Seton Hall
The hype around the rookie quarterbacks
Date: August 23, 2019By: Jose Balderrama
There is never much to get excited about when it comes to the NFL preseason, this is mostly due to the fact that the stars of the league barely play whatsoever. But if there is one thing to get excited about, it’s the fact that we get a chance to watch the incoming rookies for the first time. But the preseason is dangerous territory for the fans of these teams who are showcasing their exciting new rookies.
Why you ask? Because these fans often overreact to the performances of the rookie QB’s or whatever position they may be. Even if these players only play one position per game, people are still judging these players as if they had a whole season under their belt.
So today, we will perform a little exercise or game. We are going to look at the main rookies’ preseason performances. Based on these we will conclude how they project going into their first season. For the sake of everybody’s interest, we’ll just take a look at the main QB’s from the draft.
Kyler Murray – Arizona Cardinals
If you’re a Cardinals fan, you’re probably a little bit scared right now, being that Murray has not looked very good his first two preseason games. Like most cases, he barely played, but it seems like he hasn’t adapted to the style of play like one would hope.
The Cardinals offense has also been quite boring, which is surprising being that Murray is a mobile quarterback and offenses led by those kinds of quarterbacks are often electrifying. A lot of it can be attributed to Kliff Kingsbury’s arrival, we cannot expect his offense to be perfected this early on. Nonetheless, based on his two performances, I would not nominate him as favorite to win offensive rookie of the year.
Daniel Jones – New York Giants
The pick of Jones at sixth overall was probably the most controversial throughout the whole draft. Jones got so much unwarranted criticism for being picked so early, without even getting a chance to prove himself. Even Baker Mayfield threw some shade at the young QB. But he has been nothing short of stellar this preseason, all three of his performances have been extremely effective and productive. If this is any indication of how he’s going to perform during the season, the Giants should definitely consider starting him over Eli Manning.
Dwayne Haskins – Washington Redskins
If there is word for how Haskins has looked so far through his first three games it would probably be average. He had a very bad first game, throwing two interceptions in the first half, but then he threw a 50 yard bomb in his second game which resulted in his first touchdown pass.
Haskins has not looked special, but a first-round draft pick always has huge potential so if I were a Redskins fan, I would not lose hope just yet. If I were Jay Gruden, I would start him instead of Case Keenum all year. This kid has big potential and they should look to take as much advantage of it as possible.
Like I previously mentioned, preseason is a time for overreactions, but it is also a time for players to prove themselves, for players to prove that they belong in this league and we should all appreciate it for what it is. We could find a rare diamond in the rough without having to focus on the stars of the game.
Jose Balderrama can be reached at josebalderramaornelas@student.shu.edu.
