Kenny Pickett Fantasy Profile: An in-depth look at the Steelers rookie quarterback for 2022

Kenny Pickett is staying in Pittsburgh. The Pittsburgh Steelers made Pickett the first quarterback selected in the 2022 NFL Draft with the 20th overall pick, and the former Pittsburgh Panther will compete with free agent signee Mitchell Trubisky to work as the heir to Ben Roethlisberger. Pickett's five-year career at Pitt had its fair share of ups and downs, but he capped it off in style by breaking Dan Marino's single-season and career passing touchdown records. Pickett was one of just four quarterbacks to top 40 passing touchdowns in 2021 -- his 42 scores in his fifth season with the Panthers topped his combined output (38) from the three previous seasons combined.

Even though he was the first QB selected, Pickett doesn't bring quite the Fantasy upside that elite rushers like Malik Willis and Sam Howell do -- he is worth consideration as a top-three QB selection for dynasty rookie draft purposes, but strong landing spots for fellow rookies such as those two or Desmond Ridder and Matt Corrall could push Pickett to the bottom of what seems to be a clear tier of five Fantasy-relevant rookie quarterbacks. Pickett may not bring the long-term Fantasy upside that some of these dual threats do, but as the first QB selected, he has the best chance at starting in 2022. Just how high should he be ranked at the position in season-long leagues as a rookie if starting and passing to the likes of Diontae Johnson, Chase Claypool, and Pat Freiermuth?

SportsLine's Fantasy analyst Jacob Gibbs provides a data-driven deep dive to answer that question and address anything that stood out from his advanced statistical profile. These player profiles are just a small part of the advanced analytical prep Gibbs is providing for SportsLine users heading into the 2021 Fantasy football season -- if you want an easy way to keep up with all of the information that will be published this spring and summer, this Advanced Fantasy Football Stat Guide will be updated with links to each article as they go live.

So what can you expect from Kenny Pickett in 2022 and beyond ... Join SportsLine right now to see the full fantasy profile from Fantasy analyst Jacob Gibbs!