Two rookie quarterbacks who were closely linked in the pre-draft process will face off on Sunday. Both players have a lot to prove after uneven rookie seasons. For one, he's looking to show that he was worthy of the No. 1 overall selection. For the other, he's looking to prove he should be an NFL starting quarterback at all.
Those two quarterbacks aren't the only ones with something to prove this week. Former first-round pick J.J. McCarthy has to show he can take advantage of an easy matchup with Washington. If he can't do that, then the discussions about his future with the Vikings will start to get very, very loud.
J.J. McCarthy - Minnesota Vikings
There were people — really, there were — who thought that J.J. McCarthy's concussion might have been the end of his time as the Vikings starting quarterback. That undrafted rookie Max Brosmer was going to impress enough that the Vikings could just roll with him going forward.
Instead, Brosmer was bad. Like, bad bad. Brosmer threw four interceptions as the Vikings lost 26-0 to Seattle, and now McCarthy is back under center.
The very idea that Brosmer might outplay McCarthy says more about McCarthy than it does about Brosmer. The 2024 first-round pick has been a huge disappointment, completing just 54.1 percent of his pass attempts this season. Through six games, he's gone over 200 yards just once. There are valid questions about whether McCarthy can be this team's quarterback in 2026.
Sunday, McCarthy gets a chance to face the Washington Commanders, one of the NFL's worst pass defenses. If McCarthy is going to be a viable NFL starting quarterback, this is the exact type of matchup that he has to win. If McCarthy has another stat line that's like "154 yards, one touchdown, two interceptions, 52.9 percent completion rate," then it might be time to throw in the towel.
Cam Ward - Tennessee Titans
By the time the NFL Draft rolled around, Cam Ward was the consensus No. 1 pick, but that wasn't always the case. Ward vs. Shedeur Sanders was a conversation for much of the 2024 college season before Sanders' draft stock just evaporated.
Ward's rookie season has been marked by inconsistency, though it's hard to really hold that against the former Miami quarterback. His head coach was fired. His best healthy offensive weapons are a pair of fourth-round rookies. His offensive line can't keep pressure off him.
With all that said, if Sanders outplays Ward this week, we're going to hear about it for weeks, and it's potentially going to change some of the narratives about Ward for the worse.
Ward has to go out there and make plays. Yes, he can't control if his ragtag group of receivers actually catch the passes when they arrive near them, but it's imperative that he does what it takes to put those receivers in good positions.
Shedeur Sanders - Cleveland Browns
On the other side of this Titans-Browns clash, we have Shedeur Sanders, who isn't just playing for his future but also for his present.
Sanders, who fell to the fifth round in the 2025 NFL Draft, hasn't been very good since taking over mid-game against the Ravens after Dillon Gabriel suffered a concussion. He's had moments, including leading Cleveland to a 24-10 win over the Raiders, but he hasn't proven that he definitively deserves to keep the starting job over Gabriel.
Know what will lock him into the starting gig for the rest of the 2025 season and will give him a chance to at least compete for the No. 2 job behind whatever rookie the Browns draft at the top of the 2026 NFL Draft? Outdueling Ward. It would change the narrative around Sanders and earn him an extended look over the remainder of the season.
Joe Burrow - Cincinnati Bengals
Joe Burrow is in a different category than the other three quarterbacks. He doesn't necessarily have anything to prove as far as, like, talent goes, but what Burrow does have to prove is that he was right to return this quickly after having surgery for turf toe.
The Bengals enter this week off of a 32-14 win over the Bills in Burrow's first game back. That win ended a four-game losing streak and moved the Bengals to 4-8 on the season, two games back of the Ravens and Steelers in the AFC North.
The division crown is within reach, and Burrow is going to feel a lot of pressure the rest of the way to prove he made the right decision to rush back. The win over the Ravens last week was a good start, but this road battle with the Bills is maybe an even bigger test. The Bills are the best team that Burrow will face in this final stretch of the season, and a win would go a long, long way toward getting the Bengals into the division race, especially with a home rematch with Baltimore next on the schedule. Win these next two, and the Bengals will be favored to win out, with Miami, Arizona and Cleveland left on the 2025 schedule.