Preseason week 1 is over and I’m here to give you my rankings for the top rookie quarterbacks. Getting to see these quarterbacks is like unwrapping a gift on Christmas for these teams and their fans. It’s an exciting time in the NFL because we can finally see if these guys can back up their hype. For fantasy football players, seeing these quarterbacks is essential to making the right picks in rookie and start-up drafts.

1. Justin Fields

First #NFLPreseason game.@justnfields did not disappoint. 💪 pic.twitter.com/IlDcoQhA81

— NFL (@NFL) August 14, 2021

Justin Field‘s first 3 drives were hard to watch, to say the least. He wasn’t making the right decisions throwing the ball. Fields also fumbled the ball twice, one on a miscue with the center, and the other was swatted out on a QB scramble. It was the 4th drive that Fields started to click on the field. He scrambled while looking downfield and threw a 15-yard pass to Justin Hardy, setting up a field goal.

The second half was a whole new Justin Fields. Now playing the 2nd and 3rd stringers, Fields went to work scrambling and threw a laser to Riley Ridley for 17 yards. He then lobbed a 25-yard pass for Rodney Adams to go up and grab. The best throw for Fields was a 13-yard pass in which he got the corner to bite on the run and last minute threw it to Adams. Those are the plays that’ll give defensive coordinators nightmares when preparing for Fields. The former Buckeye also ran the ball quite well in the 2nd half, scoring on an 8-yard scramble as well as scampering for a 21-yard run that set up a 30 yard TD pass to the unattended Jesse James. Overall Justin Fields had a rough start but seemed to find his groove later on. After the 1st week Fields looked like the best of the rookie quarterbacks. Did he struggle against the better defense, or did he just need more time to find his groove. Hopefully, the rest of the preseason can answer our Fields questions.

2. Mac Jones

Mac Jones takes the field to a standing ovation in Foxborough 🙌

(via @NFL)pic.twitter.com/Z6BoyVDsrm

— ESPN (@espn) August 13, 2021

It kind of feels like Mac Jones should be the starter in New England for the entire 2021 season. From the get-go Jones seemed more comfortable than Cam Newton in this offense. Starting it out by connecting with Jakobi Meyers on a nice 10-yard dig route that was called incomplete but wasn’t. Jones shook it off and threw a perfect pass to Kristian Wilkerson on a comeback. Later on, in his first drive, he threw what should’ve been his first NFL TD in the form of a deep pass to Wilkerson that was dropped. This pass was maybe the best-thrown ball of all the rookies in week 1. Overall Jones’s game was a lot of dinking and dunking down the field, averaging 4.6 yards a competition. What made him stand out to me was his mentality out on the field. He was stoic in his first game, didn’t get rattled, and made the right decisions. He didn’t have a better game than Trey Lance by any means but he’s probably more week one ready.

3. Trey Lance

WELCOME TO THE NFL, TREY LANCE 🎯

(via @NFL)pic.twitter.com/P1p8WtTNpF

— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) August 15, 2021

Trey Lance‘s first drive didn’t go how he thought it would. His first pass was dropped by Brandon Aiyuk, then his 2nd snap ended in a Chris Jones sack. Lance’s second drive, though, made him worth three 1st round picks, as he threw an absolute dime to Trent Sherfield for an 80-yard touchdown. A high point for Lance’s day, as the rest of the game, was a rocky road. Lance had another big yardage play finding Charlie Woerner for 34 yards. After that Lance struggled mightily with his accuracy often missing wide on passes, he also had a couple of dropped balls courtesy of Richie James and River Cracraft. Lance did not look near as elusive as advertised, getting sacked 3 times. Lance’s protection got worse as the game wore on due to the young guys on the o-line not being as polished. Overall I had Lance above Lawrence and Wilson because his big-play ability showed up today. This is the big-play ability that will make him a desired dynasty QB.

4. Trevor Lawrence

TREVOR LAWRENCE DIME 😲

(via @NFL)pic.twitter.com/ytBGR4WjVZ

— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) August 14, 2021

Trevor Lawrence started the night with a sack-fumble courtesy of Browns’ defensive lineman Sheldon Day. Lawerence recovered from the sack by throwing an 8-yard screen and a 10-yard curl route to Lavishka Shenault and Marvin Jones respectively. While this drive did end in a punt, it was good to see Lawerence unflustered in the face of a very talented Cleveland Browns defense. Lawrence also found his go-to target in Marvin Jones, who caught 3 passes for 52 yards. The most impressive coming on T-Law’s 2nd drive where he launched a beautiful 35-yard pass to Marvin Jones. This was probably the highlight of the night for Lawrence and shows his connection with veteran Marvin Jones. These two might be a stack to consider for fantasy owners as it would be dirt cheap to draft these two on the same team.

5. Zach Wilson

.@nyjets #ZachWilson and these 3 throws should get all #JETS fans excited. Talent. Arm strength. Accuracy all on display. Solid building block. #BaldysBreakdowns pic.twitter.com/wrBjgw04dW

— Brian Baldinger (@BaldyNFL) August 15, 2021

Zach Wilson looked very comfortable in the Jets’ new offense, and one thing that stood out more than Wilson himself was the Jets’ offensive line. The first-team unit was impressive only allowing one QB hit and not giving up a sack. Wilson was underwhelming, and at times he looks like he went straight to his first read, even when well protected. Lacking the ability to check down or read the defense is something that rookie quarterbacks can struggle with. That being said it makes him a risky pick in fantasy, because it may lead to interceptions. Breaking away from the negative, Wilson did go 6/9 for 63 yards and had some nice throws to Corey Davis and Keelan Cole. Overall it’s preseason and game 1 in the NFL for Zach Wilson, so it’s hard to overreact. I did like the JETs offensive line and the production they got out of Corey Davis and Denzel Mims. I also can’t wait to see him paired with Elijah Moore.

Conclusion

This weekend was a great one because we got to finally see the rookie quarterbacks we’ve been hyping up. They didn’t disappoint either, all of them showed something that made them worth a 1st round pick. Now it’s time to decide which one is the perfect fit for your fantasy football roster.

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