Best Players of Pre-Season Week 2: Saints New WR1?

 ONE WEEK TO GO! With the second of three pre-season weeks officially in the books, we will take a look back at it and the stars that made some names for themselves. Again, just one more week of pre-season until we are BACK with real life regular season NFL football! Let's get into this.

Marquez Callaway, Wide Receiver, New Orleans Saints
Statline: 5 receptions, 104 yards, 2 TDs receiving

Marquez Callaway keeps trending upwards. Entering the off-season, Callaway was a bit of an afterthought on a Saints roster preparing for so much turnover. However, after the dust settled with all the off-season moves and then the injury to Michael Thomas, many found themselves learning the fact that this guy Callaway could open up the year as the Saints top dog in the receiving core. As we press closer and closer to the season, it is looking more and more that way. Callaway has gone from undrafted to a potential breakout star. He impressed throughout camp and played above average in preseason week 1. This game though, he was on another level. 5 catches. 104 yards. 2 miraculous TDs. He showed he was the real deal. On one play he burned Jags' new pricey off-season addition Shaq Griffin the corner (and former pro bowler). On another play which I'm sure you've seen on highlights over 10 times, Callaway caught an incredible 4o yard diving TD catch in double coverage and with pass interference called. He still caught it. This guy is boosting his chemistry with likely starting QB Jameis Winston and is making a name for himself in NOLA. Make sure to find this guy in the late rounds of your fantasy football drafts as well. He is going to be a star.

Sam Eguavoen, Linebacker, Miami Dolphins
Statline: 7 tackles, 4 sacks, 1 safety

One of the best defensive performances EVER in a pre-season game belongs to Sam Eguavoen. I consider myself pretty knowledgeable about NFL football players and rosters. I know many team's 3rd stringers at least by name. This is the first time I've heard of Eguavoen but it does not change how crazy what he accomplished was. The former Canadian football league player, Eguavoen caught on with Miami last season and actually appeared in 16 games for them. He was a special teamer and didn't do much which is why he is fighting for his roster spot right now. The feat he just pulled off is going to make it hard for the Dolphins to leave him off the final 53 man list. 4 sacks. That is rarefied air. I don't care if it's preseason. You have to be so dominant to get more than one sack and he got four. Let's not forget to mention the safety either. One of the few ways a defensive player can score for his team. A game where you have a few tackles and a safety is impressive but add that to the fact that this man had 4 sacks. Get him a contract. 

Mitchell Trubisky, Quarterback, Buffalo Bills
Statline: 20/28 on attempts, 221 yards, 1 TD passing

I know it was just pre-season, but boy was it fun to see what Mitch Trubisky did against the team that let him go. By all means, Trubisky was a major bust in the Windy City and they had every right to let him go, but just months after 'leading' them to a playoff berth, Trubisky was back in Chicago disappointing Bears fans. This time however, it was disappointing because of how well he played, because he is now in fact on the Bills. It is now looking like a smart call for Trubisky who will try to revitalize his career. A year on a cheap contract in Buffalo backing up one of the game's best young signal callers and learning from offensive mastermind Brian Daboll is going to do wonders for Mitch's game. It already looks like it has. Trubisky was sharp as he completed 20 of his 28 passes for over 200 yards and a TD pass as the Bills routed the Bears. It is rare for a player to eclipse 200 passing yards in a pre-season game but Trubisky did it with ease. While it's just a small first step for Trubisky on his path back to a starting job, it was a good one. 

Jameis Winston, Quarterback, New Orleans Saints
Statline: 9/10 on attempts, 123 yards, 2 TD passes

Of the many QB competitions going on throughout the league this pre-season, at least one appears to be locked down. What Jameis Winston has done throughout the off-season and into training camp and now the pre-season has showed exactly why the Saints were comfortable sticking with their QB room after Drew Brees retired. Winston has got it. It was always clear in Tampa that he had talent, he just needed to correct a lot of mistakes that would overshadow his greatness and prevent the team from winning games. New Orleans Jameis seems to have left those problems behind...at least for the time being. His stellar performance against the Jags this week all but sealed the starting QB job for him. Winston was 9/10 which is obviously near perfect and delivered a couple of deep bombs directly to where only Marquez Callaway could grab them. That 40 yard TD that we mentioned early was the result of a Winston DIME. We all knew that Winston had the potential, but now he has learned some patience and is with one of the best offensive coaches in football. He took another cheap prove it deal this year with the Saints, if he can breakout this year, boy he is in for a payday next off-season. Taysom Hill will still get his little share of QB snaps, but this will be Jameis' team this year. 

DeeJay Dallas, Running Back/Special Teams, Seattle Seahawks
Statline: 1 blocked punt, 3 receptions for 27 yards, 40 yard kick return

When your team loses 30-3, there aren't many bright spots to look at, if any. DeeJay Dallas is a rare outlier. Through the Seahawks first two uninspiring pre-season affairs in which they have a *combined* 10 points (rough), DeeJay Dallas has stepped up both times. Against Vegas, he scored a long TD that showed off his crafty open field maneuverability and then against Denver he showed off his versatility in a bevy of different ways. He opened the game up with a long kick return that looked like could go to the house for a brief moment. He then compiled a respectable 27 yards receiving out of the backfield in a short amount of playtime. Finally later on, Dallas blocked a Denver punt in impressive fashion. With Rashaad Penny showing no signs of talent time and time again (including against the Broncos) and Dallas continuing to show he is in line for a year 2 jump, it's looking like the no. 2 RB job in Seattle is coming for Dallas. He has been that versatile and fun to watch and has brought a juice to an uninspired group of Seattle backups during this pre-season. Hats off to Dallas. 

Teddy Bridgewater, Quarterback, Denver Broncos
Statline: 9/11 on attempts, 105 yards, 1 TD passing

While he won't admit it yet, it's gotta be only a matter of time before Broncos HC Vic Fangio names Teddy Bridgewater the Broncos starting QB for week 1. In the QB battle for the Mile High City, Teddy Bridgewater has showed up and showed out in pretty much every chance he's had so far. Playing just the opening two drives for Denver in Seattle this weekend, Bridgewater authored two scoring drives in which the offense marched down the field seamlessly. Bridgewater showed that veteran poise we all know and love from him. Meanwhile, while Drew Lock wasn't bad by any means, he simply was a lot less inspiring than Bridgewater. He played a couple more drives against worse Seahawks defenders and posted a worse statline and took a couple of sacks. While Lock is the young QB and has higher potential than Bridgewater, if Denver really is looking to compete right away, they will roll with Bridgewater in week 1 and see where things go from there. It makes the most sense. Teddy might have just found his way into another starting job on another new team. 

Rodney Adams, Wide Receiver, Chicago Bears
Statline: 3 receptions, 89 yards, 1 TD receiving

With Justin Fields in the fold and likely to become the starting QB for the Bears at some point this season, there are a lot of eyes on the elite potential that the Bears offense possesses with Fields at QB1. Sadly we won't get to see him right away as Matt Nagy named Andy Dalton the team's week 1 starter, but things could change quickly. Nagy's job is still on the line here. Anyways, the point we are trying to make is that aside from Allen Robinson, the Bears offense doesn't have a ton of consistent playmakers at the WR position or really any others at all. Darnell Mooney has the potential but we haven't see enough from him yet to guarantee anything. Enter Rodney Adams. Seen as a longshot to make the roster going into the off-season, it is not a longshot that he is left off that 53 man roster during cutdown day next week. Adams has gone from an unknown to the Bears likely WR3 in the span of a couple months. He's been consistently impressing in camp per sources and just had the game of his life against the Bills this week. When Andy Dalton came in, Adams mossed a defender 30 yards down the field and then kept on running for a 50+ yard TD. He had some other nice plays as well and with Anthony Miller gone too, Adams is making a super strong case to be the team's WR3 going into 2021. 

Jacoby Brissett, Quarterback, Miami Dolphins
Statline: 8/8 on attempts, 99 yards, 1 TD passing

Jacoby Brissett is quickly becoming one of, if not the, premier backup(s) in the league. On the third team of his young career so far, Jacoby has proven twice already that he can fill in for an injured QB when needed. It's looking like he would be a nice insurance policy for a third team if it came to it. Brissett was a perfect 8/8 on passes for the Dolphins this weekend and it stood out to me. These also were not just short passes but intermediate and even deep passes. Brissett capped it off with a nice TD as well. While there isn't a ton more to be said as we know for now he is locked into the Fins' no. 2 QB spot, it was still a top notch, PERFECT, performance if you will.

Honorable Mentions:

-Jets QB Zach Wilson: 9/11, 128 yards, 2 TDs passing
-Steelers RB Najee Harris: 10 yards rushing, 2 receptions for 53 yards receiving
-Patriots RB JJ Taylor: 93 yards, TD rushing
-Eagles WR DeVonta Smith: Showed off insane route running, he will get open against CB1's
-Patriots QB Mac Jones: 13/19, 146 yards passing