The rookie quarterback watch is getting louder by the week, and Week 5 only added fuel to it. Fernando Mendoza finally got into an NFL game after the Raiders dropped their second straight, getting blown out by the Patriots. That cameo immediately raises the question of whether the 2026 No. 1 overall pick is next in line to take over, or whether his first start is still somewhere down the road.
Mendoza, though, might not even be the rookie who gets there first. The Cardinals are sitting at 1-4 and heading into games against the Rams and Broncos over the next two weeks, which could open the door for third-round pick Carson Beck to make his move sooner rather than later.
Neither quarterback has a clean path to the field right now, and that kind of uncertainty tends to matter in the hobby. With Panini’s NFL releases arriving sporadically in recent years and premium products often not hitting until months after a season ends, the delay around two of the top three quarterbacks selected in 2026 can actually work in the market’s favor.
Topps, meanwhile, has pushed officially licensed NFL product aggressively, including Flagship before the season begins, which has only made it more important to track when young players actually get their first real shot. For collectors, Mendoza and Beck remain names to watch closely.
While the rookie buzz builds, Trevor Lawrence is quietly giving the Jaguars real staying power. Jacksonville is tied for the second-best record in the AFC and looks clearly ahead of the rest of the AFC South, which should at least put a playoff berth within reach for Lawrence and company.
Lawrence has been far from the letdown label that followed him early in his career. The 2021 No. 1 overall pick is putting together a strong 2026, with 10 passing touchdowns, a top-five passer rating among quarterbacks with at least four games played, and 1,174 passing yards, putting him near the top 10 there as well. After a career-best season last year, he seems to be carrying that momentum into his second year with head coach Liam Cohen.
The market has noticed. Lawrence’s big cards remain unusual pieces because of the lower print counts from his rookie year and the quality-control issues that came with that run.
His Silver Prizm PSA 10 carries a population of 139 and has only sold 14 times since July, according to Cardladder. His 2021 Donruss Optic Downtown PSA 10 has climbed about 25 percent from an early-August level around $1600, though that price point comes with a caveat, since the card has changed hands eight times in the last two months.
There’s real demand there, but also some skepticism baked in.
Bo Nix is heading in the opposite direction. The Broncos entered Week 5 sitting in the bottom third of the league in both passing and rushing, and there wasn’t an obvious injury excuse to lean on. Sean Payton took back playcalling in Week 5 in hopes of jolting an offense that had gone stale, but the result was still a rough 23-16 win over the Chargers.
At this point, the problem looks unmistakable: Denver has a Bo Nix problem. Over his first two seasons, Nix posted a 54:23 TD:INT ratio with 7,706 passing yards, numbers that were helped by one of the league’s heaviest passing attacks.
He has also been viewed as one of the better young quarterbacks in a league short on them. But this year has gone sideways, with Nix now in the bottom third among quarterbacks with at least four starts in both passing yards and completion percentage, even after the Broncos added Pro Bowl wideout Jaylen Waddle from the Dolphins this offseason.
His card market has felt the slide. Nix’s 2024 Silver Prizm PSA 10 has recently sold for less than $525 on multiple occasions.
In August and early September, that same card was regularly fetching $780-$820, a range that was even stronger than where it stood when the Broncos were still in position to challenge for a Super Bowl run last year. There’s time for him to turn it around, especially with the AFC West looking weaker, but a return to preseason card values looks like a tall order right now.
In Other News...
Raiders Backfield Suddenly Has One Rising Option Fans Need To Watch
The Raiders have been searching for stability in a backfield that has been thinned by injuries and stuck near the bottom of the league in rushing production, and Dylan Laube has started to carve out a useful niche. Klint Kubiak has singled out the second-year back for his pass protection, reliability on third downs and work on special teams, which is the kind of profile that keeps a player on the field even when the ground game itself is sputtering.
Laube also got on the board in the recent loss to New England, a small but meaningful sign that his role is becoming more visible as Las Vegas looks for dependable answers in key situations. For a team still trying to sort out its backfield rotation, his usage in passing situations is the clearest thread to watch, especially if the Raiders keep leaning on him as an all-around steady hand. [Read more 🡒]
Raiders Free Agent Spending Is Starting To Look Like A Real Problem
The Raiders spent the 2026 offseason with more cap room than any other team in the league, and they used it aggressively to reshape both sides of the ball. The idea was straightforward enough: bolster the defense, stabilize the offensive line and give the roster a more dependable foundation. Linebacker Nakobe Dean has looked the part, which at least gives the front office one clear success to point to, but the broader picture has not come together the way the team hoped.
Other additions have been harder to square with the investment, and the ripple effects are showing up on Sundays. The pass rush still has not fully recovered, Malcolm Koonce has not regained his prior form after injury and the ground game remains a problem, leaving the Raiders with more questions than answers from a spending spree that was supposed to solve them. [Read more 🡒]
Raiders Rookies Just Sent Some Very Different Week 5 Messages
Week 5 was a rough one for the rookie class around the Raiders, with the group fragmented before the game even settled in against New England. Keyron Crawford landed on injured reserve, Trey Zuhn was ruled out with a knee injury and Dalton Johnson was a healthy scratch, leaving the team to piece together contributions from the first-year players who were available.
The rookies who did get on the field produced a mixed review, which only added to the sense that this was a week of uneven messages from the young core. Some showed enough to encourage the staff moving forward, while others were left trying to recover from moments that swung the game in the Patriots favor, a reminder that for this roster, development and damage can show up on the same afternoon. [Read more 🡒]