Fantasy Football Preseason Takeaways: Kenny Pickett, Anthony Richardson, Sam Howell, Jordan Love

The first week of the 2023 preseason is in the books. It’s time to overreact!

No, no, no. Only calm, rational reactions coming in this recap of Preseason Week 1. Swear. Here are all of my fantasy football takeaways. And check out a few of my notes below.

Snake Draft Pick Strategy: Early | Middle | Late
Draft Targets for Every Round: Early | Middle | Late
Fitz’s Draft Primers: QB | RB | WR | TE
Fantasy Football Mock Draft Simulator

Preseason Week 1 Takeaways

Here are a few position-by-position fantasy takeaways from the first week of exhibition games:

Quarterback

Judging quarterbacks based on preseason games is generally unwise, but some mild Kenny Pickett enthusiasm is probably warranted. Pickett played 10 snaps vs. the Buccaneers and completed 6-of-7 passes for 70 yards and a touchdown — good for a 147.9 passer rating. The TD pass was good stuff, with Pickett using his eyes to manipulate a linebacker, then zipping a pass over the middle to George Pickens, who ran it in for a 33-yard score.
Let’s get this out of the way: The highly drafted rookie quarterbacks weren’t great in their first preseason starts … but let’s not be too judgmental. Bryce Young was 4-of-6 for 21 yards and took a sack. No big plays but no major mistakes. Anthony Richardson did make a major mistake, tossing a hideous back-foot interception early on. But Richardson also threw a gorgeous pass to Alec Pierce that probably should have gone for a 34-yard touchdown but was dropped, and A-Rich gave us a small taste of his rushing potential with a run that ended with him putting his head down and trying to crush a defender’s sternum. Richardson finished 7-of-12 for 67 yards. C.J. Stroud forced a ball into coverage and was intercepted. He finished 2-of-4 for 13 yards.
New starters Sam Howell and Jordan Love played reasonably well. Howell was 9-of-12 for 77 yards with a TD and no interceptions, plus an 8-yard run. Love was 7-of-10 for 46 yards with one TD and no interceptions. Good incompletion for Love: He just missed connecting with Christian Watson on a deep shot down the left sideline. Bad incompletion for Love: He grossly overshot a wide-open Luke Musgrave on an intermediate crosser.