Preseason Week 1 rookie grades: Polarizing QB dazzles - NFL.com
This article provides a performance review of selected rookies from each of the 16 NFL preseason Week 1 games in 2026. It offers individual grades for players, emphasizing that these evaluations are solely based on their initial preseason performance and not long-term projections.
Why it matters
For football fans, it offers an early look at how new talent is performing in a professional setting, providing talking points and initial assessments before the regular season begins.
NFL rookies had some time to get acclimated to their new cities and teammates. Now, we all get to see how these newcomers handle the best competition they've ever faced.
Below, I've graded the performance of one rookie from each of the past week's [16 preseason contests](https://www.nfl.com/schedules/2026/by-week/preseason-week-1). Some of these players are well-known to football fans, while others are trying to make names for themselves on the professional gridiron.
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