NFL Preseason Provides Fans with Excitement about this Upcoming Season

Garret Hall, Staff Writer

This year looks like it will be quite an exciting one for NFL football; with the 2021 draft class including big names like Trevor Lawrence, Justin Fields, and Devonta Smith. Many of the new rookies have made their NFL debut in the preseason games, some impressing football fans and others disappointing them. Since there are a ton of rookies every year, we’ll only be going over just a few notable ones.

The biggest man of the draft was, of course, Trevor Lawrence; he was drafted by the Jacksonville Jaguars as the first pick. As many expected, Trevor played with poise and accuracy. Throwing with a 70 percent completion rate on 44 attempts, Lawrence had 323 total passing yards. Many were hoping to see some more red zone action from Trevor, as he only put up 2 passing touchdowns. Trevor Finished the Preseason with a QBR (quarterback rating) of  106.5, not bad for a rookie.

After winning a national championship with Alabama, running back Najee Harris was drafted in the first round by the Steelers. Najee is an electric running back, he’s looking like he will be the starting running back in week 1. He didn’t get too many snaps in the preseason and only got 42 rushing yards, averaging 3.2 yards per carry. Unfortunately because of his limitations in the preseason games, it’s hard to make an accurate assessment of how he might do this year.

Heisman winner Devonta Smith was someone that many NFL reporters doubted due to him being undersized. He was drafted by the Philadelphia Eagles, who had pick 10. Similar to Najee Harris, Smith was limited to how much he played. He had 2 catches for 19 yards in his single preseason game. Smith is going to be a key contributor to the Eagles offense in the future, especially if he can gain a bit more strength.

Linebacker Micah Parsons from Penn State was drafted by the Dallas Cowboys as the 12th pick. Parsons is expected to be an instant starter. He played 3 preseason games and had a total of 9 sacks. He also had a fumble recovery in the Hall of Fame Game against the Steelers. Micah Parsons is going to be a great linebacker to pair with Vander-Esch. The cowboys really needed a big addition to their defense and they got it with Micah Parsons.

This season is definitely going to be a very enjoyable one. The rookies are looking good and the competition in the NFL is getting more and more intense.