5 Week 4 NFL Storylines: How Will the Rookie Quarterbacks Fare?

How Will the Two Rookie Quarterback Starting Debuts Go?

Blake Bortles and Teddy Bridgewater will start an NFL game for the first time this week, as both took over for their struggling (and, in one case, injured) veteran counterparts in Week 3. And while Derek Carr has already been starting for Oakland, Bortles and Teddy were the true stars at the quarterback position in the draft, and their debut is arguably the most exciting.

Bortles will head west to face the Chargers in San Diego, where he'll go up against the 15th-best pass defense according to our Defensive Passing Net Expected Points (NEP) metric. That's a much higher rating than we would have expected from the San Diego pass defense, as this was a unit that struggled last year and didn't change all that much this summer.

So this may be a good opportunity for Bortles, who, despite throwing two interceptions, was posting Passing NEP at an above-average clip during his first NFL appearance. He's prone to mistakes, and isn't as calm and calculated as Bridgewater, so there may be as many embarrassing plays as there are encouraging ones. But he proved in the preseason, and again in Week 3, that he deserves to start, and now he begins his quest to live up to his third overall pick.

Bridgewater faces the Atlanta Falcons defense who were the worst unit against the pass last year, according to our data, but sit at 11th this year. That 11th ranking is thanks to a blowout win over the awful Bucs on Thursday night in Week 3, because this is otherwise an unimpressive defense against the pass.

Teddy's first game was very mediocre, as he missed a few easy throws and didn't make any big, splash plays. But that's all within his profile. He's a Russell Wilson-type of player who will manage a game and make the right calls, but may not light the world on fire with his statistics.