After losing his starting job at the end of the 2023 season and watching his former team bring in Russell Wilson, Kenny Pickett wanted a change. That change came via trade from the Pittsburgh Steelers to the Philadelphia Eagles this offseason to give him a fresh start, a new opportunity and perhaps a different environment where he could try to reach his potential as a first-round pick.
Through two preseason games, he does not seem to be finding those results with the Eagles.
In fact, he looks very much like the same quarterback who lost his spot in Pittsburgh and struggled to take any sort of step forward.
The biggest issue with his game remains an inability — or unwillingness — to push the ball down the field. Every pass is a checkdown or high-percentage, low-risk pass into the flat.
In getting the start in Thursday's preseason game against the New England Patriots he completed a respectable 11 of 13 passes, but managed only 67 total yards.
He also took four sacks.
But even those numbers don't do the overall performance justice for how uninspiring it was.
That comes after his first preseason performance where he attempted only four passes more than 10 yards downfield, completing zero of them.
It is impossible to be a functioning NFL quarterback when you can't throw the ball downfield, and as he gets into his third season in the league, Pickett still can't seem to do it. It might only be two preseason games, and you never want to jump to too many conclusions in games that don't count, but his resume already features two full seasons of this exact sort of play.
When the Eagles acquired him, it seemed like he was a lock for the No. 2 quarterback job behind Jalen Hurts.
Now even that seems to be in doubt as second-year quarterback Tanner McKee is outplaying him in preseason games.
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