The NFL has a habit of leaning on its quarterbacks until there’s almost nothing left to lean on. For three stars entering 2026, that pressure is showing up in different forms - a stripped-down supporting cast, a shifting roster, and a franchise that wants one player to fix more than his share of problems.
For Malik Willis, the challenge in Miami starts with the timing. The Dolphins signed him in March to be their starting quarterback, finally giving him the chance he had been waiting for. A little more than a week later, they dealt Jaylen Waddle to the Denver Broncos.
Willis didn’t pretend that felt good. He called the move “unfortunate” and said he would have loved the chance to play with Waddle.
Instead, Miami is asking him to grow into a legitimate NFL starter while working with young, unproven pieces around him and an offensive line that still needed another addition. The Dolphins brought in Caedan Wallace from New England in August to help shore up that group.
There was at least one encouraging sign. In Miami’s preseason opener against the Washington Commanders, Willis completed four of five passes for 43 yards and led a 93-yard touchdown drive.
The arm talent has never been the question. The issue is how much Miami is asking him to prove without giving him a loaded offense to work with.
Tampa Bay’s demands on Baker Mayfield look different, but they’re just as heavy. Mayfield helped the Buccaneers avoid disappearing after Tom Brady retired, and now they want him to do it again under tougher circumstances.
Mike Evans is gone, and that removes a receiver who had been part of Tampa Bay’s offense long before Mayfield got there. That alone changes the assignment for a quarterback who already helped steady the franchise through a major transition.
There’s also the contract cloud hanging over everything. Mayfield went into the offseason looking for an extension before the final year of his deal.
In June, he said the two sides were “not anywhere close” to what he expected. Training camp came and went without a new agreement, and Mayfield shut down talks so he could focus on the season.
He already delivered the kind of stability Tampa Bay needed once. Now the Buccaneers are asking him to guide another offense in flux while his own future with the team remains unresolved.
Then there’s Justin Herbert, who may have the most talent around him of the three and still faces the biggest expectations of all. The Chargers brought in Mike McDaniel because of what his offense could do with Herbert, and McDaniel has not been shy about what he wants from the quarterback.
He has talked openly about his lofty expectations and has challenged Herbert to alter parts of his mechanics and anticipation inside the new system. Los Angeles averaged just 21.6 points per game last season, so the bar is obvious: much more production, much more consistency, much more than the occasional highlight throw.
But the bigger issue is what Herbert’s career still needs to become. The numbers and the jaw-dropping plays only carry a quarterback so far. The Chargers need postseason results.
Los Angeles didn’t hire McDaniel just to tinker with the offense. It paired one of football’s most creative coaches with Herbert and, in the process, stripped away the rest of the excuses. If the Chargers are going anywhere in a loaded AFC, they’re asking Herbert to take them there.
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