CLEVELAND, Ohio — The Browns traded for quarterback Kenny Pickett, a familiar face to Browns fans since he started for their divisional-rival Steelers in 2022 and 2023.
Pickett spent the 2024 season with Philadelphia, playing in five games and starting one; a Week 17 blowout win over Dallas, completing 66.7% of his passes for 143 yards and one touchdown.
The Browns could still draft a quarterback in late April, while knowing they have a player in the room with starting experience.
If Pickett were to play, or even start at some point of the 2025 season, what could we expect from him?
He’s only been in the NFL for three seasons, with the 2023 season being his most recent where he was a regular starter.
We will use the five best statistical and analytical numbers that best describe what he brings to the field.
Turnover-worthy plays - 7
Pro Football Focus’ turnover-worthy plays stat keeps track of pass attempts with a high likelihood of being intercepted, or where the quarterback lacked taking care of the ball and fumbling.
Through a full season, seven turnover-worthy plays isn’t a bad total. If anything, it implies a careful balance in the pocket from the quarterback.
During the 2023 regular season, there were 32 quarterbacks who recorded double-digit turnover-worthy plays. Pickett’s seven turnover-worthy plays tied for 38th among qualifying quarterbacks.
Five of those TWP’s were recorded by Week 4 of that season, but he did a better job afterward of limiting those kind of moments.
Air yards per completion - 5.1
Pickett finished the 2023 season 24th among quarterbacks in air yards per completion, per Pro Football Reference.
It takes 10 yards to eclipse a first down, so getting half of that in air yards is a decent rate.
Then again, it stands in the middle between Browns quarterbacks in 2024. Deshaun Watson performed worse with a 4.1 average, and Jameis Winston trumped both with a 7.5 average.
Furthermore, Pickett’s 5.1 average was actually a slight drop from his 2022 average of 5.4.
There’s always room for improvement when playing for an offense that had trouble moving downfield.
Average time to throw - 2.81
Get rid of the ball quickly in the pocket, and the cohesion within the offense can rise.
Except, for Pickett, he finished 2023 with the 24th longest time on average to throw out of the pocket.
There are pros and cons to this.
For one, it implies he can extend a play that eventually opens opportunities elsewhere for his targets.
On the flip side, it can also mean he’s not efficient on getting rid of the ball quicker, hence missing reads or an open target.
Deep pass completion percentage - 32.1
During Pickett’s 2023 season, he threw 28 pass attempts that traveled 20 or more yards downfield, and completed nine of them. It’s not much, ranking 33rd among qualifying quarterbacks, per PFF.
In fact, Watson completed eight passes of 20 or more yards that same season, and a season-ending injury limited him to six games. Pickett played six more games than Watson and only had one more completed pass that traveled deep.
Pickett has the reputation of carefulness in the pocket, so you won’t get risky passes from him.
Though, a problem for Cleveland this past season was their inability to travel downfield, finishing 31st in yards gained per play (4.6).
So, a quarterback who can move the ball downfield is a plus.
If Pickett is unable to display that, it won’t be any better with him in the pocket.
Allowed sacks - 4
When the pressure is too much, you’ve got to escape it or throw the ball away, Anything but a sack that would result in lost yards.
Pickett was sacked 23 times in 2023. That was seventh fewest among quarterbacks with at least 200 drop-backs. Even better, only four of them were considered his fault, according to PFF.
The issue of sacks allowed pertains more to Cleveland’s offensive line decimating before our eyes, having finished second in the NFL in sacks allowed (66) last season.
If Pickett can display a sense of escaping the pressure and avoiding sacks, that would be helpful.
Conclusion
Week 1 is a long time away, and there’s no certainty if Pickett will be a starter or the experienced backup. For those who needed an idea of what to expect with Pickett on the field in orange and brown, this should paint a good picture.
A careful quarterback who won’t make risky passes, but won’t do much outside of the box either.
Football Insider newsletter free trial: Take a minute and sign up for a free trial of our Football Insider newsletter, featuring exclusive content from cleveland.com's Browns reporters.