Baker Mayfield:
The 2019 Cleveland Browns are different. Two years removed from a winless season, the Browns have completely flipped the script and are now favorites to win the division. After a stellar rookie season from Baker Mayfield led to a 7-8-1 record, the Browns decided to improve even more and trade for Odell Beckham Jr. to help out their star quarterback. Now, Baker enters his second year in the NFL with insanely high expectations. He will definitely be an interesting player to watch this season with his high expectations along with his colorful and energetic style and the dreams of the city of Cleveland resting on his shoulders.
Kyler Murray:
After firing Steve Wilks this offseason, the Cardinals hired former Texas Tech head coach Kliff Kingsbury, who teamed up with general manager Steve Keim to draft reigning Heisman Trophy winner Kyler Murray. After the pick, the new duo traded last year’s quarterback, former top 10 selection Josh Rosen, for only a second-round pick in order to secure the starting job for Murray. Together, Kyler and Kingsbury will run the air raid offense, which has found an immense level of success in the college game. However, the 2019 Cardinals will be the first NFL team to attempt to run the system that Kyler and Kingsbury both used at the collegiate level. Watching Kyler and the Cardinals offense attempt to implement a new and unique system into the NFL will be fascinating.
Jacoby Brissett:
Just in case you somehow haven’t heard yet, Andrew Luck has retired from football and Jacoby Brissett is now the starting quarterback for the Colts. Simply because of how bizarre and unique this situation is, Brissett is such an interesting player to watch this year. Not only is he finally getting his opportunity to be the starting quarterback, but he just signed a two year, $30 million contract extension so he doesn’t hit free agency this offseason. Brissett now finally has his chance to be the number one guy and will have a few years to make the most of his shot, so it will certainly be noteworthy to see how year one goes.
Jimmy Garoppolo:
Last offseason, Jimmy Garoppolo had a career 7-0 record as a starter, including 5 wins with the 49ers, and was entering free agency. As opposed to using the franchise tag, San Francisco locked down the unproven quarterback long term, signing him to a 5 year, $137.5 million contract. However, the Niners weren’t able to see how their franchise guy would perform in his first full season, as he went down in Week 3 with a torn ACL. Now, in the second year of his massive deal with only 10 career starts under his belt, it’s time for Jimmy G to prove that he’s the franchise quarterback San Francisco needs.
Tom Brady:
He has to get old eventually, right? Brady is entering the 2019 season at age 42 and will now have to adapt to life without Rob Gronkowski. However, Brady still has Julian Edelman, Josh Gordon, newly acquired vet Demaryius Thomas, and top pick N’Keal Harry. Obviously, Brady will adapt to life without Gronk just like he did when Wes Welker left, when Randy Moss left, and when literally anyone else left New England, but he’s 42 now. No one expects things to change for the Patriots, but can age 42 be the beginning of the end for Tom Brady? Who knows, but as long as he’s still playing, Tom Brady is the guy to watch.