6 important things we learned from NFL preseason Week 1, wherein I am buying Eagles stock
Jalen Hurts was perfect. Zach Wilson was ... not that. Also, the Bills' new special teams weapon and a new Packers WR1? WR2? We'll see. (...)
The NFL preseason does not count.
It does not count in the standings. It does not count for starters, the majority of whom will only make cameo appearances lest they be reduced to cautionary tales about exhibition game injuries. It does not count for the playcallers, who aren’t going to dust off their best work for and against players likely to be released two weeks later.
Those guys at the cut line? It kinda counts for them, but even the rookies who pulled themselves up as undrafted free agents to earn a spot on the 53-man roster will have snap counts limited once they’ve established their place. While these games drop a deluge on a football-starved nation, the overall experience is more of a timeshare than actually owning a home. You get a little taste of the good life, and then it’s back to not caring for the bulk of the time and the overall experience is mostly negative.
This doesn’t mean we can’t glean a few lessons that will be useful once the actual football begins. The preseason isn’t going to unveil hidden truths about how Aaron Rodgers or Tom Brady are aging behind center, but it could help us discern how Daniel Jones is doing with a new coach or whether or not that fifth round rookie you loved in college can sew chaos on Sundays.
With that in mind — and with all these revelations coming with a massive grain of salt — let’s figure out what we learned in the first full week of meaningless football en route to the 2022 NFL season.