As a young New England Patriots fan, one of the most memorable highlights of my budding fandom was watching a truly glorious touchdown in Foxborough. Tom Brady had nothing to do with it. Drew Bledsoe was on the sideline. Instead, this was a bomb lobbed by rookie seventh round pick Michael Bishop to fellow seventh-round selection Sean Morey.
Bishop was incredible at Kansas State, but the more prestigious NFL career wound up belonging to Morey. The Brown University star emerged as one of the league's top special teams players across more than a decade bouncing around the league. Bishop's NFL career ended with nine regular season pass attempts and three completions. Still, for one incredible preseason game, he looked like the future.
That's a cautionary tale about believing preseason hype. Some players will shine in August and portend the coming of long, fruitful careers. Others will struggle and shine a light on the flaws that will keep them from ever meeting their potential. A good chunk will flare up and fade away into nothing, while others rise above the muck and make teams look brilliant for seeing the strengths underneath rough edges.
It's unwise to put much stock in exhibition performances. But with the regular season still four weeks away, it's a good time to investigate and better idea of which rookie quarterbacks can live up to or exceed the hype, and which may have Sundays open in the near future.
For simplicity's sake, "rookies" only refers to players who played their last season of college football in 2025. As much as I'd like to break down Cam Miller's prospects, it's probably a futile exercise. Instead, we're looking solely at the guys who could climb onto a roster and potentially become franchise cornerstones, reliable backups or practice squad stars.
Let's start at the top.
We're counting on you to save the franchise
1. Fernando Mendoza, Las Vegas Raiders
Preseason stats: 10-16, 97 yards, 1 TD, 0 INTs, six rushing yards, one sack taken for -8 yards
After the first drive of his preseason career was derailed by a holding penalty, Mendoza marched the Raiders 79 yards for a touchdown against the Arizona Cardinals. Granted, the bulk of that yardage came courtesy of fellow rookie Mike Washington's 53-yard run — and Mendoza took a first-and-goal sack that threatened to derail the drive — but he recovered to find Jack Bech in the end zone and led what should have been a field goal-scoring drive in the third quarter.
The touch and accuracy that served him so well at Indiana remained. Mendoza is still adjusting to NFL speed, but looked the part of a franchise quarterback in his debut. He'll have plenty of runway behind Kirk Cousins in the Raiders' depth chart, but he's thus far backed up his credentials as the top overall pick.
2. Ty Simpson, Los Angeles Rams
Preseason stats: 21-25, 190 yards, 2 TD, 0 INTs, -1 rushing yard, zero sacks taken
Simpson was a surprising selection at No. 13, giving Los Angeles a future quarterback in what looks like a heavy win-now season. His limited resume at Alabama left him with plenty to prove. While he had an easy lift in the Rams' preseason opener, he executed his game plan about as well as Sean McVay could have hoped.
The downside? Simpson played with training wheels, operating an offense dependent on play action, rollouts and short targets. His Week 1 was designed to build him up and give a preview of what could happen if Matthew Stafford's back finally implodes to the point it cannot be fixed in the back of a futuristic Airstream trailer.
3. Drew Allar, Pittsburgh Steelers
Preseason stats: 10-13, 153 yards, 2 TDs, 0 INTs, two rushing yards, one rushing TD, zero sacks taken
How badly do Steelers fans want a young franchise QB? Well, they've already sold out of Allar jerseys after a single preseason performance.
Allar gave Pittsburgh a reason to believe. His three-touchdown performance was the best among rookie quarterbacks, bumping him up to the top tier. While he was boosted by some Kaden Wetjen run-after-catch heroics, there's no denying his positive impact at not-Heinz Field.
Allar, like Simpson, executed a simple offense — many of his completions came on slants or on short targets to the sideline. But when he missed, he kept the ball out of trouble and showcased a solid base for what could be a useful future in western Pennsylvania.
Backups with long-term potential to maybe be more
Luke Altmeyer, Detroit Lions
Preseason stats: 13-22, 130 yards, 1 TD, 2 INTs, one rushing yard, one sack taken for -12 yards
Cole Payton, Philadelphia Eagles
Preseason stats: 4-9, 37 yards, 1 TD, 0 INTs, 45 rushing yards, zero sacks taken
Garrett Nussmeier, Kansas City Chiefs
Preseason stats: 13-19, 98 yards, 0 TDs, 0 INTs, two sacks taken for -13 yards
Cade Klubnik, New York Jets
Preseason stats: 5-7, 56 yards, 0 TDs, 0 INTs, one sack taken for -2 yards
Altmeyer got some extended run due to Teddy Bridgewater's preseason retirement and, thus, is the first undrafted free agent to show up on the list. He threw two interceptions, though the first caromed off Isaac TeSlaa's hands on a slant route that sailed a bit high but still should have been caught.
Payton's passing is a work in progress. His athleticism, however, shined with 45 rushing yards on three carries (17, 15, and 13 yards with two other gains of six-plus yards wiped out by penalty). Nussmeier operated a light-lift offense with a Simpson-style amount of fakes and rollouts, but showcased some play-extending, head-downfield throws that could make it an easier transition should Patrick Mahomes go down with injury again.
Klubnik was accurate on throws to the sideline and was smart enough to default to Garrett Wilson when he needed clutch yards. We didn't get to see much of him, but his beginning was optimistic, if only mildly so.
We'll clear a space for you on the practice squad if you get through waivers
Behren Morton, New England Patriots
Preseason stats: 6-13, 68 yards, 0 TDs, 0 INTs, one rushing yard, one sack taken for -10 yards.
Jalon Daniels, Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Preseason stats: 10-15, 111 yards, 0 TDs, 0 INTs, nine rushing yards, one touchdown, zero sacks taken
Athan Kaliakmanis, Washington Commanders
Preseason stats: 6-10, 87 yards, 0 TDs, 0 INTs, -3 rushing yards, two sacks taken for -22 yards
Joe Fagnano, Baltimore Ravens
Preseason stats: 22-28, 224 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT, one rushing yard, zero sacks taken
No rookie quarterback earned more reps to open the preseason than the UConn star, whose nickname I am not allowed to print on USA Today dot com. Daniels had one of Week 1's top performances, leading the Bucs to a comeback win... albeit against the third-stringers of one of 2025's worst defenses. Morton and Kaliakmanis were... fine in a way that probably doesn't matter.
There's always Canada and the UFL
Jack Strand, Atlanta Falcons
Preseason stats: 6-12, 50 yards, 0 TDs, 0 INTs, three rushing yards, one touchdown, one sack taken for -1 yard
Miller Moss, Chicago Bears
Preseason stats: 3-8, 48 yards, 0 TDs, 0 INTs, zero sacks taken
Joey Aguilar, Jacksonville Jaguars
Preseason stats: 1-1, 43 yards, 0 TDs, zero sacks taken
Kyron Drones, Green Bay Packers
Preseason stats: 0-1, 0 yards, three sacks taken for -26 yards
Of this group, Aguilar has the most potential to land on a roster. Though I will always stan for a Division II star to wind up playing on Sundays, which is where Strand could land after being an outright stud at Minnesota State-Moorhead. Drones averaged -6.5 yards per dropback, but at least he didn't turn the ball over, so he's got that going for him.
This article originally appeared on For The Win: NFL rookie QB rankings: Fernando Mendoza leads after first preseason game. Then who?