Sizing up four second-year NFL quarterbacks and where they need to improve in 2026

We're in it now, folks. NFL training camps are underway. The 2026 season is here. That means 2025 draftees are no longer rookies, as they now make room for an incoming class of new recruits. That also means new expectations for the sophomores. I looked back at the Year 1 performance for four quarterbacks taken in last year's draft -- Cam Ward, Jaxson Dart, Tyler Shough and Shedeur Sanders -- and asked the same question for each of them: What does he need to improve in Year 2 and beyond? In rewatching the tape, I found myself pleasantly surprised by most of these second-year QBs. None played in a particularly great environment, all four were on losing teams, only one began 2025 as the starter, and three of the four are already enduring head coaching changes. But Ward's performance against the Seahawks' Super Bowl-winning defense was one of the best outings I saw against that unit. Dart's dual-threat ability was far greater than I expected from the college ranks and makes him a much higher-floor player. Shough has a legit arm and big frame. And Sanders kept the ship afloat -- far from a guarantee for a fifth-round rookie. The Titans, Giants and Saints fanbases should feel reasonably excited about the upcoming season, though the Browns still have a ways to go. But all four signal-callers are also far from finished products, and each could just as easily lose his job in 2027 and beyond. So, let's pick out the biggest must-have (or two) for each quarterback in 2026 -- the main area where Ward, Dart, Shough and Sanders must improve this season to take the next step. Jump to: Ward | Dart | Shough | Sanders Cam Ward, Tennessee Titans Where he could get better: Running and arm arrogance Ward had a better rookie season than it looks at first blush. But yes, that first blush does look bad. Of 38 quarterbacks with at least 200 dropbacks last season, Ward was 36th in EPA per dropback and success rate, ahead of only the Browns' pair of rookie quarterbacks (Dillon Gabriel and Sanders). And only Gabriel had a lower yards per attempt than Ward's 5.9. But even on the scale of No. 1 picks selected to bad teams, Ward was dropped into a brutal environment. After Calvin Ridley went down in Week 6, the Titans' leading snap getters at receiver were a pair of Day 3 rookies -- Elic Ayomanor and Chimere Dike -- and veteran journeyman Van Jefferson. The Titans' designed running game, featuring Tony Pollard and Tyjae Spears, didn't move the needle. It was 29th in EPA per play and 31st in explosive run rate. And Brian Callahan, the offensive-minded head coach charged with setting Ward up for success, was fired midseason. To be sure, many top picks can claim similar malpractice. Trevor Lawrence suffered at the hands of Urban Meyer in his rookie season, and Caleb Williams was a disaster under Matt Eberflus and Shane Waldron. Both produced advanced statistics roughly as concerning as Ward's numbers last season, and both have recovered nicely (Williams in just one season, and Lawrence after a few years). Williams took the Ben Johnson elevator, while Lawrence was forced to climb the stairs of improvement. Ward might be more destined for the Lawrence path. New Titans offensive coordinator Brian Daboll isn't a Johnson-level mastermind, but he has historically been a good shot in the arm for quarterbacks. He stewarded Josh Allen's growth in Buffalo and got the Giants' head coaching job for his efforts. Daniel Jones got a bump in his first year under Daboll before the fire fizzled out. Then it was Dart's turn -- he had a strong rookie performance in Daboll's final season in New York. The common thread in those three improvements is the quarterback running game. Allen was always a runner under Daboll, and it kept the Bills' offense afloat while he improved as a passer. When Daboll took charge in New York, he asked Jones to carry the ball more; Jones went from 1.8 designed rushes per game in the three years before Daboll to 3.7 per game in the three years after Daboll was hired. Daboll also clearly encouraged Jones to use his legs as an outlet in the dropback game, as Jones scrambled on 4.9% of his dropbacks pre-Daboll and 7.5% of his dropbacks in the Daboll era. And while there's no pre-Daboll comparison, Dart was third among all quarterbacks in designed runs per game (2.9) and fourth in scramble rate (9.2%) in 2025. We can say with confidence that Daboll wanted him to run. When Daboll uses Ward as a runner, he will immediately raise the floor of the QB's play. Ward was reluctant to cross the line of scrimmage last season; his 3.7% scramble rate was well below the league average (5.4%), falling among pocket passers like Geno Smith, Joe Burrow and Jacoby Brissett. Ward is no Lamar Jackson, but he's a stout 6-foot-2 and 220 pounds, so he can shed contact well. As Ward scrambles more, he'll eliminate the low-percentage throws he attempted late in the down last season. Ward had 88 dropbacks with a time to throw over 4.0 seconds, second to only Caleb Williams. Dropbacks this long are almost universally scramble-drill throws, and they did not serve the Titans well at all. Nobody actually opened up downfield, and Ward had only five completions of over 20 yards on all those snaps. He lost a whopping 107.3 expected points on those 88 dropbacks, second to only 2023 Bryce Young this decade for the most lost value on extended dropbacks in a single season. Escaping pressure and extending the play is a great skill for a quarterback. But Ward must turn those escapes into positive plays, and scrambling would help him do so. Being more decisive with the football and eliminating a few prolonged dropbacks will boost his game, as well. Ward showed plenty of promise as an in-rhythm passer. He has an explosive, whip-like release that gets the ball in flight before defenders can react. It allows him to hit tight windows and manipulate throwing lanes around incoming defensive linemen. This whistler up the seam against the Seahawks lives in my mind. Ward uncorks this just as receiver James Proche II is clearing the linebackers, such that the throw will beat the closing safeties -- and it is placed perfectly to pull Proche away from a big hit. Cam Ward was so good on Sunday. Watch how fast his throwing motion is once he realizes Proche is gonna be open in the seam. Incredible snap of the lower body. Looks like an infielder firing the ball to first. — Benjamin Solak (@BenjaminSolak) November 26, 2025 Throw beats the safety. ++ arm talent right there. pic.twitter.com/QQzbPTxuiY Ward deserves to play with some arm arrogance, challenging defenders to anticipate his throws so early that they're practically guessing. That term -- arm arrogance -- was thrown around Allen quite a bit during the Daboll era. In a similar offense that spreads the defense out and simplifies the reads for a young quarterback, Ward could get the ball out much faster this season. And when the defense is right and he has to eat the throw, he can use his legs to keep the offense on schedule. With these improvements, Ward's floor will rise substantially. He'll eliminate bad sacks and hopeless throws. He'll pick up a lot of easy-access 6-yard gains. The ceiling on Ward depends on how he grows as a post-snap processor (and how well his two new receivers in Carnell Tate and Wan'Dale Robinson play). Jaxson Dart, New York Giants Where he could get better: Consistency Dart is an extremely frustrating watch. He has very little consistency to his process as a thrower and pocket manager. His feet are frequently disconnected from the ground, which affects the timing of his throws and delays his reaction to pressure. His lower-body mechanics change willy-nilly, and he often looks like a kid alone on a basketball court attempting pretend buzzer-beaters, lurching to launch from odd angles for no apparent reason. Here's a good example. It's fourth-and-8 late in the fourth quarter against the Commanders. The Giants are down by eight points. Dart initially drops back with regular footwork, then transitions to a backpedal halfway through despite no real pressure. When he does step into the throw, he does it hastily, as if he's late to the throw -- but he isn't. He steps far off his line and ends up lofting a throw downfield that needs to be driven to a spot closer to the sideline. His throw pulls Wan'Dale Robinson into the defender instead of away from him, but it doesn't really matter. The ball is uncatchable. — Good Clips (@MeshSitWheel) July 29, 2026 This is a tough but makeable play made more difficult by Dart's process, which simply isn't good. Of course, there are also plenty of examples of Dart making pinpoint throws with the same wonky process. It's part of why he was such an electric rookie. Here, in Week 8 against the Eagles, Dart has to reset in the pocket as his right tackle is driven toward him. He could hang tall and step into this corner route to tight end Daniel Bellinger, but he instead fades away from the throw, increasing the degree of difficulty. Still, he has enough arm and anticipation to cash the check. — Good Clips (@MeshSitWheel) July 29, 2026 This sword cuts both ways. On the one hand, it is good to have a young quarterback capable of making high-difficulty throws. It's why Dart went in the first round. On the other hand, Dart's success on improvisational throws can teach him the wrong lessons. Success is an operative term here. Dart can make off-time throws from bad platforms, but he wasn't particularly dangerous as an out-of-structure thrower. On pressured dropbacks, Dart was a downfield thrower, as his 11.4 air yards per attempt led the league. But he was dead last in completion percentage there, and he was below average in both dropback success rate and EPA per dropback. He did scramble a ton (15.8%), but he also got sacked a ton (25.2%). There was enough juice to make a nice highlight reel, but it often wasn't worth the squeeze. Dart is a good physical talent for the position, but he isn't big enough or explosive enough to really be a danger when pressured -- he isn't Drake Maye or Josh Allen. He can do enough, but he cannot build the entire ship out of spectacular escapes or challenging throws. He simply must become more consistent on a down-to-down basis. This is a similar challenge to the one Jordan Love faced when he finally took over for Aaron Rodgers in Green Bay. Love wasn't scrambling nearly as much as Dart, and he has a better arm, but he was highly inconsistent from down to down. His mechanics were all over the place, and he regularly disagreed with his receivers on small on-field adjustments. The light bulb really came on late in Love's 2023 season, his first year as a starter but his third year as a pro. He didn't just have the benefit of sitting; he also played for only one coach (Matt LaFleur). Dart is about to be on his second system in as many years. The list of quarterbacks with rampant inconsistency who never learned how to do the quiet work of keeping easy plays easy is unfortunately quite long. Anthony Richardson Sr.'s default response to scrambling is similar to Dart's ... either take a huge hit while launching the ball a few zip codes down the field or try to author a magnificent escape. Richardson has the elite physical traits that Dart lacks, but he has been hurt more, which has slowed his development. Dart, given the hits he takes, is in jeopardy of the same unavailability. Zach Wilson is another quarterback who has never been able to settle his feet against pressure and accordingly makes pockets messier. Wilson, like Dart, has trusted his arm too much to make his poor feet right. Baker Mayfield had similar issues on his rookie contract, but it seems like he has those demons exorcised (until they randomly rematerialize in a few games every season in Tampa Bay). None of these names is a perfect one-to-one comparison for Dart. We don't have enough of a sample size to achieve such a comparison. I'm confident there's a quality starting QB somewhere in Dart's game, but it'll take quite a bit of development to get him there. The good news is that a steady hand is at the mast. With new head coach John Harbaugh comes a legacy of quality Ravens teams. He'll buy Dart time to grow, as the Giants should improve in all three phases under Harbaugh's experienced gaze. The offensive brain trust has some worrying names -- Matt Nagy, Brian Callahan and Greg Roman -- but all three are experienced coaches who should be able to impress upon Dart the importance of a consistent process to create predictable results. Until then, Dart is still more theory than practice. Tyler Shough, New Orleans Saints Where he could get better: Recognition and sack avoidance I'm buying Shough stock ahead of Year 2. Thrust into a midseason starting spot with absolutely no running game to speak of (the Saints were 31st in yards per rush and rushing success rate across his nine starts), Shough understood the assignment. He kept the offense on schedule with a quick distribution of the football, and he did it without spectacular receiving options. Shough was ninth among all quarterbacks last season in the percentage of his throws that were "quick game" attempts (out in under 2.5 seconds) at 45.9%. On such throws, he was 13th in EPA per dropback and 14th in success rate, according to NFL Next Gen Stats. Head coach Kellen Moore had Shough operating as a point guard with a heavy dose of RPOs and spacing concepts that gave Shough only one defender to read. And Moore did it without Shough becoming too fearful of the intermediate windows. Shough was actually above league average in air yards per attempt (8.1) and regularly layered the ball between the levels of the defense. Any passing attack that gets the ball out fast but still gets downfield is well designed, and Shough executed it with aplomb, striking quickly to the appropriate target time and time again -- even when that target was Devaughn Vele or Kevin Austin Jr. Despite the health of Chris Olave and breakout year from tight end Juwan Johnson, the Saints clearly needed to add an additional pass catcher to this approach -- hence the drafting of Jordyn Tyson in the first round. They also needed more offensive balance to run the ball and create deep-shot opportunities accordingly -- hence the signing of Travis Etienne Jr. and David Edwards. Shough was fighting an uphill battle in an incomplete offense last season and showed plenty of promise despite the unfriendly slope. Things should be much better around him in Year 2. But Shough was also caught on autopilot far too often. The most common rookie mistake for quarterbacks is falling into the familiar rhythm of a concept and failing to respect the awareness of opposing defenders and defensive coordinators. Shough threw a few brutal interceptions (and could have thrown a few more) right into the arms of defenders who were anticipating the Saints' menu of quick-game concepts. This one against notorious route jumper Rasul Douglas stands out. The quick out from the slot is often easy money against two-high defenses. But an aggressive cloud corner like Douglas -- this is the absolute top line of his scouting report -- will drive on that route when he smells it coming. Douglas' body and eyes should scream to Shough that he wants to drive the route here, but Shough throws it anyway, as if he were facing an inexperienced ACC corner. Douglas makes him pay. — Good Clips (@MeshSitWheel) July 29, 2026 With five in the concept and the Dolphins matching the strong side nicely, it's tempting to ask where Shough should have gone with this ball. Nothing looks open. That's true, and it's one of the dangers of the Saints' reliance on quick post-snap reads for Shough. If his first answer fails, he struggles to get to his second and third reads, especially when they're downfield. A sufficient scrambler, Shough will at times pull a quick escape chute and get out of the pocket. More often than not, his feet get stuck in the mud as indecision freezes him. Then the rush comes. An even greater issue than Shough's occasional field blindness is his failure to avoid sacks. Over 27% of Shough's pressured dropbacks became sacks last season, which was behind only Geno Smith and Justin Fields for the worst pressure-to-sack ratios in the league. Turning pressures into sacks at a disproportionate rate is a common affliction for rookie quarterbacks. Caleb Williams had a famous issue with this in Year 1 (30.0%) that vanished in Year 2 (11.8%). This, of course, begs the question: Is Shough as spectacular an athlete as Williams? Certainly not. Williams also benefitted from a scheme shift, as did Jared Goff (31.3% to 16.0%) and Bryce Young (28.6% to 17.7%). Shough won't get a new offense to wash the slate clean. There are other paths to improvement that might alleviate the issue by simply reducing the number of pressures. A healthy and buttressed interior offensive line will help. Edwards is signed, and Erik McCoy is back from injury. Joe Burrow solved the problem not by dramatically lowering his pressure-to-sack ratio (which remains above 20% even to this day) but by getting rid of the ball so quickly that it became harder to pressure him. Burrow was a better post-snap processor than Shough as a rookie, and he has two top-shelf receivers by which to make that quick distribution style still explosive. Can Tyson and Olave clear the Ja'Marr Chase/Tee Higgins bar? I'm dubious. Shough simply has to become a better pocket manager. He has enough strength and speed to warrant some scramble drills, but more throwaways or white-flag checkdowns are needed. It isn't sexy, but such is the life of a point guard quarterback. In that the Saints' passing attack isn't particularly vertical or explosive, losing yardage on a sack can be crippling. Shough took a sack on 52 drives last season, and the Saints scored a touchdown on only five of those. Of course, should the Saints' passing game become more explosive with the addition of Tyson (are you starting to get a sense of how important this rookie is?), then the sack issue can be mitigated. But there will continue to be a cap on Shough's game if opposing defenses know that a clever coverage trap can produce an opportunity for an interception or a sack. Young quarterbacks are always liable to commit too many negative plays, and that's certainly true of Shough at this stage. And remember: He'll be 27 years old by Week 5. He has less time for maturation than most second-year players. Shedeur Sanders, Cleveland Browns Where he could get better: Playing within himself It would be fair to say that Sanders must improve everything, as there's no particular area in which Sanders truly excelled last season. Here are the stats ... Since 2010, there have been 70 rookie quarterbacks with at least 150 pass attempts. Sanders is 68th in interception rate, 64th in EPA per dropback and 62nd in first down/touchdown rate. He somehow leads all those rookies in time to throw (3.4 seconds, a preposterous figure) despite being 67th in air yards to the sticks. Usually longer dropbacks lead to deeper throws -- not so with Sanders. Of course, Sanders was a fifth-round rookie and the second of two QBs taken by the Browns in 2025. The earlier-drafted Dillon Gabriel didn't fare much better. He was just above Sanders in EPA per dropback but worse in success rate and first down/touchdown rate. Sanders was more likely to create a positive play and more likely to produce an explosive reception (6.7% to Gabriel's 4.7%). These numbers might not be useful, as we're dealing with mighty small samples. Sanders had only 253 dropbacks on the season. He attempted 212 passes, of which 17 gained 20 or more yards. Three of those were screens; a fourth was a touch pass that became a reverse. Similarly, Sanders threw 10 picks on those 212 attempts, but there were a tipped ball and a hit on the throw in there. Every quarterback benefits from a big YAC play, and every quarterback suffers an unlucky pick. But Sanders' rate stats are noisier because of his limited action. Still, we can't throw the numbers in the bin. Even for a Day 3 rookie on a bad team, Sanders' production doesn't give us much reason for faith moving forward. Nor does his film. Sanders is willing to air the ball out downfield, but his arm regularly fails him on challenging throws, and the additional loft he has to put on the ball saps his accuracy and lets defenders get back into plays. Here, Sanders has a Cover 0 look from the Bengals. Speedy rookie receiver Isaiah Bond is on the outside against Jalen Davis, a backup corner who typically plays in the slot. This is a juicy look, and Sanders identifies it correctly. But this ball hangs in the air even as Bond easily stacks Davis. It should land on Bond's outside shoulder, against the sideline. Instead, it falls so far inside that Bond can't get to it. — Good Clips (@MeshSitWheel) July 29, 2026 If Sanders is to succeed at the NFL level, he needs this throw in his bag: the quick-release vertical ball against one-on-one coverage. It will be hard for him to create explosive plays otherwise. He doesn't have special play-extension ability as he's a below-average mover for the position without elite size to shrug off contact. He doesn't have the special arm talent necessary to drive the ball late into downfield windows, either. But Sanders does have quality feel on the scramble drill and an admirable willingness to give his receivers a shot. At the college level, it made him a gamer. At the NFL level, it's getting him into trouble. Sanders' tendency to hold on to the ball leads not just to his 3.4-second time to throw but also his 9.1% sack rate, 37th among 43 quarterbacks last season. That, coupled with a 4.0% interception rate, means a Sanders dropback has a 13% chance to end in disaster. One of every eight dropbacks is a catastrophe. The maturation needed from Sanders is accordingly one of calibration. He cannot get away with the improvisation he did at the college ranks. His minus-1.21 EPA per dropback on extended plays (four or more seconds) was second worst among quarterbacks. The ball needs to come out faster so that Sanders is attempting more throws within his arm's acceptable range and protecting himself from his greater demons. If he prioritizes quicker decisions and an acceptance of the checkdown, then scrambling opportunities will come to him naturally, and he'll be more likely to showcase that nice knack he has for finding space on the move. This calibration must happen fast. Sanders is not guaranteed to win the starting job out of Browns camp, but he is likely to see time given Deshaun Watson's poor play and questionable health. Still, the Browns are not heavily invested in Sanders. His presence will not prevent them from using an early first-round pick on a new quarterback of the future in the loaded 2027 draft. If Sanders wants to plant a flag on the Browns' QB1 role, he must quickly show he can play within himself in the NFL.