PHOTO USA Today Sports Images The NFL preseason is complete! Did everyone have a good time?
Before the football season cycles on to roster cutdown day and your fantasy draft, let’s take a moment to look back at the biggest storylines and takeaways that came out of the exhibition season.
Are the Jets… good?
You’ve heard the saying about the preseason. “Our third- and fourth-stringers beat your third- and fourth-stringers.” But sometimes those results reveal something when you dig into them. In the Jets’ case, they could portend a deep defense, specifically the line.
See, New York didn’t play its starters at all this preseason, but the rookies and backups helped the team go 3-0 in August. The Jets laid eight sacks on the rival Giants in the finale, including 2.5 by Takkarist McKinley, a former first-round pick who figures to add depth to the Jets’ front. Edge rusher Will McDonald IV had a good preseason. And on offense, Israel Abanikanda made his case for a backfield role, supporting Breece Hall and draft picks Braelon Allen and Isaiah Davis.
Everyone knows who the Jets’ quarterback is and what took place last September. With more of a supporting cast in place, they seem ready to run it back and try this again.
Steelers’ QB situation feels like a lose-lose.
Aug 17, 2024; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA; Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Russell Wilson (3) leaves the field after playing the Buffalo Bills at Acrisure Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Barry Reeger-USA TODAY Sports The Steelers just made the playoffs with Kenny Pickett and Mason Rudolph handling quarterback duties, so on paper, they’ve improved at the position. But the media circus in football-crazy Pittsburgh will be a sight to behold whether the Steelers forge ahead with Russell Wilson or Justin Fields, two of the most polarizing QBs in the league. If there’s anyone fit to handle the distractions, it’s Mike “We Do Not Care” Tomlin. He said the QB1 decision will be delivered “at the end of the work week,” a very Mike Tomlin thing to say.
If Wilson looks past his prime or takes dumb sacks early in the season, you’d expect fans to holler for Fields to take over. Despite botching multiple snaps this preseason, Fields believes he’s shown his new team what he could do as their starter.
Caleb Williams is a star in the making
Chicago Bears quarterback Caleb Williams (18) throws a pass in the first quarter of the NFL Preseason Week 2 game between the Chicago Bears and the Cincinnati Bengals at Soldier Field in downtown Chicago on Saturday, Aug. 17, 2024. The Bears led 10-3 at halftime. Let’s quickly check in on Fields’ former city, where some fans are shedding tears of joy.
The No. 1 overall pick lit it up in training camp and the preseason, making multiple throws on the run or across his body that have ignited the Bears’ fan base. Williams played in just two of Chicago’s four preseason games, but his 10 completions totaled 170 yards and he ran for a touchdown on a scramble. For a team that has never had a 4,000-yard passer, finally landing what looks like a surefire rising star QB must be cathartic. There’s rarely been this much optimism about the Bears.
The Vikings’ future is in the hands of Sam Darnold. Really.
Aug 2, 2024; Eagan, MN, USA; Minnesota Vikings quarterback J.J. McCarthy (9) and quarterback Sam Darnold (14) warm up during practice at Vikings training camp in Eagan, MN. Mandatory Credit: Jeffrey Becker-USA TODAY Sports On to the ghosts of Jets past! The biggest season-ending injury of the preseason was to Vikings rookie quarterback J.J. McCarthy, who needed surgery to repair a torn right meniscus. Sam Darnold, who was already the favorite to start the season at quarterback, is now definitely the man. Everything you hear about Darnold these days trends positively, though we didn’t see much of him in preseason action.
But why say that the Vikes’ future rests with Darnold? Because team co-owner Mark Wilf said the team is not thinking about extensions for head coach Kevin O’Connell or general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah as both men enter the final year of their contracts. If everything goes wrong this season, could the Vikings blow it up and start over? What would a new coaching regime and front office mean for McCarthy?
The Chargers might be a mess in Jim Harbaugh’s first year
Jul 24, 2024; El Segundo, CA, USA; Los Angeles Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert (10) throws during the first day of training camp at The Bolt. Mandatory Credit: Kiyoshi Mio-USA TODAY Sports When Justin Herbert missed part of training camp with a plantar fascia injury, it only added more anxiety to a really uncertain situation in Los Angeles. When Herbert is healthy, who exactly will he be throwing to? ESPN’s Bill Barnwell ranked the Chargers dead last in the league in skill position talent (running back, wide receiver and tight end) after the departures of Keenan Allen, Mike Williams and Austin Ekeler. DJ Chark and rookie Ladd McConkey join Joshua Palmer in an unthreatening receiving corps.
Jim Harbaugh, of course, is going to want to run the football, and he’s going to try to recreate his brother’s former offense in Baltimore with offensive coordinator Greg Roman and injury-prone running backs Gus Edwards and J.K. Dobbins. With none of the third-stringers seeming primed for a breakout, the Chargers scored three points in their first preseason game and nine in their second. This is looking more and more like a full-rebuild project and a potentially last-place team in the AFC West.
