The 2024-25 NFL season kicked off with plenty of excitement and storylines, but none more intriguing than the debut of three highly anticipated rookie quarterbacks. Caleb Williams, the number one overall pick from the 2024 NFL draft, debuted for the Chicago Bears in a 24-17 comeback victory over the Tennessee Titans. Jayden Daniels, the number two pick in the 2024 draft, debuted for the Washington Commanders in a big loss against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and Bo Nix, the number 12 pick in the 2024 draft, started for the new look Broncos in a loss against the Seattle Seahawks. Let's take a deep dive into how these three played in their debuts.
Every rookie QB in their NFL starting debut.
— NFL Rookie Watch (@NFLRookieWatxh) September 9, 2024
Caleb Williams (No.1 Overall): 14/29, 93 passing yards, 15 rushing yards, 22.3 QBR, 55.7 passer rating
Jayden Daniels (No.2 Overall): 17/24, 184 passing yards, 88 rushing yards, 2 total TD’s, 93.1 passer rating
Bo Nix (No.12… pic.twitter.com/9oY3rmbwf4
Starting with the most anticipated debut, Caleb Williams, the number one overall pick, faced a tough challenge in his first NFL outing. He completed 14 of 29 passes for 93 yards, with no touchdowns or interceptions. At face value, this is a poor debut. However, Williams is the first rookie quarterback to win in his NFL debut since 2002. Williams played like you would expect a rookie to play. He had his good moments with off-platform passes down the field and a couple of great scrambles, but, he also had his moments where he looked very mediocre. Williams dropped a snap, he had one really bad sack where he tried to scramble backwards and got sacked for a huge loss, and he had a few misses on deep throws. The good thing about his debut is that all of these issues are fixable and Williams will only get better from here. His receivers did drop two easy catches, one being for a potential touchdown, and his offensive line left something to be desired. Overall, Williams and this Bears offense will improve and it should be inspiring that Chicago did not need perfect quarterback play to win a game.
In contrast to Williams' modest debut, Jayden Daniels showed more promise despite Washington's loss. Daniels threw 17 completions on 24 attempts with zero passing touchdowns or interceptions. Where Daniels showed a lot of promise was on the ground. Daniels rushed for 88 yards and two touchdowns on 16 attempts but fumbled three times with Washington recovering all of them. Daniels saw a lot of blitzes from Todd Bowles defense and was able to play well despite the pressure. He was sacked twice including one very bad sack where he ran backwards to avoid it and ended up losing more yards. Daniels was not able to complete a pass more than 15 yards down the field with only one completion coming beyond ten yards down the field. Daniels missed star receiver Terry McLaurin on a potential deep ball touchdown in the third quarter. Other than that Daniels looked very good, one thing he does need to improve upon going forward is sliding properly before getting hit when he takes off to run. Daniels took multiple unnecessary hits due to his awkward forward slide. Washington fans should be excited that they may have found their answer at quarterback.
Similarly to Williams, Bo Nix had a very mediocre day at the helm of the Broncos offense. Nix threw 26 completions on 42 attempts for 138 passing yards and two interceptions. Nix also rushed for 35 yards on five attempts and had a four yard goal-line rush for a touchdown. Nix had a mix of good and bad on Sunday as he completed 24 of his 30 passing attempts within ten yards of the line of scrimmage. The short passing game is a staple of Sean Payton’s offense and Nix being able to navigate the short game is very promising for Broncos fans. However, in his 12 attempts to throw the ball past ten yards from the line of scrimmage, Nix only completed two passes and threw two interceptions. One of his interceptions was a pass into the endzone into double coverage on third down and nine while in field goal range. Situationally, this is a horrible interception as it put a stop to the Broncos potential scoring drive. The second interception was thrown into triple coverage while the Broncos were trying to come-back down 26 to 13. Bo Nix has got a lot of improving to do but Broncos fans can look forward to the fact that he was very efficient in the short passing game.
Looking ahead to next week, can Caleb Williams keep the Bears winning as they travel to Houston to take on the Texans? Can Jayden Daniels build on a solid performance in week one and defeat the Giants next week? Will Bo Nix limit the mistakes and lead the Broncos to their first victory of the season against the Steelers in their home opener next week?
