The 2026 rookie quarterback class has barely cracked the game log through seven weeks, but that doesn’t mean the wait will last much longer.
So far, no quarterback from this year’s draft has opened a game for his team. The only rookie signal-caller to make a start in 2026 is the Buccaneers’ Jalon Daniels, the undrafted former Kansas star who went 1-2 while stepping in for an injured Baker Mayfield.
The Commanders’ seventh-round pick, Athan Kaliakmanis, also saw first rookie action as an injury fill-in. Fernando Mendoza got his first taste of the league in mop-up duty at New England in Week 5.
Still, the bigger names are waiting in the wings, and the pressure is building on several teams to see what they actually have. Here’s where things stand for the rookies most likely to get their shot.
Fernando Mendoza may be next for the Raiders
Mendoza’s path looks like the clearest one to a start, even if Las Vegas isn’t ready to make that move yet. Coach Klint Kubiak has already said he’d reevaluate "everything" after the Raiders slid from 3-0 to 3-4, but he also hasn’t blamed quarterback play for the skid. Kirk Cousins has continued to perform, while the bigger issues have been the run defense and the ground game.
The problem for the Raiders is that the schedule is about to turn ugly. Their next five games are at the Jets, at the 49ers, against the Seahawks, at the Broncos and at the Browns. If that stretch goes the way it looks on paper, Las Vegas would be hard-pressed to be better than 4-8 by the time its Week 13 bye arrives.
That’s where Mendoza’s window could open. Cousins can keep playing while the Raiders still have something to chase, but after the bye, the schedule softens.
Las Vegas gets three straight home games, plus matchups with the Titans and Cardinals, before what could be a resting Chiefs team in Week 18. That would give Mendoza a chance to finish the season with real reps and head into Year 2 with momentum.
Carson Beck should get a look in Arizona
Arizona has stayed aggressive through the air, but the production hasn’t matched the volume. Jacoby Brissett leads the league with 282 attempts, and the Cardinals are still throwing on 62 percent of their plays under Mike LaFleur after finishing last season at a league-high 66 percent pass rate.
The issue is efficiency. Brissett is down to 5.6 yards per attempt, and the downfield element has largely disappeared with too much dependence on Trey McBride.
The Cardinals are 2-5 and don’t look like a playoff team out of the NFC West. Brissett is also under contract only through this season, so Arizona doesn’t have a long-term answer sitting in place.
That’s why Beck should get his chance before the season drags too far into the winter. The former Miami and Georgia quarterback had a strong offseason and has the arm talent to push the ball deeper for LaFleur.
The Cardinals’ bye doesn’t come until Week 14, but waiting that long would be pushing it. A more realistic opening appears after a tough run that includes road games at Dallas and Seattle, plus a home rematch with the Rams and a trip to Kansas City.
Week 12 at home against the Commanders stands out as a cleaner spot than asking Beck to jump into one of the trickier matchups after Dallas. After that, Arizona would host the Eagles and then head into the bye, followed by games against the Jets, Saints and Raiders. That stretch would give the Cardinals a fair read on whether Beck can be part of their 2027 plans.
Cade Klubnik is waiting behind Geno Smith
The Jets are 2-5, but Geno Smith is still giving them enough to keep the quarterback situation calm for now. He has helped steady the offense and bring along the young playmakers, even as the team’s playoff hopes continue to fade and the end of the Aaron Glenn era starts to look possible.
Eventually, though, New York has to find out what Klubnik can do in games that count. Smith is only signed through 2026, just like Brissett in Arizona. Klubnik, the Clemson product, earned the top backup job after a strong offseason showing, and the Jets will need that evaluation at some point.
For now, Glenn will keep leaning on Smith because he gives the team the best chance to win. The immediate schedule includes a “revenge” game against the Raiders in Week 8, then tougher tests at the Chiefs and against the Bills. After that, New York gets the Chargers and Dolphins on the road in Weeks 11 and 12.
That feels like the right point to think about Klubnik. If the Jets are going to take a longer look, it should come before their Week 13 bye so he can settle in for the stretch run.
Cole Payton could be next for Philadelphia
Philadelphia’s season has already taken on the look of a lost one. The Eagles are 2-5, Tanner McKee has gone 0-2 as the starter, and the offense has been trying to operate behind a reshuffled line, an injury-hit receiving group and a run game that can’t stay healthy.
McKee is scheduled to become a free agent in 2027, and the Eagles already adjusted the quarterback room before Monday night’s game against Dallas by moving former Cowboy and Patriot Joe Milton III to No. 2 and listing Payton as the emergency third quarterback. The conventional read is that Milton gets the next chance if McKee keeps sputtering, but Payton brings something different.
He is the only one of the three who can add the rushing element the Eagles have missed without Jalen Hurts. Payton ran for 777 yards and 13 touchdowns in his final season at North Dakota State, and he posted a 4.56-second 40 at the Combine. With Philadelphia fading in the NFC race, the organization needs to spend this season sorting out the future, not just surviving the present.
That means evaluating young players, and it means possibly using the trade deadline as a sellers’ market. It also means getting a look at Payton. The realistic window for that start appears to come after the Week 10 bye, though the case for playing him is there right now.
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