NFL Power Rankings: Biggest risers and fallers after Preseason Week 1

30. Washington Commanders

Washington Commanders fans had to be absolutely thrilled after seeing rookie quarterback Jayden Daniels come out on his first drive in the preseason. He launched a deep ball down the right side of the field for a 42-yard play and then kept the ball on an option play to score the first touchdown of the preseason.

Daniels’s full skill set was on display and undoubtedly has Commanders fans giddy about what could be. But this is a team that is going to have to continually trust the process. There are a lot of moving parts on this Commanders roster and so much change, possibly too much to really have a ton of team success in year one of the Dan Quinn era. 

It might take some time, but the Commanders should at least be exciting this season if Daniels can make continual progress.

29. New York Giants

New York Giants fans may have gotten a bit of an unfortunate glimpse of the frustration and struggle coming in the 2024 regular season with Drew Lock out there getting absolutely wrecked in the preseason opener. Not that Lock is going to be the one playing quarterback, but how much better can Daniel Jones be this season?

The Giants are holding out hope that we will see more of the 2022 version of Daniel Jones, the guy who limited turnovers a little bit better and was able to get that Giants team into the playoffs. The performance by Drew Lock in combination with the lack of targets going to Malik Nabers was disturbing for Giants fans.

This is a team that is really just on the cusp of being pretty good. What is their ceiling with Daniel Jones? It’s tough to project this team to get back to the playoffs with Jones coming off of an injury and looking bad in the games he actually played last season.