Rookie QB review: What Cam Ward, Jaxson Dart, Tyler Shough and Shedeur Sanders showed

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NFL preseason performances have to be taken with a grain of salt. Unlike the regular season, few coaches game plan for their opponents, and teams run their base plays. Some players shine in preseason, only to look like they don’t even belong in the league in the regular season.

However, that doesn’t mean we can’t learn anything from watching preseason film; we just shouldn’t overreact to it. The four high-profile rookie quarterbacks (Cam Ward, Jaxson Dart, Tyler Shough and Shedeur Sanders) made their debuts in the first batch of preseason action and mostly looked good. Here’s what we learned from the young signal callers and what they need to improve on.

Cam Ward

The Tennessee Titans’ top pick looked like he was back at Miami, sitting back in the pocket, as relaxed as he was on the beach — only he was playing against Tampa Bay Buccaneers coach Todd Bowles’ pressure scheme. Defenses are usually vanilla during the preseason, but even early installation plays for the Bucs involve sending a second-level player or two at the quarterback. One reason to be optimistic that Ward can have early success is that the Titans are going into their second year under offensive line savant Bill Callahan. The offensive line looked sound fundamentally and schematically, easily picking up blitzes and giving Ward time to throw downfield.

The most impressive part about Ward’s debut was that he threw the ball mostly on time, though he could throw it a tick or two earlier at times, while still being aggressive. He had some longer-developing plays called and often threw after one or two hitches and still averaged a robust 11.1 air yards per throw. He converted a third-and-6 and third-and-9, both within the structure of the offense, and displayed the ability to zip in passes and layer passes when necessary. He nearly threw an interception on a go ball with which he had to balance throwing with pace to beat the safety but with touch to get the ball over the cornerback. He didn’t put enough touch on it, and the cornerback got his hands on the pass. However, it was the right idea and a good learning experience for him to understand what it takes to complete that pass in the NFL.

Second quarter, 13:12 remaining, second-and-10

Ward used the hard count to get the Buccaneers defense to show its hand. Linebacker Deion Jones (No. 45) inched toward the line of scrimmage, which told Ward and the Titans offensive line that he was going to blitz.

This meant one of the safeties would have to rotate down to cover the tight end, and the Buccaneers would man blitz. Ward knew Calvin Ridley would have the entire middle of the field to work with on his crossing route.

Ideally, Ward would let the ball rip to Ridley here, but he took an extra step on his drop before throwing. This is an example of where he could clean up his feet.

Because of the extra step, he was pressured but still delivered a perfect pass to Ridley for a 13-yard pass.

It was a short sample, but Ward looked comfortable and displayed the natural feel for the game that made him the NFL Draft’s top pick.

Jaxson Dart

Dart has the longest developmental arc of the four quarterbacks on this list, which is why the New York Giants signed Russell Wilson — to give the rookie time to sit and develop. Sunday, the Giants did a good job of simplifying things for Dart, and he executed consistently. However, he left some meat on the bone with a few inaccurate passes. Like in college, Dart was fearless in the face of pressure, which was evident on his touchdown pass.

Second quarter, 12:06 remaining, second-and-5

Here, Dart saw the Buffalo Bills’ safeties rotate, meaning the defense was in Cover 1 (man-to-man with one deep safety).

Dart knew he had a chance to attack downfield, so he signaled to receiver Lil’Jordan Humphrey to run a “go” route.

Giants right guard Jake Kubas whiffed on his block, but Dart didn’t flinch, stepped into the throw and delivered a perfect pass.

Dart attacked the single-receiver side on three-by-one formations, hit some screens that became explosive plays and showed off his athleticism on scrambles, which Giants fans should be excited about. We’ll see if the Giants decide to add more to his plate in the preseason, but they seem intent on sticking with the plans regardless of the flash plays he makes this preseason.

Tyler Shough

The New Orleans Saints’ rookie signal caller had a rough outing against a well-coached Los Angeles Chargers defense. Shough got his first snap with 1:38 left in the first half and instantly had to operate a two-minute drill. He missed on a potential touchdown throw in which receiver Kevin Austin Jr. got open on a double move, but ultimately got the Saints into field goal position. Shough mostly threw underneath — 45.5 percent of his throws were under 5 air yards, and 36.4 percent were at or behind the line of scrimmage. He had some opportunities to throw to the intermediate part of the field but didn’t pull the trigger.

His biggest issue was staring down his receivers. He rarely moved his eyes, which led to a pick six in the third quarter.

You want to see a 25-year-old play with more poise and nuance, but we won’t put too much stock into 30 preseason snaps.

Shedeur Sanders

Sanders was decisive and accurate and mostly made good decisions. The Cleveland Browns didn’t score against the Carolina Panthers’ starting defense, but that should be expected, as Sanders was at a disadvantage, playing with the Browns’ backups. But again, he made the throws that were there, and he avoided turnovers. There were a few times when he held on to the ball and retreated too far backward. One of those plays was a fourth-and-1 in which you might as well try to make something happen; however, he ran backward about 10 yards, which is a cardinal sin.

He managed to barely throw the ball away, but the lesson for him on that play was not to make a bad situation worse by setting up your defense in a worse field position if you don’t convert the fourth down. On a sack in the third quarter, the Panthers sent a safety blitz from depth, and Sanders had plenty of time to throw the ball away but took a sack. These plays are notable because they littered his college film and were one of the big reasons he dropped in the draft. He mostly made quick decisions and threw the ball in the middle of the field with timing and accuracy, but he passed up on some wide-open receivers as well.

Second quarter, 1:10 remaining, first-and-10

On Sanders’ second touchdown pass, he had a full-field progression, starting with a two-man stick concept to his left.

Sanders didn’t like what he saw on the stick side. The Panthers sent an inside linebacker blitz, which running back Ahmani Marshall picked up from across the formation.

Sanders stepped away from the pressure while keeping his eyes on his third read. The free safety drove on the inside post.

As the play was designed to do, the outside post opened up, and Sanders zipped in a perfect pass.

Sanders made the most of his opportunity and was impressive. Reportedly, it took some time for him to learn coach Kevin Stefanski’s playbook, terminology and overall operation, but he looked poised and should earn more of an opportunity to run with the ones or twos in the coming weeks.

(Top photo: Mike Ehrmann / Getty Images)




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