Who Should I Start? Kenny Pickett or Quinn Ewers

Monday, August 25, 8:18 PM

The Las Vegas Raiders are acquiring quarterback Kenny Pickett (hamstring) from the Cleveland Browns on Monday in exchange for a fifth-round pick in the 2026 NFL draft, sources tell Ian Rapoport of NFL Network. Geno Smith is the Raiders' unquestioned starter heading into the 2025 regular season in two weeks, but Pickett will now give the team plenty of backup experience after Aidan O'Connell (wrist) went down with a fractured right wrist that is expected to sideline him for six to eight weeks. Pickett himself has dealt with a hamstring injury that he suffered late in July that kept him out of all three of the Browns' preseason games, but he has a chance to be available for Week 1 for the Raiders against the New England Patriots. Back in Cleveland, this trade means that one of rookie signal-callers Dillon Gabriel or Shedeur Sanders will be the QB2 behind Joe Flacco to begin the year.

Sunday, August 17, 6:50 AM

Miami Dolphins quarterback Quinn Ewers had a big second half in the team's second preseason game on Saturday, throwing for 116 yards and two touchdowns by completing 11 of his 17 pass attempts. He entered the game trailing 14-7 but led two touchdown drives and led the team to a 24-17 victory over the Dolphins. Both of Ewers' touchdown passes went to fellow rookie Theo Wease Jr. as both players look to establish their positions on the roster. The rookie quarterback from Texas was a seventh-round pick in the 2025 NFL Draft after throwing for 9,128 yards, 68 touchdowns, and 24 interceptions in 36 games over three seasons with the Longhorns. Ewers is currently competing with Zach Wilson for the team's backup role behind Tua Tagovailoa, and both potential backups had strong showings against Detroit. Wilson played ahead of Ewers on Saturday, but Ewers stepped up with a much better showing than he had in his preseason debut against the Bears.