There’s going to be a lot of talk about the rookie quarterbacks after the first week of preseason. It’s going to totally dominate the news cycle this week, especially when it applies to Shedeur and the Browns. Sanders immediately showed why it was stupid he lasted until the fifth round, and why Cleveland would be dumb not to at least try starting him in 2025 to find out whether or not they struck gold.
Obviously it will take a long time to shake out the 2025 quarterbacks, but here’s who really impressed in the first week of preseason, and who didn’t turn our heads as much as we thought.
1. Shedeur Sanders — Cleveland Browns14-for-23, 138 yards, 2 TDs — 4 carries, 19 yards
Sanders was the most impressive QB of the weekend, and it wasn’t very close. It’s clear that one of his best traits is confidence, as the rookie walked onto the field in Charlotte and at no point looked like the moment was too big for him. Relatively poised in the pocket, smart decision making, and showing signs he can read NFL defenses, Sanders did more than enough to put him in the conversation to be the Browns’ starter this year.
Now we’re at the meat of this compliment sandwich. If we’re being honest, Shedeur was far from perfect. There was a lot of benefitting from a condensed playbook designed around short passes, without asking the rookie to really stretch his arm very much. The release is still slow, and the ball doesn’t really leap out of his hand, as much as it gently meanders. The Browns also had him operate primarily out of shotgun, which we know he’s already good at — but it would have been nice to test him a little more in different NFL sets.
That said, it’s preseason Game 1. This was a big time debut, and while it’s too early to truly start the hype train, Browns fans are right to be excited. If I’m the coaching staff I’m telling Shedeur not to celebrate every completion against the 2nd and 3rd string defense. It’s corny as hell.
2. Jaxon Dart — New York Giants12-for-19, 154 yards, 1 TD — 3 carries, 24 yards
Dart and Sanders were not on the same level, they just weren’t — and that’s okay, because this was Week 1 of preseason. There were things to absolutely like about Dart’s game, including how he responded to pressure, which is needed because the Giants’ offensive line is a bit of a mess.
The best play of the day for Dart was easily the 28-yard TD pass to Lil’Jordan Humphrey, which he dropped in a bucket. Outside of that I think it’s fair to be a little more cool on his performance that the hype is leading people to believe. A consistent issue with Dart was ball placement, insofar that he was throwing high for a lot of the day. This meant that even on short routes plays there were too many yards left on the field, as receivers had to reach to catch passes rather than turn upfield for YAC. That’s something that can be corrected with time, but it’s a far cry from the clinic some would have you believe.
This is a promising early return. At the very least we saw Dart respond to pressure better than Daniel Jones did. That might be enough.
3. Cam Miller — Las Vegas Raiders6-for-7, 76 yards, 1 TD
The only reason Miller falls to No. 3 in this list is because he came in late and worked against Seahawks’ defenders who are struggling to make the team. So think of this more like a three with an asterisk, because I thought long and hard about putting him at No. 1.
In total this was a brilliant, surprising debut for the 6th round pick. It’s a little too on-the-nose to compare him to Tom Brady simply because they’re both sixth round picks and Brady is a minority owner of the Raiders now, but there was so much to like. The anticipation, the playmaking, the ability to see the field.
I was left definitely wanting to see more out of Cam Miller. I can’t say that was the case before this weekend.
4. Cam Ward — Tennessee Titans5-for-8, 67 yards
Ward was not bad at all, there just wasn’t a lot surprising about his game. This is mostly a good thing. So look, it’s clear that Ward has developed a rapport with Calvin Ridley early, and that’s fantastic — but there simply weren’t a lot of highlight moments considering this was mostly the Tennessee offensive 1s running against the Bucs’ backups.
The poise in the pocket is the big thing here. Ward went through his progressions effectively and made the correct decision more often than not. Even if his game wasn’t the biggest of the rookies, he’s the player I’m left most confident with that he’ll be a solid NFL quarterback.
5. Jalen Milroe — Seattle Seahawks6-for-10, 61 yards — 3 carries, 38 yards
Milroe is such a curious quarterback to evaluate because there’s a real Jekyll and Hyde to his game. It’s one of the rare cases where I legitimately hate watching him make plays in structure, and love seeing him work outside of it. When the rookie is parked in the pocket there’s very little special to see. His release is ponderous, his wind up is too long, and his ball placement leaves a lot to be desired.
However, put him in situations where he knows he has to make a play himself and you start to see shades of Jalen Hurts-esque playmaking. When Milroe is throwing on the run he tends to make really good decisions, and his raw athleticism freezes linebackers, allowing for solid dump offs. It’s clear a system will need to be built around Milroe to maximize his success, but the potential is there.
This ranking is reflective of the brightest spots he showed in preseason Game 1, which could indicate future success.
6. Tyler Shough — New Orleans Saints15-for-22, 165 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT — 1 carry, 3 yards
The Saints rookie unquestionably won the award for best single pass of the week with his beautiful 54-yard toss to Mason Tipton. The issue is that he had another 21 passes.
At no point outside of that TD did there look to be much special about Shough’s game. He played risk-averse football which led to leaving yards on the field, and was perfectly content throwing six yard slants over daring to try anything deeper downfield. That one touchdown pass was beautiful, but it was also a product of bused coverage where Shough had an entire zip code to drop the ball into.
There’s no doubt Shough deserves more reps, but I really don’t see a bright future here unless something drastically changes.
7. Riley Leonard — Indianapolis Colts12-for-24, 92 yards, 1 INT
We can seriously pump the brakes on any suggestions Leonard can challenge for the starting job in Indianapolis. There wasn’t anything to write home about in this performance, and at best he looks like the best chance for sticking in the league is as a backup, and that’s only if he can develop as a short yardage passer.
8. Quinn Ewers — Miami Dolphins5-for-18, 91 yards
This was an ugly, ugly performance — and I didn’t even note that Ewers lost two fumbles. The biggest issue with how the former Texas QB played was that he seemingly tried to play college ball in the NFL and learned very quickly that the windows he had in Austin just don’t exist in the pros.
Ewers was woefully off target, even on basic short routes. Receivers routinely had to stretch and contort to catch his passes, and that’s a horrific precedent when you play on a Miami offense that’s based on accuracy and picking up YAC. There will be more opportunities, but as it stands he doesn’t belong on an NFL roster.
9. Kyle McCord — Philadelphia Eagles1-for-5, 8 yards, 1 INT
Thank God for Graham Mertz. There’s literally nothing to analyze here, because McCord was butt.
10. Graham Mertz — Houston Texans7-for-14, 27 yards, 3 INT
If you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say anything at all.
