Zac Jackson of The Athletic noted in June during the Cleveland Browns’ mandatory minicamp that quarterback Kenny Pickett was “unremarkable” during practices open to media members. Thus, outsiders understandably were surprised when a subsequent report indicated that some people within the Browns “want” Pickett to win the competition for the Week 1 starting job over veteran Joe Flacco, rookie Dillon Gabriel and first-year pro Shedeur Sanders. During the latest edition of the “Orange and Brown Talk Podcast,” Browns insider Mary Kay Cabot of the Cleveland Plain Dealer expanded on how Pickett seemingly failed to impress during spring workouts. “We did not see it in spring ball,” Cabot said about Pickett. “You didn’t see it. I didn’t see it. If we are saying that we did, we’re kidding ourselves. We didn’t see him pop. He needs to pop in training camp.” The Pittsburgh Steelers made Pickett the 20th overall pick of the 2022 NFL Draft, and he went 14-10 as a starter over his first two pro seasons. Across 25 total
