Key Points
Bullet point summary by AI
- Ten rookie quarterbacks are beginning their NFL journeys at OTAs across the league this spring.
- Some face immediate pressure in competitive backup roles while others develop quietly behind established starters.
- The next few months will reveal which prospects seize opportunities and which ones struggle with the transition to professional football.
We’re a ways away from training camp. Even further away from NFL preseason games. Even, even further away from the regular season. And even, even, even further away from a bunch of rookie quarterbacks’ first official snaps in the NFL.
However, the spring OTAs are the official start to all 10 of the 2026 rookie quarterbacks’ NFL careers. Let’s see how the mid-offseason has treated them and then rank their vibes.
Keep in mind, we’re going off a lot of differing levels of information here. Not every team is covered the same, and seventh round picks aren’t going to get as much focus as a first overall pick.
10. Athan Kalaikmanis, Washington Commanders
- 223rd overall, Rutgers
Someone on Twitter called Athan Kalaikmanis the “Baklava Bomber.” That’s a very good nickname. Other than that, there’s not a whole lot of information based purely on him. Luckily for us, he’s competing with the reincarnation of Adonis, Sam Hartman, for the QB3 job. There’s a little more reporting on him.
Dean Jones of Riggo’s Rag notes, “Hartman is in his third season, but reporters in attendance noted that he is still struggling to find the proper velocity on his throws. With Kaliakmanis around, that's a big problem, so the practice squad may beckon once again if the same trend continues.”
The idea of a camp competition is that the team gets better by metaphorically culling the herd. If reporters are noting that Hartman’s having a tough go, we can (correctly or incorrectly) assume that Kalaikmanis is keeping his head down and doing what he can to not get the knife.
So, that’s good … right?
9. Behren Morton, New England Patriots
- 234th overall, Texas Tech
If you find something interesting about Behren Morton, please let me know, because it’s really quiet around him. That makes sense, though. The Patriots have their entire quarterback room filled out right now: Drake Maye, Tommy DeVito, and Morton.
He’s safe, and the Pats haven’t brought anyone else in to compete for that QB3 spot. A team being confident that the 234th overall pick can be a good depth guy is pretty good, in theory.
8. Drew Allar, Pittsburgh Steelers,
- 76th overall, Penn State
Drew Allar and Will Howard (2024 sixth-rounder) are going to spend the summer fighting for the Steelers’ QB3 job. Luckily for them, both Aaron Rodgers and Mason Rudolph haven’t been to all of the OTAs, which means the two young cats are getting more reps.
Those aren’t going to come so easily come July and August, when the whole quarterback room is there and getting reps. Fortunately (for Allar), it sounds like he understands that. “... it’s definitely a big week. Just trying to take it a play at a time and really just grow from each play. Whether it’s a good throw or a bad throw or whatever the case is, just learn from it and grow from it.”
Does that mean that he’s any closer to winning that job? Not necessarily, but it’s good.
7. Ty Simpson, Los Angeles Rams
- 13th overall, Alabama
Ty Simpson is coming into a job that is both the easiest and the most stressful. He’s backing up the reigning NFL MVP, but that MVP is also banging on 40 years old and going into his 18th season in the NFL. However, if he’s thrown into a game, he’s playing on a team that is the Super Bowl favorite and built to win this year. So, no competition and all of the pressure. Peachy.
But the whole point of this is looking at how he’s doing. Luckily for us, we’ve heard a little from his teammates.
Quentin Lake, the Rams' safety, went on The Arena: Gridiron. That’s the show where Skip Bayless sits on a hilariously oversized couch and talks to players. Lake said that he likes what he’s seen out of Simpson and that he’s able to make the throws he needs to make, and he’s showing good anticipation. In a McVay offense, those are two mega-important things. We’ve seen a bunch of quarterbacks really struggle with anticipation, so that’s all good news … Then, just like every show with Skip Bayless, the conversation quickly devolved into nonsense.
Matthew Stafford was also asked about Simpson. As far as guys whose opinions hold the most water, it’s probably his because he’s awesome, has spent time with a whole lot of quarterbacks, is currently playing at the highest level, and he’s in the room with the young boul.
Stafford said that he wants to get the team ready to win, and Simpson is part of the team. Ipso facto, he needs to get Simpson ready to win. On top of that, apparently Simpson is asking a lot of questions. That’s also a good thing.
In my first job out of college, I worked at A-B … ig beer company, and I didn’t ask any questions. I was terrible and got demoted to a data entry job. Asking questions is a good thing, and getting those questions answered by Stafford has to be pretty awesome … In theory.
The only rookie quarterbacks that Stafford has shared a room with are Jake Ruddock in 2016 (Lions’ sixth rounder), Brad Kaaya in 2017 (Lions’ sixth rounder), and Stetson Bennett in 2023 (Rams’ third rounder). None of those guys have done anything, but none of them had the juice that Simpson has.
Talent and potential aside, Simpson is really set up for success, and the guys around him are saying good things … but nothing is expected from him either. So, call it a wash.
6. Carson Beck, Arizona Cardinals
- 65th overall, Miami
If you’re not a Cardinals fan, take a minute to appreciate your life. If you are a Cardinals fan, know that everyone (who’s not part of the NFC West) is really rooting for you.
Right now, Jacoby Brissett is slated to be their QB1, but he’s holding out and wants a new contract. That’s like if the 30th best swimmer in the world saw Michael Phelps’ sponsorships and said, ‘I aint swimming until I get the bag from Subway.’ It’s preposterous, and sadly hilarious.
If that situation doesn’t clean itself up, the QB1 battle in Arizona is going to be between Gardner Minshew and Carson Beck. We’ve watched Minshew play in five different offensive schemes over the past seven years; we know what he’s got going on, and it’s unfortunately not super great.
All that to say: We, as a football society, should be rooting for Beck to get the starting job because it’s at least something new.
To preface: take the Cardinals' OTAs with an extreme grain of salt because Jeremiyah Love is taking reps with the second team. You don’t draft a running back third overall to have him be the guy behind the guy.
Carson Beck has been getting reps with the third-team offense, behind Minshew and Kedon Slovis. That’s totally fine, because it means he’s not ruining real reps for other players with his developmental reps.
This is a good plan for a guy who’s (probably) eventually going to play a real part in the Cardinals’ 2026 season. When it comes to a third-rounder in June, that’s just about as good as you’re going to get.
5. Fernando Mendoza, Las Vegas Raiders
- 1st overall, Indiana
Right now, Fernando Mendoza is doing a whole lot of his work with the “threes and a little bit with the twos,” so he’s got some work to do, which is both expected and good.
Modern college offenses hardly ever have their quarterbacks take snaps from undercenter, and that’s going to be a big part of Klint Kubiak’s offense. You don’t want to have meaningful reps for other players get ruined because a quarterback has trouble with footwork, comfort, timing, etc. You’d rather have those growing pains and reps happen with the backups and their backups.
You’d imagine that he’d be deeper on the roster because of that.
Now, in a perfect world, your first-overall quarterback would come in and already be QB2 because of their level of talent, but if Kubiak wants to be a ‘you have to earn your job’ kind of guy, you can’t really blame him. The Raiders were a football terrorist organization last year, and no one’s job should be safe under a new regime.
Also, the Raiders are incentivised to have Kirk Cousins play a lot during the 2026 season. It’d allow Mendoza to sit back and learn during his rookie season, and it’d make Cousins’ trade value go up if/when they want to move off of him when Mendoza takes a hold of the reins.
Now, for how Mendoza’s been doing, all we can go off of is what people are saying:
Maxx Crosby’s saying that Mendoza is starting from the bottom, working consistently, and has good energy. That’s good to hear, but it’s probably just a dude being a dude.
Mike Sullivan, his QB coach, says that getting used to this offense is a long process and that there’s “no magic wand where a guy instantly can develop the type of skills necessary to be successful in the offense,” and that he’s got a lot of work to do. That’s less than promising, especially for the brain whose job it is to develop Mendoza … but it is nice hearing real feedback rather than the ‘He’s making great strides’ type of stuff we hear from a lot of less-than-charismatic coaches (which is most of them).
Then you have Andrew Janocko, the offensive coordinator, saying that Mendoza works on what he needs to work on and that he’s got a grinder’s mentality. That’s kind of expected from a guy like Mendoza. Teams do their work on their first-round draft picks, and we’ve seen quarterbacks plummet (Shedeur Sanders and Diego Pavia, to name two) because they have the stank of arrogance coming into their rookie season. It’s nice to hear that Mendoza’s quirkiness and humbleness are genuine.
All in all, this is mostly good. Players and coaches seem to be saying he’s working hard, and there haven’t been any reports (read: tweets from beat writers) that say he’s stinking up the joint and ruining practice … but if you’re a fan you’d probably want him to be a little farther along.
4. Cole Payton, Philadelphia Eagles
- 178th overall, N. Dakota State
Cole Payton is a little different from everyone else for a few reasons. One is that it seems like he’s not really gunning for a job as a traditional NFL quarterback; he’s been talked about like he’s a Taysom Hill-type dude.
On top of that, the quarterback conversation in Philadelphia is about a potential QB2 battle between Andy Dalton and Tanner McKee.
On top of that, the Eagles are going through a radical scheme change, and everyone who could be getting playing time is learning. That doesn’t really help the developmental guys.
Parks Frazier is the Eagles' new quarterbacks coach, and he was asked about how that whole situation is going to impact Payton. He said this is something that Payton has experience with.
At NDSU, he sat out four years and started only in his redshirt senior year. That means he’s been in a situation where he has to take those mental reps and develop. “When you have a guy like Jalen, the other guys have to maximize their reps. And [Cole Payton] can ask questions based off of other guys’ reps — something that other people might take some time to do. So he’s only going to continue to get better.”
If you’re going to get a late-round quarterback in the draft, and you know that they’re going to have to have hands-off learning, it’d be a good idea to get a guy who’s shown that he can do that.
All in all, this is an imperfect situation, but Payton is a guy who can make the most out of that.
3. Garrett Nussmeier, Kansas City Chiefs
- 249th overall, LSU
Garrett Nussmeier slipping to the seventh round was one of the bigger stories of the draft. Everything in the pre-draft process showed that he was a second or third-round talent … except for his medicals, which showed he had a cyst on his spine. It turns out that was a pretty big deal to every team, and the Chiefs ended up getting him with their last pick.
If his health problems don’t show their ugly face, then this will be a super awesome pick. If they do become an issue, then oh well, it was just a seventh-round pick.
Regardless, he’s in a great spot because he’s behind Patrick Mahomes and Justin Fields, and he’s competing for the third-string job with Chris Oladokun.
If there’s anyone to listen to talk about what it’s like to help develop a rookie, that person would probably be Alex Smith. He was the Chiefs' starter during the 2017 season, who helped Mahomes come along as a rookie and turn into an NFL MVP in his first year as a starter.
Smith was interviewed by Chiefs Wire, and he talked about Nussmeier’s development: “... as a quarterback, you're such a product of the people around you, the 10 guys in the huddle, the system you run, the environment, and positions you get put in, and what more could you ask for to play for Andy Reid and learn from Patrick Mahomes … I don't care who you are, I don't care how much you want to play right now, this is a gift, and take it …”
That’s all great. The dude is set up for some type of long-term success … success that’s probably not going to be felt by the Chiefs since they just gave Mahomes a deal that will keep him there until 2033 … but it’s potential success nonetheless.
Now, in practice, it’s a little bit of a different story. Nick Jacobs of KHSB 41 (Kansas City’s NBC affiliate) was talking about Nussmeier in practice: “He’s still working out the mechanics and his footwork … if it’s within five to seven yards, he’s pretty accurate … But whenever it’s 15, 20 yards downfield, he puts it a little bit higher to where he’s testing their vertical rating on Madden. He’s making sure that they stretch to really get that football.”
That all makes sense because, again, the dude is a rookie and it takes a second for guys to come along if they do come along. Also, there’s a lot of time between now and training camp, joint practices, and preseason games. But this could be something to keep an eye on later in the summer.
The start of Jacobs’ conversation was about how the Chiefs’ backup QBs tended to throw the ball high. If that’s something that continues into the preseason (where Nussmeier will probably get 90-ish% of his total snaps this year), throwing hospital balls like that is rough. Bubble players are on defense during those games, and they’re trying to take dude’s heads off to make a case for a roster spot.
If a ball is thrown downfield, and a DB is at risk of getting burnt and/or posterized, those high balls could easily turn into hospital balls … and the Chiefs aren’t a team that can really afford to lose even depth wide receivers to preseason injuries.
Will any of that happen? Probably (read: hopefully) not, but there’s a chance. Be safe out there.
2. Taylen Green, Cleveland Browns
- 182nd overall, Arkansas
Despite it being the Browns (a Browns quarterback), the vibes have to be pretty high for Taylen Green, and they have nothing to do with the actual football being played.
If you remember last season, Dillon Gabriel (2025 third-rounder) got his first start in Week 5, but had a couple of concussions and got benched for Shedeur Sanders. The team never looked back.
Cleveland sent Myles Garrett to the Rams, and they got Jared Verse. Verse wears No.8, which is also the number Gabriel wore. Gabriel is now wearing 6. Guys who are important to the team don’t get thrown in the trash like that.
To make it a little more interesting, No. 6 actually belongs to Jeremiah “JOK” Owusu-Koramoah … Except he’s been on the PUP/Reserve list because of a neck injury for over a year. We don’t know if he’s ever going to come off that, but if he does, you have to think he’ll want that number back.
For Green, professionally, that’s great. He’s a gigantic dude with crazy-high measurables, as opposed to Gabriel, who is tiny and has crazy-low measurables. To oversimplify it, all Green has to do is show that he has a little bit of upside and not be overwhelmingly worse than Gabriel.
1. Cade Klubnik, New York Jets
- 110th overall, Clemson
Cade Klubnik’s in a pretty good spot right now, for a rookie. The Jets are already saying Geno Smith is going to be the starting quarterback, and there is zero pressure on Klubnik to be great if he comes in because he was a fourth-round pick and, quite frankly, it’s the Jets.
Now, Aaron Glenn did say that he’s going to miss the OTA on Wednesday (June 10) because of a back injury, which is a bummer … But before that? Apparently, the dude’s doing things right.
ESPN’s Rich Cimini said that Bill Musgrave, the Jets’ OC QB coach, has been putting Klubnik in difficult spots during practices. “He's challenging Klubnik. It looked like he was maybe changing plays and putting him in positions to do that. Making him think on his feet.”
You can think about it in a good way or a bad way:
For the Jets’ optimist, this is spring practice. It’s all day-one install, barebones stuff. For rookies, a big part is about them getting used to being in an NFL building. If the Jets’ coaching staff is throwing some things to test Klubnik mentally, it means that they’re comfortable making him uncomfortable. That’s a good thing for a fourth-rounder.
For the Jets’ pessimist, the Jets coaching staff changing plays during OTAs is just gross incompetence, and no one knows what they’re doing … That’s just a seemingly normal spring at Florham Park.
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