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What Madden Curse?
Former number 1 overall pick Caleb Williams started off his third season with a bang Sunday against the Carolina Panthers.
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On paper, he “only” put up 269 yards in the air and threw for two touchdowns. But then you also have to add in 10 rushes for another 65 yards and another two scores on the ground to his stat sheet.
It might have been the best performance of his career.
Williams’ biggest bugaboo during his first two seasons was his lack of accuracy on the easy throws. Everyone knows what Caleb can do outside of the pocket, on the run, throwing against his body. But the question has been, can he be accurate an take what the defense gives him as well?
Also read:Fantasy Football QB Rankings: Who To Start Week 2?
Tom Brady could never do what Williams does, but what made Brady the best was his ability to always punish defenses for their mistakes. Williams is growing that part of his game under second-year head coach Ben Johnson.
Williams’ 72.4% completion percentage in Week 1 was 12 percentage points higher than his career average, and 14% higher than last season. Leading his team to a 59-37 drubbing of Carolina.
Williams will always be linked to the other quarterbacks from the 2024 draft class he topped, but his peers’ season debuts last week leave him once again at the top of the heap.
Drake Maye fizzles in season debut
The 2026 NFL season kicked off with a Super Bowl rematch between the Seattle Seahawks and New England Patriots.
The winner was the same in the rematch, but this time the Seahawks squeaked by the Patriots for the win without their starting quarterback, Sam Darnold. While the loss stung, quarterback Drake Maye’s performance was concerning.
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Maye finished the game 23-33 for just 178 yards, 1 TD, and three absolutely horrific interceptions. Each turnover seemed worse than the last one, culminating in a backbreaking interception in Seattle’s end zone as the Patriots pushed to at least tie or win the game at the buzzer.
But while Maye finished the game with a 70% completion percentage (further proof that that stat can be misleading), according to PFF, Maye was 7-for-8 for 41 yards on passes behind the line of scrimmage, 13-for-14 for 93 yards and a TD on short passes, 3-for-5 for 44 yards on intermediate passes, and 0-for-4 with 3 INTs on deep passes.
Bo Nix has un-inspiring return from injury
The last time we saw Denver Broncos QB Bo Nix in action, he spearheaded a game-winning drive against the heavily favored Buffalo Bills to get the Broncos to the AFC Championship Game, giving them a chance at the Super Bowl.
Unfortunately, he suffered a severe injury that kept him out of the Championship game, which the Broncos lost without him.
He returned Monday night against the division rival Kansas City Chiefs, but it wasn’t pretty. Nix finished the game 17 of 28 for a paltry 138 yards, 1 TD, and 1 INT. His QB rating of 69.2 was below replacement level. His QBR of 8.3 was abysmal. And yet, somehow, the tape was even worse than the box score.
Nix seemed unsure of himself, unsure of his protection, and unsure of what he was seeing downfield. After the game, he summed up his team’s performance succinctly, saying it was ¨pretty pitiful, actually.¨
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There is reason for optimism, since Nix is working with a first-time play-caller, Davis Webb, who took over those duties from head coach Sean Payton. So it may just be a matter of getting familiar with his new environment. It is an issue his fellow 2024 draftee Jayden Daniels also has to deal with this season.
Jayden Daniels sleepwalks through first 3 quarters
Jayden Daniels looked a bit rusty through the first three quarters in the Commanders‘ season-opening loss at the Eagles.
But he wasn’t the only one.
Much of the sports radio chatter around the team after the game focused on its lack of playing time in the preseason, as it seemed a number of players needed to knock the rust off. Daniels finished the game 18 of 34 for 164 yards and 2 TDs and 0 INTs. His quarterback rating of 85.9 was 10 points lower than his career average. He also added 5 rushes for 31 yards.
While there is some evidence that his slow start wasn’t as bad as the numbers make it seem, it is undeniable that Daniels flipped the switch in the 4th quarter.
Daniels seemed to get the entire team going at the end of the third quarter when he picked up a spectacular first down with the team trailing 17-9.
Jayden Daniels putting defenders in the spin cycle 💫🏈🏈 pic.twitter.com/GZvnYwlm1U
— Phillips Sports Pulse:Betting and Beyond (@BronerP) September 14, 2026
From that moment forward, Daniels was locked in. He went 9/11 for 99 yards and 2 TDs in the fourth quarter and had his team knocking on the door of overtime with about a minute left in the game after throwing his second touchdown.
Of all the non-Caleb Williams’ 2024 QBs, he had the best Week 1.
Caleb Williams leads the pack, for now
The 2024 quarterback draft class may be one of the best in history.
While Jayden Daniels was able to come out of the gate first and have one of the best rookie seasons of all time, Williams’ and Maye’s sophomore seasons were nearly just as impressive.
Add in Bo Nix and Michael Penix Jr., who has yet to make his season debut due to injury, and you can see just how deep the class was.
Related: Commanders Receiver Shines for Fantasy Owners in Week 1 Debut
While it might be easy to say Williams looks to be the pack leader after his Week 1 performance, it’s important to note that he faced, by far, the worst defense of his cohorts last week.
Maye played against the champion Seahawks defense, Daniels played against the Eagles defense that won the championship two seasons ago, and Nix played against a Chiefs defense that won the championship three years ago.
Williams played against the Panthers.
There’s a whole lot of football left and a whole lot left to be proven before we can crown any of these quarterbacks as the best of their class. But Williams is definitely in the lead after Week 1.
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This story was originally published September 16, 2026 at 7:22 AM.