Rating the rookies: Bears QB Caleb Williams rises ahead of matchup with Commanders' Jayden Daniels
The 2024 rookie quarterback class is off to a hot start, and already the Bears’ Caleb Williams, the Commanders’ Jayden Daniels and the Broncos’ Bo Nix have combined for 10 victories. Each has at least one game with a 100-plus passer rating.
Daniels leads them in passer rating (106.3), completion percentage (77.1) and yards (227 per game), while Williams is first in touchdown passes (five). The top two picks in the draft will square off after the Bears’ bye week, when they visit the Commanders on Oct. 27.
Here’s a look at the four first-rounders who have played:
No. 1 overall pick: Bears QB Caleb Williams
Williams is rising. Over the last two weeks combined, he completed 71.2% of his passes (fifth in the NFL), threw for 461 yards (16th) and had three touchdown passes with no turnovers for a 117.5 passer rating (third). He faces Trevor Lawrence and the Jaguars this week for his second of five games against fellow quarterbacks who went No. 1 overall.
No. 2 overall pick: Commanders QB Jayden Daniels
At 4-1, Daniels has won as many games as the Commanders did all last season. He had his worst performance Sunday against the Browns — 14 of 25, 238 yards, one touchdown, one interception, 85.1 passer rating — and still won by 21 points.
No. 3 overall pick: Patriots QB Drake Maye
Maye hasn’t played other than getting 16 snaps in Week 3, but Patriots coach Jerod Mayo sounds increasingly interested in sitting Jacoby Brissett and giving Maye a shot. There’s a very good chance he’s starting by the Patriots’ Week 10 visit to Soldier Field.
No. 12 overall pick: Broncos QB Bo Nix
Many teams had high grades on Nix going into the draft, and he’s starting to play up to the projections. He has improved incrementally and hasn’t thrown an interception in his last three games.