Who Should I Start? Sam Darnold or Kenny Pickett

Saturday, August 16, 10:48 AM

Seattle Seahawks quarterback Sam Darnold led a touchdown drive on Seattle's opening drive during Friday's preseason game against the Kansas City Chiefs. Darnold completed all four of his passes for 34 yards on a drive that ended in a touchdown run by running back Zach Charbonnet. The play calling provided Darnold with easy completions in an obvious effort to get him comfortable at game speed. Any quarterback can complete short passes. The question will be how much the Seahawks cut it loose downfield. However, Darnold was under center for much of the drive and was on the move for several of his throws. That type of play calling will cater to Darnold's strengths and take pressure off a questionable offensive line. If the Seahawks can play great defense and call plays similarly to Friday, Darnold will have a great chance to assuage the doubters this season.

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.