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Rookie Watch

By Lance Tominaga, ESPN Honolulu Web Editor.

It’s time to check back in on the 2021 NFL rookie QB class. Led by No. 1 overall pick Trevor Lawrence, the class includes five first-round draft picks. Some pundits were comparing this year’s group of rookies to the 1983 class, which featured the likes of John Elway, Dan Marino and Jim Kelly.

This group may eventually get there, but it will take time. These rookies have largely been thrown to the wolves (disguised, of course, as behemoth defensive ends and linebackers), and the results haven’t always been pretty. More importantly, their teams are struggling, with only Justin Fields leading a team with a .500 record.

This far, New England’s Mac Jones appears to be the best of the rookie quintet, playing with a kind of confidence and poise usually found in more seasoned signal callers. Yet, even Jones has been prone to rookie mistakes, as evidenced by his pick-six in yesterday’s loss to the Dallas Cowboys.

Below is a statistical comparison of the five first-round QBs. Which of the five do you see having the brightest future?

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