Week 1 of the NFL preseason is officially underway!

On Thursday, we got to see 12 teams take the field in the first preseason game. The games may not have been as eventful as the Hall of Fame game, which came down to the final play, but there was still some good football on TV (and also some bad).

Quarterbacks are always a hot topic during the preseason, so I decided to go through every game from Thursday night and identify the quarterbacks that played the best and the worst.

Best: Drew Allar

Drew Allar was absolutely the star of the show on Thursday night. After a very underwhelming career at Penn State, Allar slid to the third round of the 2026 NFL Draft, selected by the Pittsburgh Steelers. I know it’s only been one game, but he’s making them look like geniuses for picking him right now.

In Allar’s NFL debut, the former Nittany Lion completed 10 of his 13 passes for 153 yards and two touchdowns while also rushing for a touchdown. And he did it with Kaden Wetjen and Germie Bernard as his top receivers. I don’t care who he did it against; that’s an impressive debut for a third-round pick.

If you could build your ideal quarterback physically, it would probably be Allar. He’s 6-foot-5, 228 pounds, has a cannon for an arm, and can run. He was never able to put it all together at Penn State, but with NFL coaching, maybe he can finally live up to expectations.

Worst: Cam Ward

I have high hopes for Cam Ward this season. Statistically, he was not very good last year, throwing for 3,169 yards and 15 touchdowns with 7 interceptions behind a 59.8 percent completion rate, but that was largely due to a horrible supporting cast and poor coaching situation. He’s got a new coaching staff and some new weapons this year, but his preseason debut was not pretty.

Ward completed just five of his 12 passes for 57 yards. He targeted his new WR1, Carnell Tate, three times, but was never able to connect with him. To be fair to Ward, none of his fellow quarterbacks were able to either. Will Levis, Mitchell Trubisky, and Hendon Hooker combined to go 7-for-14 for 82 yards and zero touchdowns after he was pulled from the game.

With new weapons and Brian Daboll calling plays, fans have high expectations for Ward in 2026. It’s only one preseason game, but they have to get better before the season begins if they want to live up to those expectations.

Best: Anthony Richardson

Anthony Richardson was one of the most obvious bust candidates ever coming out of college. He made 13 collegiate starts, and even though he made some big plays, he really wasn’t that good of a college quarterback, so selecting him in the top-five was always a massive risk. That being said, the Indianapolis Colts never really gave him a chance, and on Thursday, he proved he deserves a fresh start with a new team.

In the Colts’ first preseason game, Richardson completed 11 of his 14 attempts for 145 yards while rushing six times for 53 yards. He did throw an interception, but it was completely not his fault.

Everyone knows Richardson has the tools. He has one of, if not the biggest arms in the league, and he’s a great runner. He just needs the right coaching. Indy should give him a fresh start in a place he can compete for the starting job, because he deserves a real shot at being a starter.

Worst: Riley Leonard

While Anthony Richardson impressed on Thursday, the only other Colts quarterback to play in Week 1 of the preseason, Riley Leonard, did not.

Leonard, who looked like the starter after Daniel Jones went down last year, but the Colts elected to sign 44-year-old Philip Rivers instead, showed flashes in his lone start last year. He completed 21 of his 34 attempts for 270 yards, two touchdowns, and one pick against the Houston Texans, who had the best defense last year, but when it came to playing against backups in the preseason, he was not great.

Leonard completed under 50 percent of his throws for 82 yards, zero touchdowns, and one interception on Thursday. If he wants any chance of being the Colts’ QB2 this year, he needs to play better than that, especially after Richardson looked really good.

Best: Gardner Minshew

All three of Arizona’s quarterbacks look really good on Thursday, but Gardner Minshew shone the brightest in their first preseason game.

Minshew completed 14 of his 16 passes – a whopping 87.5 percent of his throws – for 101 yards and two touchdowns as the Cardinals cruised to a 27-14 victory over the Raiders. Honestly, everyone played well in this game, including the Raiders‘ QBs. The six guys who played combined to complete 69.2 percent of their throws for 426 yards and five touchdowns with zero interceptions. What makes this even more impressive is that Carson Beck, who was one of the HOF game standouts, didn’t even play.

On paper, the Arizona Cardinals QB room isn’t great, but they actually might have something brewing with Jacoby Brissett, Carson Beck, and Gardner Minshew.