Who Should I Start? Kenny Pickett or Spencer Rattler

Monday, July 28, 2:59 PM

Cleveland Browns quarterback Kenny Pickett (hamstring) left the team's Saturday practice with a hamstring injury, and head coach Kevin Stefanski would not disclose the severity of the injury when meeting with the media on Monday. Stefanski reportedly said that Joe Flacco will handle the majority of first-team reps for the team in the immediate future, according to Tony Grossi of The Land on Demand. Pickett is in a competition with Flacco and rookie quarterbacks Dillon Gabriel and Shedeur Sanders for the starting job in Cleveland, but this injury threatens to set him back. In five games (one start) for the Philadelphia Eagles last season, Pickett completed 59.5% of his passes for 291 yards, two touchdowns, and one interception. A former first-round pick by the Pittsburgh Steelers in 2022, Pickett may be getting his last chance to prove himself as a starter with Cleveland. He'll need a quick recovery to beat out Flacco for the job heading into the regular season.

Sunday, July 27, 8:13 PM

New Orleans Saints quarterback Spencer Rattler looks to be in the lead for the team's starting job, according to Jeff Nowak of WWL Radio Sports. Rattler received most of the reps at Sunday's practice as rookie Tyler Shough worked with the second team and Jake Haener was with the third team. While Haener is reportedly under consideration for the No. 1 role, he has always seemed like the longest shot of the group, and Sunday was the third time in four practices that he has worked with the third team. Rattler, a fifth-round pick out of South Carolina last year, started in six of seven appearances as a rookie and completed 57% of passes with four touchdowns against five interceptions. That wasn't enough to stop the Saints from making a fairly sizable investment in this year's draft in Shough, the 40th overall pick from Louisville. The 25-year-old is the only member of the trio who hasn't turned the ball over in camp yet, though Nowak notes that Shough hasn't taken many risks. It appears he'll have more work to do to overtake Rattler.