Sideline Study - NFL 2021 Preseason review
On August 16 2010, I was watching a preseason game between the New York Jets and their neighbor rivals, the New York Giants, when someone quickly got my attention. He kept zipping past the Jets secondary for touchdowns & ended up with six passes for 145 yards to help the Giants get a 31-16 victory. I was calling up sports shows on BlogTalkRadio to rave about this one player, but all of them would give me the casual answer, "It's just preseason". That one player ended up helping former Giants QB Eli Manning get his second Super Bowl ring over the Patriots. His name, Victor Cruz.
Preseason games may not feel important to people, but they serve so many purposes. Both rookies & veterans, fighting for roster spots. Season-ending injuries to star players. Breakout players that become superstars and yes, even awkward interviews during gameplay.
The 2021 preseason might not have had foreheads split open, like from that 2010 game, but we did see important events happen. Baltimore Ravens RB JK Dobbins is officially out for the season, which means we'll be expecting more runs from their QB Lamar Jackson.
The biggest names that everyone was eyeing were the rookie QBs. The 49ers got to show off their "Trey Area" experience with Trey Lance, the Bears fan got a glimpse of their future with Justin Fields, and the Jaguars got to see the toughness from their first overall pick Trevor Lawrence. The two QBs that impressed the most during preseason were Zack Wilson from the Jets and Mac Jones from the Patriots.
For the Jets, Wilson showed off the skills that made him the second overall pick. He showed great awareness when rolling out of the pocket during preseason. His throws were strong and quick, similar to Russell Wilson from the Seahawks. Along with a young WR group, Wilson has the pieces around him to grow with the game for at least a few years.
As for the Patriots, they made the bold decision to part ways with their former QB starter, Cam Newton, and to start the young rookie, Mac Jones. For the second year in a row, Newton has struggled to be cooperative about the COVID-19 rules. During week 3 of preseason, Newton was unable to join the team at the facility due to a "misunderstanding".
This gives Mac Jones the chance to show he is able to lead this team in the present rather than the future. Jones was also being praised by many reporters for being the better QB during preseason, which led to him winning the job. Brian Hoyer will be the backup to Jones going forward.
As for former first overall pick Cam Newton, he might not have a chance to play this year. Newton has stated that he is "one of 32" which means he believes he's one of 32 starting QBs. Unfortunately, there aren't many teams still in need of a starting QB after the preseason.
The teams to possibly consider are the Washington Football team if things go sour with Fitzpatrick. The Houston Texans still have to wait for Deshawn Watson's issues to go through, but they can scoop him up as a starter for the season.
He could also play as a backup QB, but you need to be available as a backup and since Cam Newton is unvaccinated, that is clearly a reliability issue. I wouldn't say this is the end for Newton, but he'll probably be playing the waiting game for at least the first four weeks of the season.
Now with the conclusion of the preseason, I look forward to seeing which of these five rookie QBs will hopefully bring one of these teams a future Super Bowl. Make sure to join our live shows of the Sideline Study on Youtube.