New quarterbacks dominated NFL Week 3 while fantasy owners need a Saquon Barkley replacement, Patrick Mahomes is unstoppable and much more.
Confession: My average couch time these past three NFL Sundays has been 6.3 hours. In my lengthy sitting sessions, I’ve enjoyed a ton of football. Really, it’s been great watching football again. However, I’ve noticed that this year there seems to be a lot of changes on the field. Aside from all these new rules and replay regulations, I’m seeing lots of new faces in new places.
11 teams have had a quarterback start for them that had never started for them before. Who would’ve thought that when Kyle Allen beat Kyler Murray in 2015 for the starting job at Texas A&M, they would compete against each other again four years later? It’s the storylines and changes like these that add further interest to the NFL.
I’ll discuss a little more about Allen soon, as well as the other young quarterbacks impacting the league. Also, I look at two undefeated teams that probably shouldn’t be undefeated, highlight an up-and-coming running back, explain why you could be overlooking one of the greatest feats of all-time, hand out weekly awards and more. Oh yeah, I also finally enter MINSHEW MANIA.
But first, about those other quarterbacks…
New Faces, New Places: Quarterback Edition
Sunday was a milestone for six quarterbacks, all of which got their first start of the season. Four of them started their first NFL game ever. Among the six, half of them helped their team to victories while the other half weren’t as lucky (or talented).
Let’s start with the good: Daniel Jones. Last week, I explained why Jones was one of the most polarizing draft picks in recent history:
"I will admit: Like many others, I was not a fan of Daniel Jones. I felt he was a boom-or-bust player, with favor falling to the latter. I can’t remember a more universally hated selection than when Jones was taken at No. 6. Fast forward to a good-looking preseason performance and, suddenly, Jones is the next Joe Montana."
I bet Jones silenced his critics with 336 passing yards, two passing touchdowns and two rushing touchdowns, including the clutch game-winning run. Despite losing superstar running back Saquon Barkley for 4-8 weeks, there’s some hope in the Big Apple.
Another team that surprisingly finds themselves with hope is the Saints. After starting one game since 2015, Bridgewater stepped in for the injured Drew Brees and tossed two touchdowns in a win at Seattle. Albeit, it was a run-focused gameplan, though Bridgewater still completed 70 percent of his passes.
Josh Rosen has also had a rocky start to his career, and while the Dolphins did him no favors in another touchdown-less defeat, Rosen was making some good-looking throws. I was a big fan of Rosen in college and I wonder if he’ll be good enough to convince Miami of passing on a quarterback in the upcoming draft.
I was impressed by Kyle Allen, too. Filling in for the injured Cam Newton, Allen bested his former Texas A&M teammate Kyler Murray again by tossing four scores with 73 percent completion. Could quarterback controversy be brewing in Carolina?
Following Ben Roethlisberger’s season-ending injury, Mason Rudolph stepped in and looked just okay. A handful of big-boy throws were littered in with two touchdowns and an interception. He’ll have to do more to solidify himself as the future of the franchise.
Before I forget, Luke Falk also started his first career game, throwing a pick and no scores with a 54 percent completion rate. Sometimes, the next guy up is just a guy.