Pickett firmly behind Trubisky

Steelers QB Kenny Pickett practiced with the third-team offense this offseason, per ESPN’s Brooke Pryor. While a contender for the starting job, Pickett has an “uphill battle” to start the opener at Cincinnati, per Pryor. Outside of superflex leagues, it's easy to avoid Pittsburgh QBs in 2022 fantasy drafts.

ESPN's Brooke Pryor gives Steelers QB Kenny Pickett a 2% chance of winning the Week 1 starting job. "Throughout OTAs and minicamp, Pickett consistently took third-string reps behind [Mitchell] Trubisky and [Mason] Rudolph," Pryor writes. "To supplant Trubisky as the starter by Week 1, Pickett would have to be the second coming of Johnny Unitas as soon as he hits training camp." We'd give Pickett a better shot at starting opening day just because the competition is so underwhelming. But we've also heard other Steelers beat writers call Trubisky the heavy favorite for the Week 1 nod. We're still projecting Pickett to start more games than Trubisky this year, but it's tough to like the rookie in best-ball drafts if he won't start the whole season.

Steelers HC Mike Tomlin confirmed that 1st-round QB Kenny Pickett will be given a chance to start Week 1. “Yeah, he certainly has a chance,” Tomlin said. “We felt he came ready made and hopefully that’s an asset to him being ready — if performance dictates.” We’d call Mitch Trubisky the favorite to start come September, but he’ll likely be on thin ice.

The Steelers grabbed QB Kenny Pickett with the 20th overall pick of the 2022 NFL Draft. Pickett spent 5 years at Pittsburgh, starting most of the past 4. It wasn’t until 2021 that he broke out, though, throwing for 4,319 yards and 42 TDs. That more than doubled his career total for TD tosses. Pickett brings above-average mobility (72nd-percentile speed score for the position), but he has drawn comparisons with Andy Dalton and Teddy Bridgewater. We see limited fantasy football upside here, but Pickett stands a good chance to beat out QB Mitchell Trubisky this summer. That’s a situation to avoid in early fantasy drafts.