Rome Odunze and Caleb Williams (Chris Sweda/Chicago Tribune)
Sunday was the NFL debut for several highly touted NFL rookies. And most landed with a thud. Caleb Williams and Rome Odunze were supposed to be the Batman and Robin of the Chicago Bears‘s offense, but if that’s the case the criminals are running amuck in Gotham City. Bo Nix started for the Broncos and didn’t blow anybody away in a Broncos’ loss. Jayden Daniels‘ Commanders’ debut was the most impressive, but it still wasn’t enough to result in a Commanders’ win.
Cardinals’ rookie, Marvin Harrison Jr. was basically invisible in his Arizona debut. Harrison dropped the first pass thrown his way and ultimately ended up with one catch good for four yards. Did he kick Kyler Murray‘s dog? Beyond that I’m not sure why he wasn’t more a part of the Cardinals’ offense.
Malik Nabers had a reasonably good debut with the Giants, catching five passes out of seven targets, while gaining 65 yards.
It was a particularly disappointing game for the Bears
While it was almost impossible for Caleb Williams to live up to the hype, he didn’t come close. Williams threw 29 times, good for 93 yards. Ouch. Accuracy was an issue. The Bears offensive line wasn’t good, but Williams needs to be better going forward. The one thing working in Williams’ favor is that he had no turnovers. As rough as Williams’ Bears debut, Rome Odunze was even worse.
He caught one pass for 11 yards. But more troubling is the fact that Odunze is having an MRI on his knee today. Stay tuned.
More of the short game
Broncos’ rookie QB, Bo Nix passes were nearly as short as his name. Nix threw 42 times for only 138 yards. He also threw two interceptions. Nix also was the Broncos’ leading rusher, going for 35 yards, including a long run of 23 yards. Of Nix’s 42 passes, 17 were between three and eight yards beyond the line of scrimmage. Seems like the training wheels were still on for Nix, but probably rightfully so.
Jayden Daniels’ debut was more, well, Commandering
Daniels’ number line was fairly impressive. He went 17-24 for 184 and also ran for 88 yards and two TDs. Out of the three NFL rookie QBs launching their regular season careers, Daniels was the most impressive. The Commanders lost to the Tampa Bay Bucs by the score of 37-20.
Another rookie had a subpar NFL debut
Tom Brady made his broadcast debut on Fox yesterday. In NFL terms, he was somewhere between Caleb Williams and Jayden Daniels in his effectiveness. Brady may elevate his performance to being okay, but to expect his broadcasting career to rival his playing career is ludicrous. Tom is an accomplished, smart guy. I’m just not sure he’s that interesting to listen to. I miss John Madden.
