The NFL preseason is full! Did everybody have a great time?
Earlier than the soccer season cycles on to roster cutdown day and your fantasy draft, let’s take a second to look again on the greatest storylines and takeaways that got here out of the exhibition season.
Are the Jets… good?
You’ve heard the saying in regards to the preseason. “Our third- and fourth-stringers beat your third- and fourth-stringers.” However typically these outcomes reveal one thing while you dig into them. Within the Jets’ case, they may portend a deep protection, particularly the road.
See, New York didn’t play its starters in any respect this preseason, however the rookies and backups helped the group go 3-0 in August. The Jets laid eight sacks on the rival Giants within the finale, together with 2.5 by Takkarist McKinley, a former first-round decide who figures so as to add depth to the Jets’ entrance. Edge rusher Will McDonald IV had a great preseason. And on offense, Israel Abanikanda made his case for a backfield function, supporting Breece Corridor and draft picks Braelon Allen and Isaiah Davis.
Everybody is aware of who the Jets’ quarterback is and what occurred final September. With extra of a supporting solid in place, they appear able to run it again and do this once more.
Steelers’ QB state of affairs seems like a lose-lose.
Aug 17, 2024; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA; Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Russell Wilson (3) leaves the sector after enjoying the Buffalo Payments at Acrisure Stadium. Obligatory Credit score: Barry Reeger-USA TODAY Sports activities The Steelers simply made the playoffs with Kenny Pickett and Mason Rudolph dealing with quarterback duties, so on paper, they’ve improved on the place. However the media circus in football-crazy Pittsburgh can be a sight to behold whether or not the Steelers forge forward with Russell Wilson or Justin Fields, two of probably the most polarizing QBs within the league. If there’s anybody match to deal with the distractions, it’s Mike “We Do Not Care” Tomlin. He stated the QB1 determination can be delivered “on the finish of the work week,” a really Mike Tomlin factor to say.
If Wilson seems to be previous his prime or takes dumb sacks early within the season, you’d count on followers to holler for Fields to take over. Regardless of botching a number of snaps this preseason, Fields believes he’s proven his new group what he may do as their starter.
Caleb Williams is a star within the making
Chicago Bears quarterback Caleb Williams (18) throws a go within the first quarter of the NFL Preseason Week 2 recreation between the Chicago Bears and the Cincinnati Bengals at Soldier Discipline in downtown Chicago on Saturday, Aug. 17, 2024. The Bears led 10-3 at halftime. Let’s shortly verify in on Fields’ former metropolis, the place some followers are shedding tears of pleasure.
The No. 1 total decide lit it up in coaching camp and the preseason, making a number of throws on the run or throughout his physique which have ignited the Bears’ fan base. Williams performed in simply two of Chicago’s 4 preseason video games, however his 10 completions totaled 170 yards and he ran for a landing on a scramble. For a group that has by no means had a 4,000-yard passer, lastly touchdown what seems to be like a surefire rising star QB have to be cathartic. There’s hardly ever been this a lot optimism in regards to the Bears.
The Vikings’ future is within the arms of Sam Darnold. Actually.
Aug 2, 2024; Eagan, MN, USA; Minnesota Vikings quarterback J.J. McCarthy (9) and quarterback Sam Darnold (14) heat up throughout observe at Vikings coaching camp in Eagan, MN. Obligatory Credit score: Jeffrey Becker-USA TODAY Sports activities On to the ghosts of Jets previous! The most important season-ending harm of the preseason was to Vikings rookie quarterback J.J. McCarthy, who wanted surgical procedure to restore a torn proper meniscus. Sam Darnold, who was already the favourite to start out the season at quarterback, is now positively the person. Every part you hear about Darnold today traits positively, although we didn’t see a lot of him in preseason motion.
However why say that the Vikes’ future rests with Darnold? As a result of group co-owner Mark Wilf stated the group is just not fascinated by extensions for head coach Kevin O’Connell or common supervisor Kwesi Adofo-Mensah as each males enter the ultimate yr of their contracts. If all the things goes improper this season, may the Vikings blow it up and begin over? What would a brand new teaching regime and entrance workplace imply for McCarthy?
The Chargers is perhaps a multitude in Jim Harbaugh’s first yr
Jul 24, 2024; El Segundo, CA, USA; Los Angeles Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert (10) throws in the course of the first day of coaching camp at The Bolt. Obligatory Credit score: Kiyoshi Mio-USA TODAY Sports activities When Justin Herbert missed a part of coaching camp with a plantar fascia harm, it solely added extra anxiousness to a very unsure state of affairs in Los Angeles. When Herbert is wholesome, who precisely will he be throwing to? ESPN’s Invoice Barnwell ranked the Chargers lifeless final within the league in ability place expertise (operating again, broad receiver and tight finish) after the departures of Keenan Allen, Mike Williams and Austin Ekeler. DJ Chark and rookie Ladd McConkey be part of Joshua Palmer in an unthreatening receiving corps.
Jim Harbaugh, after all, goes to need to run the soccer, and he’s going to attempt to recreate his brother’s former offense in Baltimore with offensive coordinator Greg Roman and injury-prone operating backs Gus Edwards and J.Okay. Dobbins. With not one of the third-stringers seeming primed for a breakout, the Chargers scored three factors of their first preseason recreation and 9 of their second. That is wanting increasingly more like a full-rebuild challenge and a probably last-place group within the AFC West.
