The first week of preseason always brings excitement with the return of football, especially when the team sees a rookie on the roster for the first time. While this year’s rookie quarterback class hasn’t been as strong as in recent years, many young signalers got their first taste of NFL action this weekend.
Kenny Pickett, the only quarterback hired in the first round of the year, is battling for the starting quarterback job with the Pittsburgh Steelers.Desmond Ridder could be a starter for the Atlanta Falcons Matt Corral and Sam Howell are patiently waiting for the Carolina Panthers and Washington Commanders respectively.
Although he’s not a rookie, Trey Lance enters the season as the San Francisco 49ers’ No. 1 quarterback. Given how little Lance has played in the last two seasons (one in college, the other in his NFL years), we grouped Lance with the rookie signal callers and did this experiment. increase.
Below is a roundup of all the rookie quarterbacks – with the special exception given to Lance – this weekend.
Trey Lance (San Francisco 49ers, 2nd year)
49ers fans got a glimpse of what Lance brought to the offense as he went for 92 yards and a touchdown on 4 of 5 passes in just 11 snaps. Lance threw a perfect deep pass to Danny Gray for a 76-yard score to close out the night and give the 49ers a 10-7 lead as they went off the field.
Lance finished with a perfect passer rating of 158.3 in his debut as the No. 1 quarterback, and the 49ers scored on both his possessions. The 49ers aren’t scheduled to face Lance next week, so this could be his chance this preseason.
Not bad for a cameo.
Kenny Pickett (Pittsburgh Steelers)
An impressive performance from Pickett, who took over late in his debut with the Steelers. Pickett, vying for the starting quarterback job, entered the game after Mitchell Trubisky and Mason Rudolph, but finished 13 of 15 for 95 yards with two touchdowns and zero interceptions ( rating 132.6).
Pickett threw the game-winning touchdown pass to Tyler Bones with three seconds left to give Pittsburgh a 32–25 victory over Seattle. The pass went 24 yards as Bones used his post-catch yarding ability to find the end zone.
Perhaps Pickett will move up the depth chart next week.
Willis showed a flash in his Titans debut, finishing 6-11 for 107 yards (88.1 rating) for a rushing touchdown in 2.5 quarters of action. Willis, who also has five carries for 38 yards, was a dual-threat ability at quarterback, but Mike ran a little too much for his Vrabel liking.
The Tennessee head coach wanted Willis out of the game midway through the third quarter drive because he wanted the quarterback to throw the ball.
“He needs to try to throw the ball when the players are open,” Vrabel said. “Be more decisive and evaluate it to see if there’s a timing issue or what’s going on. I took him there and how he reacted. I wanted to see if…we’ll have to see when it’s released and if we’re making the right decisions.”
Desmond Ridder (Atlanta Falcons)
A third-round pick from Cincinnati won’t win the starting job in Atlanta, but Ridder arguably had the best performance of all rookie quarterbacks in Week 1. He’s great. He made a first impression, finishing 10 of 22 for 103 yards with two touchdowns and no interceptions (89.8 rating) and leading the Falcons with six carries for 59 yards.
Adding to his strong play, Ridder threw a 21-yard touchdown pass to Jared Bernhardt for 4 and 9 with 1:30 left to give the Falcons a 27–23 victory over the Detroit Lions. Perhaps head coach Arthur Smith might need to think about starting quarterback in the coming weeks if Ridder continues to play strong.
Howell made an impressive debut for Washington, finishing 9 of 16 for 145 yards (86.7 rating) and also rushing for two touchdowns (3 carries for 19 yards). He hit several defenders on his runs for a 17-yard touchdown early in the fourth quarter and scored on a 1-yard run with 2:26 remaining to put Washington on point. I was.
Howell is listed as the No. 3 quarterback behind Carson Wentz and Taylor Heinicke, but a fifth-round pick explains why he was considered a top 10 pick at this point a year ago. was showing.
The third-round pick from Mississippi went 1-of-9 for Carolina’s 11-yard yards, but led the Panthers in scoring drives and brought in Zane Gonzalez’s 45-yard field goal in the final minute. rice field. Coral is Baker’s third-ranked quarterback behind Mayfield and Sam Darnold, and the pair battles for starting his job.
No matter how the play-calling duties were split, Zappe put on an impressive show for the Patriots in his debut. His 20-yard touchdown pass to Lil Jordan Humphrey gave New England a 21–20 lead in the fourth quarter against the New York Giants.
Zappe entered the game midway through the second quarter and threw for 205 yards with a touchdown and an interception (rated 75.6). The Patriots scored two touchdowns on his eight possessions.
An undrafted free agent signed by the Ravens, Brown entered the game late in Baltimore’s 23–10 victory over Tennessee. Brown finished 10 of 15 for 117 yards (90.1 rating) with no touchdowns or interceptions, leading the Ravens to his goal on all three of his possessions.
With Lamar Jackson not playing the preseason opener, Brown released Tyler Huntley to start the second half. He’s competing with Brett Handley for the third quarterback job.
The former Washington quarterback, who was an undrafted free agent, went 7-of-10 for 54 yards and scored a touchdown in the Cardinals’ fourth quarter. Guarantano also had four carries with him 10 yards in the win.
Guarantano played the second half and led the Cardinals with two touchdown drives. He is his fourth quarterback on Arizona’s depth chart.
Pritt, an undrafted free-agent rookie with the Bengals, led Cincinnati with an impressive 11-play, 94-yard drive in his only series late in the fourth quarter. He capped off the drive with his pass for a 25-yard touchdown to Kendrick his player and a perfect passer with his rating of 158.3 he finished 76 yards he finished 6-for-6.
Pritt is currently the fourth quarterback on the Bengals’ depth chart, but could have considered a third job.
The seventh-round draft pick from Iowa State finished 3 of 6 with 36 yards and a touchdown (106.6 rating) in his only series for the 49ers. With Jimmy Garoppolo on the trade block, Purdy has an opportunity to make the roster as the third quarterback.
Crumb finished 6-of-11 for 18 yards (60.0 rating) and entered the game midway through Kansas City’s third quarter. The former Kent State quarterback was an undrafted free agent signed by the Chiefs, but is now a long shot to make the roster as the number 4 quarterback.
Cone finished 1 of 5 for 0 yards in the Indianapolis mop-up duty. An undrafted freelancer from Wisconsin and the University of Notre Dame, his agent Deps is his fourth quarterback on his chart, behind Sam Oehringer in his third job.
Thompson played a full game for the Dolphins, going 20-of-28 for 218 yards and scoring a touchdown in the 26-24 win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The seventh round pick hit Lynn Boden for a 22-yard pass in the second quarter of the score.
The No. 3 quarterback impressed in the preseason opener.