Preseason Week 1: Risers and Fallers

The first full week of NFL preseason action has concluded, which gives us our first chance for season 2026 to make, contend, and debate our opinions based on official match play.

Although no team ever approaches preseason action at full strength, making it difficult to use actual results to assess a team’s outlook for the regular season, there are many individuals who are put in the spotlight as they attempt to push their case for a starting job, some sort of playing time, or even their team’s final roster spot.

On the back of this, Preme Football have put together a list of 9 individuals whose metaphorical stocks either rose or fell over the weekend with their performances.

So, let’s start positively. Here are our risers from the weekend’s football.

Ty Simpson

The most discussed pick of draft night, with many calling the Rams’ selection of Simpson a ‘reach’ especially due to Matthew Stafford’s MVP-winning season in the year gone by. But the pick 13 out of Alabama showed out in his preseason debut, posting 190 passing yards and 2 touchdowns, leading LA to a win at Arrowhead Stadium. Simpson showed his talents, and after a year or two of development behind last year’s MVP, will hope to be ready to step into a starting role seamlessly.

Drew Allar

Conversely to Simpson, Allar’s draft stocks fell throughout the 2025 college football season, falling to the 3^rd round on the back of a season-ending injury, despite many experts considering him a first-round talent. Despite this, his performance over the weekend was just as good. 10/13, 153 passing yards and 3 total touchdowns in a commanding victory. While Aaron Rodgers remains the team’s first-choice quarterback heading into the regular season, Allar is putting himself in position to take the reigns as early as the 2027 season, with Rodgers’ retirement expected to come at the end of the year.

The Bears defense

A talented unit that was significantly affected by injuries in 2025, the Bears put on a defensive masterclass against the Browns over the weekend. Off-season addition Beanie Bishop showed his ballhawk abilities, racking up a pair of interceptions, while the collective group held Cleveland, an admittedly poor offense, to just 10 points. If Chicago’s defense can remain healthy to compliment the growth of their youthful offense, even further improvement from their divisional round berth could be in store.

Robert Henry

In a team that lacks a truly dominant workhorse running back, competition for carries throughout the upcoming season is genuinely alive in the Washington Commanders’ backfield. Rookies Henry (undrafted free agent) and Kaytron Allen (pick 187) shared the duties in their preseason debut, and it was Henry who showed his power and explosiveness, putting up a touchdown and 6.3 yards per carry on 12 runs. Jacory Croskey-Merritt showed plenty of flashes during his rookie year in 2025, and the free agent acquisition of Rachaad White offers a reliable, veteran presence, but don’t be surprised if it is Henry who gets a solid share of the workload in the year to come.

Ja’Kobi Lane

The 80^th overall pick out of USC has a genuine chance to solidify himself as the WR2 behind Zay Flowers in Baltimore’s offense as early as this year, and he did those prospects no harm in his preseason debut against Philadelphia. Despite all-world quarterback Lamar Jackson sitting this game out, Lane still benefitted from the services of fellow rookie Joe Fagnano and backup Tyler Huntley, compiling 3 catches for 38 yards and a touchdown in an impressive showing.

Buccaneers Defensive Rookies

Although we didn’t get to see the highly touted Reuben Bain Jr. in action on Saturday, it was Tampa Bay’s 2^nd and 4^th round selections who impressed heavily against the Jets. Linebacker Josiah Trotter (Missouri) and cornerback Keionte Scott (Miami) both played over 15 snaps and put up PFF grades of above 80 in their first taste of official action. On top of this, the undrafted cornerback Ayden Garnes put his hand up for a roster spot with a pick-six, a tackle for loss and a pass defended. With cornerstones Lavonte David (retired) and Jamel Dean (Pittsburgh Steelers) leaving the team this offseason, the Bucs targeted defense in the draft and look to have made a few strong selections.6 strong performances, which all held varying degrees of meaning for their prospects in 2026.

However, it wasn’t all positive around the league. Let’s take a look at who damaged their stocks with their efforts over the weekend and are now under pressure to respond in the remaining weeks of preseason.

Shedeur Sanders

With Cleveland’s starting quarterback job well and truly up for grabs, preseason performances will be a strong indicator of who wins it, and unfortunately for Shedeur, he struggled against the aforementioned Bears defense. 6/11 for 79 passing yards and an interception was not the stat line he was after, while DeShaun Watson, who has not played in an NFL regular season game for nearly 700 days, was the best of the Browns’ quarterbacks who got the chance to stake their claim for week 1.

Eagles’ offensive depth

An offense that looked clunky at the best of times in 2025, it was more of the same for Philadelphia’s backups over the weekend. Whilst Eagles fans will hardly raise an eyebrow to this particular performance, being without almost every single offensive starter, concerns have lingered throughout the entire offseason in the wake of AJ Brown’s departure, and we await a response from Jalen Hurts and his cohort in week 1. DeVonta Smith, Saquon Barkley and Dallas Goedert are all top end talents, but with Makai Lemon in doubt for the beginning of the year, will the Eagles be too predictable offensively yet again?

Jayden Daniels

Some humour to end the article. The social media pile-on of Daniels and his camp in the wake of their decision to send a cease-and-desist letter to his alma mater, LSU, has been nothing short of hilarious. Whilst this will certainly continue into the season and beyond, it is, in all seriousness, great to hear that Daniels is healthy again and on track for week 1. Here’s hoping he can let his football do the talking and return to the electric quarterback we saw in his rookie season.

Let us know. Who was your biggest riser or faller from week 1 of the preseason?