Breaking Down Rookie QB debuts
With the opening week of football in the books and the NFL preseason underway, NFL fans were fortunate enough to see a lot of exciting play from the top four quarterbacks from the 2017 NFL draft. Third overall pick Mitchell Tribusky, 10th pick Patrick Mahomes II, 12th pick Deshaun Watson, and 52nd pick DeShone Kizer all made their pro-debuts this past week, with Kizer being the only to pick up his first career win. While each quarterback got snaps with the second-or-third-team offenses, each young talent showed great upside in their first reps of professional action.
Mitchell Tribusky, Chicago Bears
Week One: 18-for-25, 166 YDS, 1 TD
Starting with the quarterback that surprised me the most from this group is the one-year starter, hailing from the University of North Carolina, Mitchell Tribusky. Taking snaps with the second-team in their 24–17 loss to the Denver Broncos, Tribusky looked comfortable on a professional football field. A main concern with his play is that he’d only seen 13 collegiate games before making a jump to the pros, but his ability to stay calm in the pocket, go through his reads, and make the right decision with the ball was a comforting sign. His ability to throw accurate passes on the run was another great aspect to his overall game, and his size and speed make him look the part as an NFL quarterback. The only concern with Tribusky at the time was his inability to throw a consistent spiral on his intermediate and deep passes, but should that improve while the rest of his game stay as-is, I fully expect Tribusky to be a week-one starter over Mike Glennon.
Patrick Mahomes II, Kansas City Chiefs
Week One: 7-for-9, 49 YDS, 1 TD
We didn’t see much of Mahomes this week, but it was more of the same from his college days at Texas Tech. First off, his throwing ability is top-tier in the NFL. His throw is as natural as they come and his ability to sling it from any angle will remind you at times of Aaron Rodgers. As we take the positive from Texas Tech, we have to take the negative with the air raid offense run by Kliff Kingsbury. Mahomes inexperience with a pro-style offense has hindered his development in Kansas City and he has a long way to go before he feels comfortable commanding a huddle, making adjustments at the line and staying in the pocket for an extended amount of time. Physically, he has the tools to become a Ben Roethlisberger with speed, but until he can learn an NFL offense, Andy Reid will have to settle for him sitting behind Alex Smith for the foreseeable future.
Deshaun Watson, Houston Texans
Week One: 15-for-25, 179 YDS, 1 RushTD
Deshaun had a mixed week for me in his 27–17 loss to the Carolina Panthers. On the upside, his comfortability running an NFL offense kept him composed throughout the game and his leadership seemed to carry with him into the pros. He was very aware in the pocket, knowing when he could remain still, move up in the pocket, or avoid the collapse and roll-out. His running ability added to his game and was able to scramble for 24 yards and a touchdown. What really impressed me with Watson was his short game accuracy: his throws were on target, the ball left his hand quickly into the play, and he had a consistent spiral on all his short throws. Where Watson left me unimpressed was his deep-ball ability. All of his throws over 10 yards seemed to fly over the heads of his receivers and he failed to keep a tight spiral on those attempts. Going into the season I fully expect Watson to play backup to Tom Savage, but his first week showed he may be ready to start sooner than later.
Deshone Kizer, Cleveland Browns
Week One: 11-for-18, 184 YDS, 1 TD
While Trubisky was the most surprising rookie QB in my eyes, Kizer was right behind him in the Browns 20–14 win over the New Orleans Saints. It wasn’t pretty out of the gate for Kizer as he missed open receivers and threw behind them. But as the game continued, Kizer became more comfortable in the pocket, established good reads and made throws at all three levels. Most impressive from Kizer’s game has to be his deep-ball accuracy. Continuously he thread the needle on passes 20 yards or longer and in clutch situations. On a third and 24, Kizer threw a dime in traffic to Rannell Hall for 22 yards and followed it up with a 45 yard touchdown perfectly placed to Jordan Payton on the run. While I still have questions about his unnatural throwing motion, his talent shown so far seems to have him fast-tracked to start over Brock Osweiler and Cody Kessler.
