The quarterback position is easily the most important position in the NFL. If you want to win games, you have to get the quarterback position right. It’s as simple as that. But unfortunately for some teams, they’re still trying to figure it out.

Every offseason, we get at least one or two quarterback battles that come down to the final play of the preseason, but this year we have four. The Cleveland Browns, Las Vegas Raiders, Minnesota Vikings and Atlanta Falcons are all still trying to narrow down who their QB1 for the 2026 season should be.

With minicamps officially over, all that stands between us and the start of the season is training camp and the preseason, where the quarterback battles really begin to ramp up. So before we get into the heat of the battles, I’m going to make my predictions for who will come out on top.

Deshaun Watson vs Shedeur Sanders

The Browns have a big decision to make. Do they go with their veteran quarterback who is coming off two Achilles tears in a row and is also one of the most hated players in the league by fans? Or do they go with their second-year guy who didn’t play well as a rookie, but has a huge fanbase behind him?

Let’s start with Deshaun Watson. During his time with the Houston Texans, Watson was one of the best quarterbacks in the league. He totaled well over 4,000 yards in 2018 and 2019, and even topped the 5,000-yard mark in 2020 before he was traded to the Browns. But ever since arriving in Cleveland, he’s been nothing but trouble.

In 2022, Watson was suspended 11 games for violating the league’s personal conduct policy, but even when he was on the field, he wasn’t great, throwing for 1,102 yards, seven touchdowns and two interceptions. Then in 2023, Watson suffered a season-ending shoulder injury after six games where he put up very similar numbers. After that, he suffered a torn Achilles in 2024 before tearing it again during the rehab process in 2025.

In 19 games with the Browns, Watson has totaled 3,830 yards, 22 touchdowns and has turned the ball over 15 times. Not great after the Browns gave him a fully-guaranteed deal worth $230 million.

Now let’s talk about Shedeur Sanders. Outside of one really strong outing against the Tennessee Titans, who had one of the worst defenses in the league, Sanders threw for 1,036 yards and four touchdowns with nine interceptions while rushing for 140 yards in seven games. On top of that, he took an average of three sacks per game as a rookie.

To be fair to Sanders, he didn’t have a whole lot going for him. Cleveland’s offensive line wasn’t great, they didn’t have much of a run game because of it and he didn’t really have any weapons outside of Harold Fannin. But even Cam Ward, another rookie who was in a similar situation, at least showed some flashes.

Watson entered the offseason as the favorite to win the job, but the two have split reps pretty evenly this offseason. I personally think Todd Monken will give the job to Watson, but he’s going to have to fight tooth and nail to keep it throughout the season.

Week 1 Starter: Deshaun Watson

Kyler Murray vs J.J. McCarthy

The Minnesota Vikings might have the most fascinating QB battle in the NFL this season. To the surprise of absolutely nobody, J.J. McCarthy has not lived up to expectations thus far, so they brought in former No. 1 overall pick Kyler Murray to compete with him. Will the third-year, former top-10 draft pick win out? Or will the underperforming veteran find his stride in Kevin O’Connell’s offense?

To be fair to J.J. McCarthy, he hasn’t had the best of luck. As a rookie, he tore his meniscus in the preseason, causing him to miss the entire 2024 season. He finally got to suit up for the first time in 2025, and orchestrated an 11-point fourth quarter comeback, but two games later, he suffered a high ankle sprain, which sidelined him until November.

While injuries have not been nice to McCarthy, he also hasn’t been great when he has played. McCarthy appeared in 10 games in 2025, throwing for 1,632 yards and 11 touchdowns with 12 interceptions while rushing for 181 yards and four scores. There’s still room to grow, but entering year three, you would’ve liked to have seen more from him.

And that’s exactly why Minnesota brought Kyler Murray in in the first place. They wanted someone to not necessarily start over McCarthy, but to give him a good fight during the offseason.

Murray was the No. 1 overall pick back in 2019 and had a hot start to his career, totaling over 4,000 yards and 24 touchdowns in each of his first three seasons, but then the injury bug started biting. Over the past four years, Murray has missed 27 games due to various injuries, leading to the Cardinals releasing him this offseason.

When Murray is healthy and playing his best, he’s a very good quarterback, and Kevin O’Connell’s system seems to be very quarterback-friendly. Both guys have split reps thus far, but Minnesota thinks they have a playoff roster, so I think they go with the veteran signal caller and give Kyler Murray the starting job Week 1. But we’ll see if he can keep it.

Week 1 Starter: Kyler Murray

Michael Penix Jr. vs Tua Tagovailoa

The Atlanta Falcons have an interesting quarterback battle brewing as well. Michael Penix Jr. is another 2024 draftee that has underperformed thus far, so the Falcons brought in fellow left hander, Tua Tagovailoa, to give him some competition this offseason.

Penix hasn’t been terrible early in his career, but he really hasn’t flashed much either. His rookie season was okay, throwing for 775 yards and three touchdowns with three interceptions in five appearances, but the team still had high hopes for him entering 2025. He played nine games, throwing for 1,982 yards, nine touchdowns and three interceptions, which isn’t a bad stat line, but he ended up tearing his ACL and missing the rest of the season.

Again, Penix didn’t play bad football in 2025, but he wasn’t anything special. He only threw for 250+ yards three times, and only had multiple touchdowns in two games last year. And now, coming off a torn ACL, he still isn’t fully healthy, so his offseason training has been cut short. And on top of all of that, now he has to compete with a veteran quarterback that’s been effective before.

Tua Tagovailoa is coming off a very disappointing season and has a long history of concussions, but if he can stay healthy, he could thrive in Kevin Stefanski’s offense.

Let’s not forget that in 2024, Tagovailoa threw for 2,867 yards and 19 touchdowns with seven interceptions in just 11 games. Or that in the season before that, he had 4,600 yards and 29 touchdowns. He is also, statistically, the NFL’s second most accurate quarterback of all time with a career completion percentage of 68 percent.

Stefanski didn’t take the Atlanta job to rebuild. He took it because he believes this roster has enough talent on both sides of the ball to win right away, and if he wants to do that, Tagovailoa seems like the best option.

But it’s the age old question: do you prioritize now or the future? When jobs are on the line, you always prioritize the now.

Week 1 Starter: Tua Tagovailoa

Kirk Cousins vs Fernando Mendoza

The Las Vegas Raiders are in a bit of a different situation than the other three teams. They know Fernando Mendoza is their future, but they seem like they want to start Kirk Cousins, at least at the start of the year, while Mendoza takes some time to adjust to the NFL level.

So this quarterback “battle” seems like it’s already settled. Cousins is almost certainly going to be the starter for Week 1 barring any injuries, but this battle is going to rage on into the season.

You think just because Cousins seems like the starter for Week 1 that Mendoza isn’t going to do everything in his power to convince Klint Kubiak otherwise? Or that once the season starts, Mendoza won’t be giving it his all in practice every week so that if Cousins slips up in one game, the coaching staff will have to think twice about rolling him out there another week?

Cousins will start Week 1, but the question is, how long can he hold off the rookie?

Week 1 Starter: Kirk Cousins