The Pittsburgh Steelers are coming off a Sunday Night Football win as they travel to face the Houston Texans in Week 4. Quarterback Kenny Pickett put together his best performance of the season against the Las Vegas Raiders, but aside from last week’s game, he’s been relatively fantasy-irrelevant. Should fantasy managers trust him in Week 4?
We break down the upsides and drawbacks of rolling with the Steelers’ QB1 this week.
Fantasy Football analysis: Steelers QB Kenny Pickett
Through three games this season, Pickett is completing just 59.6 percent of his passes while holding a 4:3 touchdown-to-interception ratio. His 18.5 fantasy points in Week 3 were the highest of the season, but outside of that performance he’s averaging a mere 10.0 fantasy points per game in 2023.
Start or sit in Week 4?
Sit, given the Steelers’ offense is still unproven. Don’t let a win over the Raiders’ porous defense last week fool you; questions remain about Pittsburgh’s ability to find the endzone. The Steelers rank just 22nd in scoring (18.7 PPG) despite ranking in the top 10 in pass attempts per game. Houston’s defense may not be elite, but they have still limited quarterbacks to 228 passing yards per game while allowing only two passing touchdowns this season.
Pickett is a clear bench candidate in smaller leagues. In larger leagues of 12 to 14 teams, consider him a desperation start in case you’re without a quarterback due to injury.
Player(s) you would start ahead of Kenny Pickett
Fantasy managers should be free to look across Pickett’s matchup for a more viable starting candidate. Texans’ rookie C.J. Stroud has performed admirably in his first three career starts, throwing for 906 yards and four touchdowns without throwing an interception. He’ll eventually regress to the mean, and facing a tough Steelers defense isn’t ideal.
But with an average of 17.2 fantasy points per game this season, he’s a much safer bet than the second-year signal caller in Pittsburgh.