need to give up much to acquire him, so eventually dropping him won’t hurt that much.