Cleveland has turned the page on the Deshaun Watson era/error. Reports have indicated as much for months, but owner Jimmy Haslam made it all but official yesterday, calling the trade "a big swing and a miss." Which we knew. What are the odds of Kenny Pickett being the team's Week 1 starter?
Possession counts for something, and as we speak the only healthy quarterback on the team's roster is Pickett, who will get to flash a shiny Super Bowl ring to his new teammates. As for whether he'll actually start, well, Cleveland's options would seem to be Pickett, Kirk Cousins -- expected to be traded after the draft, presuming he actually waives his no-trade clause -- or a rookie. The Browns pick No. 2 overall, and it's reasonable to think they'll use that pick on a passer. Perhaps Shedeur Sanders, if the Titans draft Cameron Ward with the top pick.
The body of work with Pickett suggests they will indeed be either drafting a rookie or acquiring Cousins (or both). There's nothing to indicate he'd be a desirable NFL starter.
Setting aside games he was knocked out of or benched, Pickett has played 22 full (or close to full) contests. The game log isn't pretty, either in fantasy or NFL terms.
Pickett in those 22 contests has thrown for even 225 yards just eight times. He's thrown 14 touchdowns (plus 3 rushing scores), throwing 11 interceptions and taking an average of 2.3 sacks per game. Numbers below, sorted by passing yards.
| KENNY PICKETT GAME LOG | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Opp | Pass | TD | Int | Sk | Run | TD |
| at Buf. | 327 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 10 | 0 |
| at Cin. | 278 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 5 | 0 |
| Cin. | 265 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 14 | 0 |
| at Mia. | 257 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 20 | 0 |
| L.V. | 244 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 9 | 0 |
| at L.V. | 235 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 11 | 0 |
| S.F. | 232 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 4 | 0 |
| at LAR | 230 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 |
| Bal. | 224 | 1 | 0 | 3 | -6 | 0 |
| Cle. | 222 | 1 | 1 | 2 | -6 | 0 |
| N.O. | 199 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 51 | 1 |
| at Atl. | 197 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 14 | 0 |
| Cle. | 195 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| at Phi. | 191 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 37 | 0 |
| at Ind. | 174 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 32 | 0 |
| at Bal. | 168 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 |
| Ten. | 160 | 1 | 0 | 0 | -1 | 0 |
| at Was. | 143 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 13 | 0 |
| Dal. | 143 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 |
| G.B. | 126 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 16 | 0 |
| at Hou. | 114 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 9 | 0 |
| at Cle. | 106 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 9 | 0 |
| Avg | 201.4 | 0.6 | 0.5 | 2.3 | 11.2 | 0.1 |
Somebody may point out that Cleveland traded for him, so perhaps they see a viable NFL quarterback there, but note that they gave up Dorian Thompson-Robinson, whose starts the past two seasons were arguably the worst by any NFL quarterback in that time frame. DTR in just over five games has thrown 1 touchdown, 10 interceptions and taken 14 sacks, completing under 53 percent. There is no way DTR is actually backing up Jalen Hurts in Philadelphia this season.
And it's pretty unlikely Pickett is starting in Cleveland. Between now and the end of the NFL Draft, the Browns will be making at least one and probably a couple of moves to bring in better options.
--Andy Richardson