This Sunday will feature the number of starting rookie quarterbacks double from two to four in the NFL. We have already seen Sam Darnold (number 3 overall pick) start in week 1 for the New York Jets and Josh Allen (7th) last Sunday with the Bills. Now, in week, 4 Baker Mayfield (1st) and Josh Rosen (10th) will be embarking on their journeys as field generals for the Browns and Cardinals respectively. The big question now is which of these young starting quarterbacks has what it takes to win their matchup this Sunday?
Baker Mayfield
We might as well start at the top of the 2018 draft. Baker Mayfield burst onto the field last week when Tyrod Taylor went down with a concussion and led the Browns to their first win since Christmas Eve 2016. A few days after that Thursday Night Football victory coach Hue Jackson informed his team that they would be moving forward with Mayfield calling the offense. Now this Heisman trophy winning quarterback has to show the world what he can do when the offensive game plan is written with him as the starter.
Traveling to Oakland for his first start as a 3-point underdog is going to be a big test for Mayfield. But I think that he has what it takes. Last week he showed that he can fire the ball, causing Jarvis Landry to turn up the setting on the JUGS machine. In limited work last week he was able to throw for over 200 yards and catch a 2 point conversion. I am excited to see what he can do when he has a full 60 minutes. Sunday in Oakland is going to be must watch football as it will be the beginning of a future star quarterback.
If you want to get in on the action early grab yourself one of our Baker T-Shirts.
Sam Darnold
Darnold has been starting for the Jets since week 1 and has seen mixed results. After throwing a pick 6 in his first NFL drive he pushed back his flowing red locks and led the Jets to an impressive 48-17 victory over the Lions. Since then he has only thrown 1 total touchdown in losses to the Dolphins and Browns. In that game against the Browns he only threw for 169 yards and had 2 picks.
This week Sam and the Jets are traveling to the 2-1 Jaguars who just had a pretty bad showing against the Titans. If Darnold can look like he did in week 1 then they should be all set against Blake Bortles and the Jags but nothing in his game since has shown that ability. Oh, and Jacksonville has a pretty good defense, not allowing more than 220 yards through the air in a game this season. Sorry Sam, this isn’t going to be your week.
Josh Allen
Since taking the starting job from Nathan Peterman for week 2 Josh Allen has slowly gotten better and more comfortable in this offense. He recorded his first win even as they were a longshot against the Vikings. While it wasn’t all him in that win, he was still able to get and keep a lead against one of the leagues strongest teams. His completion numbers and yards haven’t been amazing, but if this kid keeps growing he might be able to be a real NFL starter.
This week, thought, the Bills are traveling to Green Bay to take on the Packers, let by a future Hall of Fame quarterback. Rodgers has shown the he is able to keep producing even though he barely has both legs. Yeah, they have a tie and a loss in their last 2 but those were to quality opponents. I don’t think Josh Allen and the Bills will have enough to take on this all around solid team.
Josh Rosen
Now we come to the 0-3 Cardinals. Josh Rosen is in the position because veteran QB Sam Bradford just couldn’t get it done with this team. Steve Wilks and the Cardinals staff has decided to let their new young gun have the chance to take over this team in the hopes that it will help kick start their season. In years past super star running back David Johnson was enough to make things happen but this year problems on the offensive line and misuse of Johnsons talent have caused the Cards to flounder. In his short appearance last week, he threw 7 passes. 4 were completed and 1 was intercepted. Not the best start.
Now he gets to take on the Seattle Seahawks at home. While Seattle hasn’t exactly been the Super Bowl contending team and power house defense of years past I think they won’t have much trouble taking care of business in Arizona. Hopefully the Cardinals figure out what they want to do on offense this year, but this week probably won’t be the week they do it.
In week 4 the rookie quarterbacks will go 1-3 with Baker Mayfield being the only one to get a win. Like I said before, if you want your very own Baker T-Shirt don’t forget to head over to our shop to be ahead of the crowd!
Brian Lynch
Twitter: @Brian.Lynch55
