The NFL season is officially rolling, and Thursday’s slate has six games with plenty of young talent worth watching. From first-round quarterbacks like Fernando Mendoza to high-upside rookies such as Derrick Moore, Kayden McDonald and AJ Haulcy, there are a ton of players who have the chance to make a strong first impression.

Here’s a list of players for each team in Thurday’s action to keep an eye on.

Detroit Lions vs. Cincinnati Bengals

Detriot Lions

Derrick Moore 

The Lions needed an edge rusher to help opposite Aidan Hutchinson. Lions general manager Brad Holmes has had success selecting Michigan edge rushers in the past, so why not try it again? That’s exactly what he did, selecting Moore in the second round of the 2026 NFL Draft.

Detroit needs Moore to have some sort of production in year one, so Thursday’s game will be his first test in making that happen.

Blake Miller 

Before the signing of center Cade Mays, who unfortunately got injured, the biggest need for the Lions’ offensive line was at tackle. The team had veteran Taylor Decker at the position, but they asked him to take a pay cut. Decker didn’t like it and requested his release.

Going into the draft, everyone knew the Lions needed tackle and edge rusher. It was just figuring out the order they’d take the two in. In the first round, they opted for one of the most NFL-ready players in Blake Miller. Miller had over 3,500 snaps in college and is ready to start on day one. It’ll be exciting to watch his first NFL game action on Thursday.

Luke Altmyer 

With Teddy Bridgewater retiring, the Lions need a backup quarterback behind Jared Goff. The team signed Joshua Dobbs recently, but undrafted rookie free agent Luke Altmyer has a chance to earn the role. He had a limited ceiling coming out of Illinois, which is why he went undrafted, but he makes up for it in his decision-making and understanding of the game. Altmyer has the skill set to be a talented backup if he wins the job during the preseason.

Cincinnati Bengals

Cashius Howell 

The Bengals defense has been rebuilt this entire offseason, and they’ve added great edge talent to the roster. The signing of Boye Mafe was the headliner, but a sneaky good addition was Cashius Howell in the second round of the draft.

Howell does have a smaller arm length for an edge rusher at 30 1/4, but he makes up for it in his explosiveness. He doesn’t just win with speed off the edge; when he attacks tackles in the chest, he can convert speed to power. He’ll be a fun addition on pass-rush scenarios for this Bengals defense.

Brian Parker II 

Brian Parker II likely won’t see much action unless injuries happen amongst the starters for the Bengals offensive line. Cincinnati took him in the sixth round, and while he played tackle in college, he’ll shift into the interior at the NFL level. He provides tremendous versatility, being able to play guard and center, and will be a crucial plug-and-play piece for the Bengals if injuries start to pile up.

Green Bay Packers vs. Pittsburgh Steelers

Green Bay Packers 

Matthew Golden 

The Packers need Matthew Golden to take a step in his second year in the NFL. Golden finished his rookie season with 445 yards, which wasn’t necessarily what Packers fans expected. Green Bay traded Dontayvion Wicks and let Romeo Doubs walk in free agency, opening the door for Golden to emerge in a once-crowded receiver room. Thursday will be the first step into making that jump happen.

Brandon Cisse

Green Bay needed secondary help badly after the end of the 2025 season. Throughout the offseason, they didn’t add anybody into the secondary room that struggled in 2025. The last opportunity was the draft, and they took a high-upside corner in Brandon Cisse in the second round. He needs development, and his first opportunity to begin it is on Thursday.

Pittsburgh Steelers

Max Iheanachor 

One of my favorite players in the entire 2026 NFL Draft was no doubt Max Iheanachor. He’ll have to compete to earn the starting right tackle job for Pittsburgh against Dylan Cook, but he has the athleticism to do so.

Drew Allar 

Drew Allar is one of the most polarizing quarterback prospects in recent years. He has the size, arm talent and athleticism to be a starting quarterback in the NFL. The issue is the mechanics and the process of being a quarterback.

Pittsburgh head coach Mike McCarthy has shown enthusiasm for developing a quarterback and will have the chance with Allar.

Indianapolis Colts vs. New England Patriots

Indianapolis Colts 

Deion Burks 

I was shocked when Deion Burks fell to the seventh round of this past draft. Looking at Burks’ size, at 5-foot-9 and 180 pounds, it does make sense. Burks has tremendous straight-line speed when the ball is in his hands and just makes plays. The size is just concerning at the NFL level, but if the Colts can use him in the return game and simply get the ball in his hands. He could look like one of the bigger steals of this past draft.

AJ Haulcy 

This Colts team needed a good draft, and on paper they killed it. Haulcy was taken in the third round out of LSU and has the ability to play in the box or at free safety. While the two starters are currently Cam Bynum and Hunter Wohler, Haulcy can easily carve out playing time with his playstyle. He isn’t scared to get physical and make big hits.

CJ Allen 

Linebacker was a huge need for the middle of the Colts defense, and they brought in three of them during the draft process. CJ Allen was the green-dot for the Georgia defense in 2025, and he will wear it again as a rookie for the Colts this year.

New England Patriots 

Eli Raridon 

Eli Raridon has been making plays throughout Patriots training camp and looks to be a great value pick for New England in the third round. He’s an NFL-ready tight end, but has had two ACL injuries in the past, which has cautioned some teams in the draft process.

Caleb Lomu 

The Patriots’ offensive line didn’t put up the greatest showing the last time they took the field in the Super Bowl. They brought in Alijah Vera-Tucker to boost the interior and selected Caleb Lomu to give them tackle depth behind veteran right tackle Morgan Moses. Moses is entering his 13th year in the league, and it’s unknown how many years he has left. Lomu has a chance to develop throughout this preseason.

Los Angeles Chargers vs. Houston Texans

Los Angeles Chargers

Travis Burke 

Travis Burke likely won’t see the field if the Chargers tackle duo of Joe Alt and Rashawn Slater can stay healthy. But if they don’t, man, does he have the size to come in and dominate. He’s 6-foot-9 and 325 pounds.

It’ll be fun to see him take his first NFL action on Thursday; he just lacks some burst.

Genesis Smith 

The safety duo of Genesis Smith and Treydan Stukes at Arizona last season was a joy to watch. Smith was taken in the fourth round in the draft and just flies across the field to make plays in the pass game. He just struggled to be a consistent tackler at the college level, which he needs to improve to see NFL regular-season action.

Houston Texans 

Kayden McDonald

Somehow, someway, the Texans’ defense got better. If there was one area the Texans’ defense could’ve improved from last season, it was the interior run defense.

What did they do? Picked the most dominant run defender in the draft class in McDonald. He’s 6-foot-3 and 326 pounds and just clogs up lanes in the middle.

Jayden Higgins 

The sophomore jump from Jayden Higgins will be fun to watch. He’s 6-foot-4 and 215 pounds, having the ability to just line up on the outside and make contested catches all over the field. CJ Stroud needs to have a bounce-back season, and Higgins will be a vital part of making that happen.

Arizona Cardinals vs. Las Vegas Raiders

Arizona Cardinals 

Carson Beck 

Carson Beck showed the entire NFL world he can play in the Hall of Fame game last week. The reality is, it was encouraging, but it was just the Hall of Fame game. How does he follow that performance up?

It’ll be fun to see if he can take another step in his game and take command of the offense again; Cardinals fans have reason to be excited.

Chase Bisontis

Everyone is concerned about Jeremiyah Love behind the Cardinals’ offensive line, and they should be, to be quite frank. But the Cardinals do have some promising young players along the offensive line in Paris Johnson Jr. and second-round rookie Chase Bisontis.

He showed out in the Hall of Fame game and can continue stacking solid outings, which could lead to him starting by the regular season.

Las Vegas Raiders

Fernando Mendoza 

Not much to be said here. Fernando Mendoza was the first overall pick, and all the news out of Raiders training camp is the team will sit Mendoza to start the season in favor of Kirk Cousins.

Mendoza has been playing well in training camp, and Thursday will be his first action against an NFL team.

Jermod McCoy 

One of the most polarizing draft stories as of recent. Jermod McCoy was no doubt a top 15 talent in this past draft, but reports came out that he had lingering issues in the knee, in which he tore his ACL. He fell to the fourth round, and the Raiders took him, giving him an opportunity to see out his NFL dream.

If McCoy can get to what he was in college, he’ll easily be the steal of the entire 2026 draft.

Tennessee Titans vs. San Francisco 49ers

Tennessee Titans 

Carnell Tate 

Carnell Tate was taken fourth overall to help boost the Titans’ offense and help Cam Ward make a leap in his sophomore season. All the videos coming out of training camp have pointed to the fact that Tate was worth that No. 4 overall pick, and it’ll be fun to see him take the field for the first time.

Nicholas Singleton 

The Titans had Tony Pollard, who is a great back in his own right, and Tyjae Spears, who’s struggled to stay on the field. But they didn’t have a game-changing back before taking Nicholas Singleton in the fifth round this year.

Singleton offers game-changing speed and playmaking ability that can boost Tennessee’s offense. He suffered a fracture in his right foot at the Senior Bowl, which caused him to fall in the draft.

San Francisco 49ers

De’Zhaun Stribling 

It was a surprise when the 49ers took De’Zhaun Stribling to kick off this past draft. He no doubt has the physical tools to be a dominant receiver in the league, but there were questions about his ability to operate in the quick game. He’s more of a field stretcher, which is why it was even more interesting that San Francisco took him.

Reports say he’s been dominating in camp, so it’ll be interesting to see how Stribling looks.

Romello Height 

Outside of Nick Bosa, this 49ers team doesn’t really have pass-rush juice. That’s why they went out and traded for Osa Odighizuwa. But another player who could help is Romello Height. He’s smaller for an edge rusher at 6-foot-3 and 239 pounds and older, being a 25-year-old rookie. But he no doubt brings juice off the edge, which is what San Francisco will want to see from him Thursday.