Tampa Bay’s Jameis Winston and Tennessee’s Marcus Mariota were the two high-profile rookie quarterbacks that made their professional debut last week, but they weren’t the only high-profile rookies to debut for their new teams.
The jury is still out on both of those quarterbacks. Winston had some decent throws and down field and showed some promise at times, but he also had other plays where he looked lost and was nowhere near his receivers. Tampa Bay was a 2.5-point underdog at Minnesota and lost by ten points, but the sports betting software lists them as a two-point home favorite Monday night at home vs. Cincinnati.
Marcus Mariota had a decent showing if you look at his box score, but his first two drives ended in turnovers (one interception and one fumble). Compared to Winston, Mariota seemed more comfortable and he did regain his composure after the early missteps. Like Tampa Bay, Tennessee is a small home favorite this week.
Two rookie wide receivers had very good showings last week. Amare Cooper was a focal point of the offense for Oakland, who pulled off an 18-3 outright win vs. St. Louis as a home underdog. Cooper had three catches and even took a handoff.
Philadelphia’s Nelson’s Agholor put on a show with three catches and 57 yards in Philadelphia’s 36-10 blowout win vs. the Colts, as well as catching the lone touchdown pass thrown by Philadelphia all game long.
Rookie running backs have not had a good summer, however. Todd Gurley was a stud at Georgia but he’s been sidelined all preseason with his torn ACL and may not be ready for the start of the regular season. Wisconsin’s Melvin Gordon was unstoppable in college, but now with the Chargers Gordon was held to 11 yards on 6 carries against Dallas. That’s obviously a small sample size, but not the type of production San Diego fans were hoping for in his first impression.
Teams with rookies featured prominently in their offense tend to play those starters longer than usual in NFL preseason settings. That could lead to some value betting on those NFL Preseason teams in the right matchup.
