Ladies and gentlemen, we have made it. The Hall of Fame game on Thursday marked the start of football season, but this week the Cincinnati Bengals face the Detroit Lions and the Green Bay Packers face the Pittsburgh Steelers in their kick-off games at 7 p.m. ET on Thursday. That’s when the preseason will really have begun. It’s been a long time coming, but football season is right around the corner.

The casual NFL fan doesn’t really tune into preseason games, but they absolutely should. And not just because it’s the first football action of the year, but because you can really learn a lot about a team during the preseason.

Most teams will give their starters a few drives in the first game, and maybe a couple in the second, but in reality, we’re mostly going to see the second and third stringers. But you can’t win a Super Bowl without great depth, so while your team may have a good starting lineup, the preseason is where we learn which teams have quality depth.

Week 1 of the NFL preseason kicks off on Thursday night at 7 p.m. ET and runs through Saturday night. There are a bunch of intriguing games, but if you only have time to watch one every day, here are the ones I would choose.

Thursday: Arizona Cardinals vs Las Vegas Raiders

Okay, okay, okay, hear me out. I know there are a lot of other games that sound more interesting (Packers/Steelers, Lions/Bengals, Colts/Patriots), but part of what I love about the preseason is watching the rookies play, and there isn’t a game on Thursday that has the more intriguing rookies.

Let’s start with the Las Vegas Raiders, who used the first overall pick in the draft to select Fernando Mendoza, the man who won the Heisman Trophy and led the Indiana Hoosiers to an undefeated record and the National Championship. We’re going to see Mendoza in action for the first time on Thursday night, and who is he going to play against? The quarterback he faced in the National Championship.

Carson Beck, who led the Miami Hurricanes on a magical College Football Playoff run and came up just short of the national title, will be on the other side of the field. After a stellar HOF game performance where he completed 15 of his 19 passes for 188 yards and one touchdown, he’s going to look to out-duel the No. 1 overall pick.

But that’s not all. We still don’t know if Jeremiah Love is going to play after sitting out the HOF game, but you have to think the Cardinals wouldn’t sit their rookie for the entire preseason. I think he’s going to get some playing time, and it should be in this game.

The Raiders also have two exciting, young defensive backs expected to make their NFL debuts in this game. Jermod McCoy, their fourth-round pick who has the talent of a first-rounder, is expected to suit up this week, but he should be on a pitch count with his knee. Treydan Stukes is another rookie defensive back who’s going to see significant playing time this week.

There is a plethora of young talent expected to play in this game, and most of them should see a significant amount of playing time.

Friday: Tampa Bay Buccaneers vs New York Jets

There are only three games on Friday, but the best one by a significant margin is the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and New York Jets. These two teams had some of the best draft classes back in April, so once again, there are going to be plenty of game-changing rookies taking the field this Friday.

The Jets have a trio of first-round picks, two of whom are expected to play in this game. David Bailey, the second overall pick in the draft, did tweak his ankle in practice, but is day-to-day and could very well suit up in this game. The Jets also have Omar Cooper Jr., one of the more exciting receivers in this rookie class, who will make his debut on Friday. Unfortunately, the best tight end in the class, Kenyon Sadiq, will not play after suffering a setback from his hernia surgery.

But even outside of those three, the Jets have some more young talent expected to play this week. D’Angelo Ponds, who was one of the best cornerbacks in football but slid to the second round due to his smaller frame, will take the field alongside fellow rookie defensive back VJ Payne. New York’s fourth-round rookie quarterback, Cade Klubnik, should also get some playing time this week.

Moving to the Buccaneers, while they don’t have the headlining offensive talent the Jets have, they have three thrilling defensive rookies in Rueben Bain Jr., Josiah Trotter and Keionte Scott who are all expected to play this week. But we also can’t forget about Ted Hurst, the 6-foot-4 man out of Georgia State who ran a 4.42-second 40-yard dash at the NFL Combine.

Are the Jets and Buccaneers going to be very good this year? Probably not, but they both drafted a very strong core that could propel them to the playoffs in the future, and they’re all going to be on the field on Friday.

Saturday: Browns vs Bears

There are a lot of games on this Saturday, but there aren’t many that have one of the best rookie classes and a quarterback battle going on at the same time.

The Cleveland Browns have a very interesting preseason ahead of them. First, they have a quarterback battle raging between Deshaun Watson and Shedeur Sanders. Watson, who is coming off two torn Achilles, and hasn’t played well since arriving in Cleveland, seems to be the leader in the clubhouse right now, but Sanders is not going to relinquish the starting job easily. These two will fight throughout the preseason and training camp to see who gets the starting role.

But that’s not all for Cleveland. The Browns also have a very intriguing rookie class, which is highlighted by two first-round picks: Spencer Fano and KC Concepcion. Fano is a tackle that can play any position on the offensive line, so it’ll be interesting to see where they use him in Week 1. As for Concepcion, he’s a speedy receiver that Cleveland desperately needed, and I want to see which quarterback he works best with. Same goes for Cleveland’s second-round receiver, Denzel Boston.

The Browns also got a steal in safety Emmanuel McNeil-Warren, who inexplicably fell to the second round. They also selected Taylen Green, one of the biggest athletic freaks in the draft, at quarterback. Both of these guys should also see the field on Saturday.

The Chicago Bears don’t have a ton of intrigue on their side. They have some exciting rookies such as Dillon Thieneman and Zavion Thomas, but most of my attention is going to be on Cleveland in this game.

Saturday is a loaded slate, though, so if you have time, try to tune in to as many as possible.