Five things to watch in Week 2 of NFL preseason, plus why young quarterbacks should play in preseason

Welcome to the Friday edition of the Pick Six newsletter! 

I’m going to start things off here by letting everyone know that Denzel Washington has a new movie opening today. Normally, I don’t mention new movie releases, but I’m mentioning Denzel’s because if I learned one thing this week, it’s that he might be the most bitter Cowboys fan alive. 

The actor made an appearance on ESPN’s First Take this week to promote the new movie, “Highest 2 Lowest,” and he spent the entire appearance ripping Jerry Jones. Washington accused Jones of putting profits over winning games. 

“He ain’t thinking about us. He’s thinking about his pocket.” 

That sounds like a man who’s been a Cowboys fan for a long time. If you want to read all of Denzel’s comments, you can do that here. If you today’s newsletter, I’m going to stop talking so we can get to that now. 

As always, here’s your daily reminder to tell all your friends to sign up for the newsletter. To get them signed up, all you have to do is click here. Let’s get to the rundown. 

1. Five things to watch during Week 2 of the preseason

The second week of the preseason is kicking off tonight with two games and that will start a run of 16 games over the next three days. You could try to watch all 16, but if you don’t have time to do that, don’t worry, we’re going to give you a few things to focus on this weekend. 

Here are the three biggest things to watch in Week 2: 

1. Caleb Williams’ first start under Ben Johnson (Bills at Bears — 8 p.m. ET, Sunday). Williams is notorious for his backyard-style playmaking, whereas Johnson was a calculated strategist with the rival Lions. How they mesh in live action is one of the top storylines of the competitive NFC North, along with Williams’ improved supporting cast.

2. Colts’ QB competition continues (Packers at Colts — 1 p.m. ET, Saturday). Anthony Richardson and Daniel Jones have been neck and neck for the Indianapolis Colts’ top quarterback job all offseason, and coach Shane Steichen can’t seem to get one of the embattled signal-callers to make a sustainable leap. NOTE: Jones will be getting the start in this game, but both quarterbacks are expected to play. 

3. Saints’ QB competition continues (Jaguars at Saints — 1 p.m. ET, Sunday). The Saints’ new regime invested an early draft pick in Tyler Shough, which is why most experts expected the Louisville product to open 2025 as the club’s new starter. But Shough’s preseason debut was scattershot, including both a pick-six and deep score. Spencer Rattler, the 2024 fifth-rounder, remains in the mix for the starting gig under new coach Kellen Moore.

Cody came up with five things to watch for Week 2 and you can check out his full list here.  

2. Two preseason games are happening tonight: Here are two reasons to watch each one

If you didn’t make any plans for tonight, you can make a date with the NFL. There will be two games on starting at 7 p.m. ET and the festivities likely won’t end until 1 a.m. ET.

Here are two quick reasons to watch each game that’s on tonight: 

Titans at Falcons (7 p.m. ET, NFL Network)

• Titans: Cameron Ward and the starters will be playing. If you missed Ward making his NFL debut last week, you’ll get another chance tonight. Titans coach Brian Callahan has said that Ward, who was the No. 1 overall pick this year, will definitely be playing against Atlanta. The Titans’ starters are expected to play about two possessions. 
• Falcons: Kicking competition continues. Younghoe Koo has been the Falcons kicker for six seasons, but after struggling in 2024, the team decided to give him some competition in training camp in the form of Lenny Krieg. Koo will be serving as the Falcons’ kicker tonight after watching Krieg handle all the kicks in Week 1. Krieg, a German kicker, drilled a 57-yarder last week against the Lions, but missed a 53-yarder. Falcons coach Raheem Morris has decided to keep most of the starters on the bench, including Michael Penix Jr., which is why the kicking competition is being highlighted here.

Chiefs at Seahawks (10 p.m. ET, NFL Network)

• Chiefs: The receiver battle. With Rashee Rice facing a likely suspension at some point during the season, the Chiefs will need someone to help fill his shoes when he’s out. Heading into tonight’s game, Tyquan Thornton, Nikko Remigio and Jason Brownlee appear to be battling for two spots on the roster, so one of them will likely be the odd man out. How each guy plays in tonight’s game could go a long way toward whether they make the team. 
• Seahawks: Sam Darnold likely playing. The Seahawks didn’t play very many starters last week, but this week, it looks like coach Mike MacDonald is going to play almost everyone, including Darnold. “I don’t think we need to, but I think it’s the best thing for us,” MacDonald said when asked if Darnold is going to play. It was a vague answer, but reading between the lines, it definitely seems like Darnold will be making his Seahawks’ debut tonight. 

If you want to check out the full preseason schedule for the weekend, we’ve got that here.

3. Joint practice takeaways from Patriots-Vikings and Browns-Eagles

When it comes to joint practices, it’s been a busy week around the NFL. There were a total of four joint sessions that went down on Thursday and we had reporters at two of the big ones. Cody Benjamin was camped out in Eagan, Minnesota, for the Vikings’ session with the Patriots. And then we had Jeff Kerr spending the day in Philadelphia for the Eagles’ practice with the Browns. 

Here are a few takeaways, starting with Kerr in Philly: 

• Dillon Gabriel is looking like QB4. Thursday’s practice against the Eagles’ first-team defense was a mixed bag for Gabriel. There were more negatives than positives in the 1 hour and 15 minute session, as Gabriel didn’t look comfortable throwing to his receivers early on in the session. … Gabriel, a third-round pick, is likely QB4 on the depth chart — and the Browns are expected to keep four quarterbacks. Saturday’s preseason game is a major opportunity for Gabriel to show he can play live reps and raise his stock. You can read his full take on Gabriel here. 
• Myles Garrett dominated the Eagles’ offensive line. After a dominant first day against the Eagles offensive line, Garrett was even better on Day 2. The Eagles had Lane Johnson sit out this practice, so Garrett got to go up against Matt Pryor — who was the backup swing tackle for this practice. Garrett dominated the session, whether he was facing Pryor or Jordan Mailata, finishing with multiple “sacks” on the day on Jalen Hurts. There were at least five “wins” for Garrett in the 11-on-11 sessions, whether it was getting around the edge or using his inside move to get to Hurts.

We’ve got Kerr’s full takeaways from the week here. 

In Minnesota, Cody got to watch two young quarterbacks battle in Drake Maye and J.J. McCarthy. Here are two quick takes from Cody: 

• Drake Maye connects on several long balls. Maye’s first snaps against Minnesota’s full starting “D” saw Jonathan Allen rifle up the middle untouched for a would-be sack and Dallas Turner fly off the edge for another. It’s fair to say Flores got the best of his old team off the jump. That said, when given a clean pocket, Maye had arguably the prettiest throws of the entire day, including a downfield dart to Kayshon Boutte that had Vikings safety Josh Metellus slow to get up.
• Jordan Addison stood out. No Vikings receiver came close to drawing as many critical targets as Addison, the third-year veteran. It’s very clear that McCarthy trusts him, and vice-versa. That may be a byproduct of Jefferson’s extended summer absence, leaving Minnesota without an abundance of proven playmakers on the perimeter. Note: Addison will be suspended for the first three games of the season. 

Cody has plenty of other takeaways from Minnesota and you can check them out here. 

4. Why quarterbacks should almost always play in the preseason at the beginning of their career

For the second straight week, Falcons coach Raheem Morris has made the decision to keep Michael Penix Jr. on the bench for the preseason. Penix didn’t play last week and he won’t play this week against the Titans. It’s an interesting decision considering Penix only has three career starts under his belt. 

Coaches don’t like risking injury in the preseason, but it does make sense to let your starting quarterback play, especially if that QB is at the beginning of his career. 

On a recent episode of the “With the First Pick” podcast, former NFL general manager Ran Carthon outlined why young quarterbacks NEED to play in the preseason. 

• Carthon says preseason reps matter. “It all matters because these are real live game reps where you can’t predict where guys are going to be. In practice, these guys have gone against their same team’s defense for a long time. They know who their teammates are, what their teammates can and can’t do.”
• It gives the quarterback a chance to get game reps in specific situations. “Now you’re in game situations where there’s a two-minute situation, a situation where the offense is backed up, a third-and-long situation, a third-and-short situation. So now you’re getting to play situational football. You get to put [these rookies] in high-pressure situations to see how they’re going to respond and react.”
• It’s their first chance to take the next step. “Can you take it from the classroom to the practice field and then to the game field? What do we want to see now? We want to see you move the ball. We want to see you score points. We want to see you have command [of the huddle and the offense]. We want to see you change plays at the line — get us out of bad plays. That will be the next step for these young guys.”

Overall, we’ve kind of seen a philosophical change when it comes to playing starters in the preseason. More and more teams are putting their starters on the field, including their quarterbacks. Patrick Mahomes, Joe Burrow, Kyler Murray, J.J. McCarthy, Bo Nix, Drake Maye and Trevor Lawrence are all quarterback who played in Week 1. And then there’s Justin Herbert, who will be playing in the preseason for the first time in his career this weekend. 

Ryan Wilson broke down Carthon’s comments and you can see Wilson’s full story here. 

5. Young NFL running backs who could thrive this year

When you look at the running back position, not many teams have a true bell cow. There were only two running backs in the NFL who carried the ball at least 325 times last season and you can probably guess who those players were. If you guessed Saquon Barkley and Derrick Henry, give yourself a pat on the back.

Most teams deploy a running back-by-committee approach, so Chris Trapasso decided to take a a look at a few younger running backs who could thrive this year as part of one of those committees. 

• Trey Benson (Cardinals). Benson just turned 23 in July and only toted the rock 316 times in college. Last year, Benson was the low-volume backup option to Conner, and the backs each averaged 4.6 yards per tote. Blessed with size — 6-foot and 216 pounds — and ridiculous speed — Benson ran 4.39 at the 2024 NFL Scouting Combine — he has the physical skills to erupt in Year 2 and slowly but surely get more of the share of carries in the desert.
• Jordan Mason (Vikings). After going undrafted, all he did was produce at a tremendously efficient level in San Francisco. He leaves the 49ers organization — following a trade to Minnesota this offseason — averaging 5.3 yards per carry on 236 total rushes. He possesses feature-back size at 5-11 and 220-plus pounds and outstanding contact balance at all levels of the field. He’s going to rock in Kevin O’Connell’s offense, because it bears a striking resemblance to Kyle Shanahan’s.

Trapasso got a few more names on his list and you can check those out here. If you’re looking for a few players to take in the backend of your Fantasy draft, this is definitely a story you’ll want to read. 

6. Extra points: Browns get one rookie back, sign another one

It was a busy 24 hours in the NFL, and since it’s nearly impossible to keep track of everything that happened, I went ahead and put together a roundup for you. 

• Browns rookie won’t face charges. Quinshon Judkins won’t face any chargers related to an alleged domestic violence incident that he was involved in last month. The Broward (Fla.) State Attorney’s Office chose not to move forward with the case due to a lack of evidence. We’ve got more details here. This now clears the way for the 2025 second-round pick to return to the team after missing all of training camp so far. 
• Browns set to sign Isaiah Bond. The former Texas and Alabama wide receiver is headed for Cleveland. Bond was projected to taken anywhere from the late first through the third round in the 2025 NFL Draft, but he ended up going undrafted after being arrested on an outstanding sexual assault warrant before the draft. Bond has been cleared of all charges, which is why the Browns decided to sign him. You read more about his story here. 
• Justin Herbert to make preseason debut. For the first time in his career, Herbert is going to play in the preseason. Jim Harbaugh said the starters requested to play, “They want the first series of the [regular] season not to be the first series of the season.” The Chargers will be facing the Rams on Saturday. 
• Five-time Pro Bowler retires. After 10 NFL seasons, Brandon Scherff has decided to retire. The five-time Pro Bowler, who was the fifth overall pick in the 2015 NFL Draft, played for just two teams — Washington and Jacksonville — during his 10 NFL seasons. You can read more about his career here. 
• Odell Beckham Jr. eyeing the Steelers. The veteran receiver wants to play this year, and apparently, he’s talked to Aaron Rodgers about potentially signing with the Steelers. “I love him, we’ve had conversations,” Beckham said of Rodgers. The former Giants star had plenty of other things to say and you read about it here.