Kenny Pickett

Pickett's case in Carolina is simple: he is listed second among the club's quarterbacks behind Bryce Young, and a backup with zero pass yards through five weeks of 2026 is not helping anyone. His two games this season went 2.4 points in week 1 of 2026 and -0.4 in week 2. Weeks 3 and 4 of 2026 he did not play, and with no injury designation since before week 1 those look like healthy weeks on the sideline. His bye in week 5 of 2026 is already behind him, so there is no schedule excuse left to wait on.

The trend is what you would expect from a fifth-year first-round pick who has not held a job. He averaged 5.03 points a game in 2024 and 1.29 in 2025, when he played just 6 of 17 weeks and never beat the position's weekly median. He cleared 15 points in zero of those six. The 2023 season, 110.2 points over 12 games, is three years old now and belongs to a different situation entirely.

We had him for 24 points all season, 4.0 a game across the 6 games we expected, and even that modest line looks generous with two games down and two missed. Same coaching staff as last year, with Dave Canales still running the club and Brad Idzik still calling the offense, so there is no new scheme reason to expect his role to grow. Hold nothing for him. The only version of Pickett that matters is one handed a starting job by an injury, and if that happens you can add him off the wire then. Right now he is a cut, and the spot is better spent on a lottery ticket who at least sees the field.