With Aidan O’Connell out six to eight weeks after suffering a broken wrist, the Las Vegas Raiders filled the void for a backup quarterback on their roster by trading with the Cleveland Browns for Kenny Pickett.
Ideally, Pickett won’t play since he’s behind Geno Smith on the Raiders’ depth chart. However, this is the NFL where injuries are common—just look at O’Connell—so there could easily be a situation where the 2022 first-round pick gets called upon.
Part of the reason Pete Carroll and John Spytek were comfortable sending a fifth-round pick to Cleveland for the former Brown/Steeler/Eagle, rather than signing or claiming someone else off waivers, is that he has starting experience. Pickett has a 15-10 record as a starter and has participated in 30 total games in his career, posting a stat line of 62.4 completion percentage, 4,765 yards, 15 touchdowns and 14 interceptions.
While those numbers are helpful, let’s flip on the tape and see what the new quarterback can bring to the Silver and Black.
In my opinion, Pickett’s biggest strength is his ability to throw on the run. He’s a good athlete to escape pressure or buy time and maintains his accuracy when his feet aren’t set. Also, the best deep ball that the former Eagle threw last season was the first clip above, a scramble drill that was a perfectly placed back-shoulder throw to tight end Grant Calcaterra for an explosive play.
Also, Pickett handles free rushers well by getting the ball out quickly and throwing around the defender to reach his target. That should allow the Raiders’ offensive coordinator Chip Kelly to dial up bootlegs when the backup is in the game, playing to his strength.
All of this being said, one critique I have of Pickett is that he can be quick to leave the pocket and will bail out of clean pockets. It’s good that he isn’t a statue and can keep plays alive, but he needs to rein that in a bit, or he’ll run himself into trouble, literally.
Since his college days, timing and accuracy have been the Pittsburgh product’s bread and butter. He’s good at anticipating when wide receivers are going to be open, routinely starting his throwing motion before his targets are out of their break. That, combined with good and consistent ball placement, allows him to beat coverage without having the strongest arm.
Kelly’s passing game features a lot of West Coast offense principles with several quick game concepts, which should pair well with this area of Pickett’s game.
According to Pro Football Focus, Pickett completed four out of his five attempts on passes 20 or more yards down the field last season. One of the four was the scramble drill to Calcaterra noted previously, and the other three are the passes we’re looking at here.
As mentioned above, Pickett has below-average arm strength. That reduces his margin for error and makes his timing on deep passes even more important, which these three throws above highlight.
He has good to solid timing and anticipation on the first two to put the ball in front of the receiver for explosive plays. But when he’s late, the pass dies and it takes a heck of an adjustment by one of the best wideouts in the game, A.J. Brown, to come down with the completion.
Overall, Pickett is a good backup option who can operate the short to intermediate passing game and make a few plays happen by using his legs. But his lack of arm strength and consistency with the deep ball will limit the playbook if the Raiders need to throw him into action.