With only a few games remaining on the Week 2 slate, the NFL preseason is just about complete as the countdown to regular-season football begins.
After they turned in a handful of quality Week 1 performances, the top rookie quarterbacks from this year's draft class continued their positive movement this weekend.
From Dillon Gabriel's first taste of NFL action to Jaxson Dart's two-touchdown show at MetLife, here's a look at how some of the top first-year signal callers performed:
Cam Ward, Tennessee Titans (1.01)
Cam Ward played three drives with the Titans' starting offense on Friday night, completing just two of his seven attempts for 42 yards.
The highlight of his performance was actually an incompletion to Van Jefferson—one Ward took accountability for after the game— that he dropped in over three defenders:
After the game, head coach Brian Callahan sang Ward's praises, saying that he's "very encouraged" by what he's seen from the young signal caller.
He’s shown all the things that we needed to see from an operations standpoint … Everything about Cam as far as handling the operation, being in the stadium, two road environments, all that’s great."
It looks like Tennessee has its quarterback.
Jaxson Dart, New York Giants (1.25)
Giants signal-caller Jaxson Dart put on a show on Saturday night, completing 87% of his passes for 137 yards and a touchdown to tight end Greg Dulcich. He also found the end zone on the ground with a one-yard quarterback sneak.
Dart's performance drew a rave review from head coach Brian Daboll and, while Russell Wilson remains New York's starter, the rookie may already be ahead of schedule in his development plan. He's making a case for himself to be under center sooner rather than later.
Tyler Shough, New Orleans Saints (2.40)
Tyler Shough got the start for the Saints on Sunday afternoon as they continue their open quarterback competition ahead of the regular season.
The former Louisville Cardinal was far more efficient this week compared to last week, completing 9-of-12 passes for 66 yards and not turning the football over—something he did almost immediately last week.
The 25-year-old also dropped this dime to TE Treyton Welch on linebacker Chad Muma's head.
Unfortunately, Shough was also sacked twice and only registered three points for the New Orleans offense. It'll be interesting to see which direction they go in under center for Week 3.
Jalen Milroe, Seattle Seahawks (3.92)
Third-round pick Jalen Milroe only attempted five passes for the Seahawks on Friday night as he was outpaced by starter Sam Darnold and backup Drew Lock. While it wasn't a performance to write home about, his rep with Seattle's first-team offense is worth noting.
Early in the first quarter, with Darnold still in the game, the Seahawks trotted Milroe onto the field for a tush push-style quarterback sneak and converted.
This was a promising revelation for Milroe. While he may not necessarily beat out Lock for the No. 2 job, he'll most certainly have a role with the team in 2025.
Dillon Gabriel, Cleveland Browns (3.94)
Rookie third-rounder Dillon Gabriel took the majority of snaps for the Browns offense on Saturday afternoon as Kenny Pickett and Shedeur Sanders are dealing with injuries, and turned in a solid showing in his NFL debut.
The former Oregon Duck completed 13 of his 18 pass attempts for 143 yards and looked to be in control of head coach Kevin Stefanski's offense. Unfortunately, a first-half pick-six soured his overall performance.
Gabriel made headlines following the game with a misconstrued comment about being a competitor rather than an entertainer. He has since clarified that it was not a shot at Shedeur Sanders—but rather the media.
"All you in this room are entertainers, and you have a job do, and I respect it," he explained. "I'm a competitor, so I have a job to do as well."
Shedeur Sanders, Cleveland Browns (5.144)
Shedeur Sanders both warmed up and suited up for the Browns' Week 2 contest against the Eagles, but didn't take the field as he deals with an oblique injury he suffered in practice this week.
The fifth-round pick was arguably the winner of preseason Week 1, so to not have him out there on Saturday was disappointing. The good news is, Cleveland hopes he'll be able to play some in their preseason finale next week against the Rams.
