Week 1 of the NFL season is almost in the books. Hot takes about the season are already forming. One thing backed up by facts, though, is that Week 1 was rough for rookie quarterbacks. Caleb Williams, Jayden Daniels, and Bo Nix all put up concerning numbers through the air. Here is a breakdown of each of their performances and how much concern fans should have moving forward. All passing charts come from NFL Next Gen Stats.
Caleb Williams
The first overall pick from this year’s draft scored just two of Chicago’s 24 points. The defense and special teams single-handedly overcame a 17-0 deficit to beat Tennessee. Williams threw 14-for-29 and only managed 93 passing yards. Adding the 15 yards he gained on the ground, he totaled 108 yards. Will Levis alone threw for 127 yards.
This week will most definitely be an outlier. Neither offense could get anything going throughout the day, with Tennessee outgaining Chicago in total yards 244-148. The other point of concern for Williams was how he handled the deep ball.
Williams completed just one of his seven passes of 10 or more air yards. The good thing though is that he was not afraid to take risks. His three attempts of 25+ air yards were the most among rookie quarterbacks in Week 1. If this trend continues against a Houston defense that just allowed two 50+ yard passing touchdowns, that will spell nothing but trouble.
Jayden Daniels
Daniels had what was far and away the best individual outing of the three rookies. Though he played the passing game very safe, he led the way in the run game too. He tacked on 88 more yards and both of Washington’s touchdowns on the ground.
The questions moving forward will be Daniels’ willingness to take the deep shot and ball security. He only attempted two passes of 15+ air yards against Tampa Bay in a game they never led. His three fumbles, though none went to the other team, are also a sign of concern. The first one was a miscommunication on a backwards pass, but even still Daniels cannot play with fire the way he did versus the Buccaneers.
Bo Nix
In a week filled with terrible individual quarterback games, Bo Nix may have had the worst outing through the air. Over a third of Nix’s completions were at or behind the line of scrimmage. While a higher percentage of Williams’ completions were behind the line of scrimmage, volume must be accounted for.
Nix accounted for the only Broncos touchdown of the day, but that drive was the only one Denver had that went over 50 yards. Not only that, it was Denver’s last offensive drive of the day. Denver’s drive-for-drive first half on offense went as follows:
- Four plays, 3 yards, field goal
- Three plays, 5 yards, punt
- Three plays, 7 yards, punt
- 12 plays, 49 yards, interception
- Three plays, 4 yards, punt
- Four plays, -2 yards, field goal
- Three plays, 4 yards, punt
- Six plays, 17 yards, punt
- Five plays, 26 yards, field goal
Denver’s offense failed to capitalize on several Seattle mistakes. The defense allowed two safeties and forced two more turnovers to give the Broncos prime field position. Nix only completed two passes of more than 10 air yards. Plays like the one above did not help matters, either. It will not get any easier for Nix, either, as next week is Denver’s home opener against a Pittsburgh team that silenced Kirk Cousins.
***
Subscribe to Fantom Sports on YouTube!
Follow Fantom Sports on all of our social media!
Want to partner with us? Contact us now.