With the breaking into camp from two NFL teams who will play in the Hall of Fame just days away on August 3rd, it\u2019s officially go time across the NFL. Hard Knocks is at our doorstep, shots of lush green practice fields across the league are a football fan\u2019s version of Augusta National, and you can sense the excitement across every fanbase and roster. Regardless of whether or not it is your team\u2019s year to win it all, the hope still exists for everyone as pads come on and camp gets rolling.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The juiciest part of roster construction this time of year in the NFL is centered around\u2026who is under center for 32 teams. There\u2019s a certain gravity to being a starter in the NFL and it\u2019s arguable the most scrutinized position to play in American pro sports. This is precisely what makes July + August quarterback competitions all the more exciting, and there\u2019s a solid amount of job openings as it stands right now. Even teams that seemingly have \u201ctheir guy\u201d still have questions in their QB room, so let\u2019s make sense of what to watch for this preseason to see who emerges as a week one starter in the NFL:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Jets are one of those Hall of Fame game participants so they got camp going early, and though there\u2019s not a ton of controversy on who\u2019s starting week one under center, it\u2019s definitely the most intriguing QB room in the headlines as of late. After the epic failure that is Zach Wilson took place, the youngster returns to the bench to watch Aaron Rodgers in the twilight of his career before his rookie contract expires. Add in the commotion and surveillance of HBO\u2019s \u201cHard Knocks\u201d filming their preseason, and we\u2019ll be sure to get some sort of private-turned-public moments from camp that should be gems. How seriously will #12 take his swan song contract in the Big Apple? I\u2019m not convinced that it will be an instant success, which should make for lots of gossip throughout NYC this summer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It will be fascinating to see what 49ers camp and the month of August looks like as Brock Purdy\u2019s injury rehab continues and hopefully concludes. While it\u2019s been clear from 49ers coaching staff that the job is \u201chis to lose\u201d upon his return, his timetable is not 100% confirmed and we all know how the NFL works. If Trey Lance manages to mature his game as starter and thrive in the spotlight, or if San Fran\u2019s newcomer at QB Sam Darnold steadies the ship early on, it will be hard to bench either one of them. The early word is that Lance had the better mini-camp and should take 60% of the first team reps in training camp, so we\u2019ll have eagle eyes on rep count to see if that trend follows through preseason into week one while Purdy sits and heals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Now this is one scenario where I’m glad to be forever watching from the couch and armchair coaching. What do the Colts do with Anthony Richardson? The former Florida Gator QB has all the dreamy measurables of a star NFL QBV and gives off plenty of Cam Newton vibes, but his production in college lead to lots of question marks on his rookie abilities. It\u2019s the classic catch 22 of starting him too early and regretting it after immediate failure, or waiting too long and not picking the right time to give him his first real snaps under the gun. As far as NFl QB\u2019s go he\u2019ll be my most watched of the preseason, as I\u2019m eager to see how his physicality and frame translate to the next level. For the time being, the Colts would go with Garden Minshew (yikes) or Sam Ehlinger (double yikes) on a game to game basis until they were ready to unveil their shiny new toy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We know exactly what we\u2019re getting out of Davis Mills at this point. I hate to let Texans fans down but we are approaching his plateau as a game managing QB at this level, so why not go with what\u2019s new in C.J. Stroud right out of the gate? The one thing that doesn\u2019t worry me about Stroud is in-game scenarios and game play maturity – he\u2019s started his fair share of big time games on big stages at Ohio State, so I don\u2019t think Reliant Stadium on a sleepy Sunday afternoon in Houston will be too intimidating. In what\u2019s undoubtedly the worst division top-to-bottom in the AFc South, this is one spot where I look to play the kid right out of the gates. His reps versus Mills\u2019 will be scrutinized all the easy up to a starting QB announcement at the end of camp. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
If you like scraping at the bottom of the pile, how about the Baker Mayfield vs Kyle Trask battle for the job in Tampa? Either option leads you to a 7-10 record, but Baker\u2019s 7-10 might be more fun to watch\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
True NFL degens and diehards will be locked in on the Sam Howell vs. Jacoby Brissett battle in Washington. Don\u2019t worry, it\u2019s probably likely that even third stringer Jake Fromm will get a chance at the job based on the history of the other two QB\u2019s in the league thus far. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s the \u201cput up or shut up\u201d year three for Mac Jones as the signal caller in Foxboro. With his old offensive coordinator Bill O’Brien in the fold and new toys at his disposal, the excuse train is all out of fuel. Just watch – a few bad practices in August and we\u2019ll get some Bailey Zappe buzz in no time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Thankfully the anticipation is just about over, as the remaining 30 NFL squads start up camp at some point this week. Football. Is. Back.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Jobs On the Line Under Center With the breaking into camp from two NFL teams who will play in the Hall of Fame just days away on August 3rd, it\u2019s officially go time across the NFL. Hard Knocks is at our doorstep, shots of lush green practice fields across the league are a football fan\u2019s […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":78493,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_crdt_document":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[46],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-78492","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nfl-football"],"yoast_head":"\n