Throughout the 2017 NFL season, we’ll be monitoring the progress made by the league’s rookie quarterbacks by power ranking them based on their play, their circumstances or both. Despite the fact that only two rookie signal-callers threw passes in Week 1, let’s jump in. Especially since a rookie will be starting the Thursday Night Football game.
1. DeShone Kizer, Cleveland Browns: The only rookie quarterback to start in Week 1 was good, not great. Couldn’t have expected a lot more from a relatively raw second-round pick. He completed a solid 20 of 30 passes and committed just one turnover, but he also took seven sacks and wasn’t able to make any splash plays.
2. Deshaun Watson, Houston Texans: The No. 12 overall pick will start in Week 2. And although he struggled a bit against a hot defense in relief of Tom Savage last week, he’s got a little more support than Kizer and is thus in a slightly better position to succeed.
3. C. J. Beathard, San Francisco 49ers: I have a feeling the third-round pick gets a shot soon. He’s the only option behind Brian Hoyer, who really struggled in Week 1. We’ll see how much patience that new regime has.
4. Mitchell Trubisky, Chicago Bears: Starter Mike Glennon was replacement-level at best while struggling against pressure in a Week 1 loss to the Atlanta Falcons. It’s only a matter of time before they make the switch, but when they do the No. 2 overall pick will be working in an offense that offers little support.
5. Nathan Peterman, Buffalo Bills: Tyrod Taylor did a fine job against the New York Jets in Week 1, but it won’t take much of a slip-up for the Bills to turn to their fifth-round rookie.
6. Cooper Rush, Dallas Cowboys: He’s still the man behind Dak Prescott, but the reigning offensive rookie of the year showed no signs of a sophomore slump in Sunday’s opener against the New York Giants.
7. Patrick Mahomes II, Kansas City Chiefs: The No. 10 overall pick gained a lot of momentum with a (insert fire emoji) preseason, but an epic Week 1 performance from starter Alex Smith probably guarantees us that unless something happens to Smith, Mahomes will remain on the sideline the entire season.
8. Davis Webb, New York Giants: Even if something were to happen to Eli Manning, the Giants would probably turn to Geno Smith first.
9. Josh Dobbs, Pittsburgh Steelers: You won’t likely see the fourth-rounder outside of garbage-time opportunities this season.
10. Brad Kaaya, Carolina Panthers: The rather intriguing Detroit Lions sixth-rounder is firmly in the No. 3 spot on that quarterback depth chart.