Jayden Daniels>Caleb Williams:
It’s really early, but early results are in…Daniels was the best QB to come out of this year’s draft, and that includes Chicago’s rookie QB Williams. Monday’s game against the Bengals was an eye-opener. I don’t think even the biggest Daniels fan could have expected that performance.
All offseason, I proclaimed that Daniels would be this year’s CJ Stroud. So what did I do with the no.1 pick in my rookie draft? Yup, you guessed it, I blinked and took WIlliams instead of sticking to my guns and taking Daniels.
Too early to proclaim who’s the best?:
Everyone loves to do autopsies on QBs coming out of the draft. I just did it above with Daniels and Williams. But nobody does it for WRs. Maybe it’s because the QB is front and center and it’s easy to see who is or isn’t producing. But missing on a WR in the draft can be almost as costly. Marvin Harrison Jr was the consensus no.1 WR to come off the board, but there were rumblings that Malik Nabers was the real class of this draft.
After three games, he is proving to be the guy. So far, he already has 23 catches for 271 YDs and three TDs. He’s on pace to catch 130 passes with 1535 receiving YDs. And he’s on pace to find the endzone 17 times. Those numbers would not only put him at the head of this year’s class but put him in the discussion of best WR in the league, up there with Tyreek Hill, Justin Jefferson, and Ja’Marr Chase. To put Nabers’ numbers in perspective, Harrison, Brian Thomas, and Rome Odunze only have 30 catches combined.
Who needs Stefon Diggs?:
Speaking of top-tier WRs…Diggs is now in Houston, while Buffalo shed the diva WR. There were a slew of questions heading into this season, but in the early going, the experiment has been a success. This is a classic case of addition by subtraction. Without Diggs to worry about, QB Josh Allen is free to simply get the ball to the open receiver without having to worry about feeding Diggs the ball.
They are 3-0 and look like they are finally ready to take the next step. If Monday was an example, Allen completed passes to 10 different receivers, with four TD passes to four different receivers.
What more can he do?:
The Bengals are 0-3, and their season is effectively over. But Joe Burrow is doing everything he can. He left the field with the lead in week two against the Chiefs, only to have Patrick Mahomes come back for the win. This past week, he was 29-38 with 324 YDs and three TDs. And the offense combined for 448 total YDs.
And then were three:
Aside from the Bengals, there are two other teams who are 0-3. Both the Titans and the Jaguars are sitting without a win. Even the Panthers have a win under their belt. The Titans weren’t expected to be particularly good this year, but the Jaguars were expected to compete with the Texans. They have Trevor Lawrence entering his fourth season and Doug Pederson in his third year as the team’s HC. Last year was a blip, but two years ago, he led them to the playoffs and a playoff win. This 0-3 start is a complete surprise.