The first week of the 2025 NFL preseason is in the books, giving fans everywhere their first dose of football of the new year.
Preseason allows an opportunity for several young players to stake their claim to either a spot on the 53-man roster or an increased role in the coming year. Throughout the course of the week, there were a handful of players who impressed, while others saw their stock drop.
Winners and Losers from Week 1 of the 2025 NFL Preseason
Winner: Browns QB Shedeur Sanders
All eyes were on Shedeur Sanders in the Cleveland Browns’ preseason opener against the Carolina Panthers. All told, he put together a pretty strong performance. He finished with 138 passing yards, two touchdowns, and no interceptions.
Sanders showcased impressive accuracy with poise, both in and out of the pocket. Though he remains the fourth-string quarterback on the Browns’ depth chart coming out of Week 1, that might change very quickly.
Shedeur Play 3. Under center play action.
Great accuracy. The correct read. NFL rep. pic.twitter.com/5K3IdELKkN
— Hayden Winks (@HaydenWinks) August 9, 2025
Loser: Texans QB Graham Mertz
Though he was a sixth-round pick in the 2025 NFL Draft, Graham Mertz was statistically the worst quarterback of the rookies in Week 1 of the preseason. With a 16.7 passer rating, he was statistically the least efficient quarterback in the league.
Mertz completed just seven of his 14 passing attempts for 27 yards. The real knock on him was the three interceptions that he threw, playing a big role in the Houston Texans’ loss to the Minnesota Vikings. He was outplayed by both Kedon Slovis and Davis Mills, which doesn’t bode well for his positioning on the depth chart.
Winner: Bears EDGE Austin Booker
In the Chicago Bears’ preseason opener against the Miami Dolphins, Austin Booker was practically unblockable. He finished with three sacks, four quarterback hits, and a forced fumble. The 2024 fifth-round pick led all NFL players with a 94.7 PFF pass-rushing grade in Week 1.
His quickness, length, and tenacity helped him feast against Miami’s backup offensive tackles and provide some encouraging flashes going into his second year with the Bears. They’ll likely rely on him to play a big role in their pass-rushing rotation, so any positive play in the preseason is reason for excitement.
Loser: Raiders RB Ashton Jeanty
Ashton Jeanty’s sample size wasn’t all that large in his preseason debut with the Las Vegas Raiders. It’s also worth noting that their offensive line struggled significantly against the Seattle Seahawks’ defensive line early. That didn’t provide much room for Jeanty to work with.
However, he still finished with a disappointing stat line in his first game as a Raider. On three carries, he ended the game with -1 yard, making him just one of four running backs to finish with negative yardage in Week 1. One preseason game is hardly enough to sound the alarm on Jeanty, but it’s safe to guess he wishes his production was better.
Winner: Eagles QB Tanner McKee
Through the first week of preseason play, Tanner McKee leads the NFL with 252 passing yards. He dominated in the Philadelphia Eagles’ opener, throwing two touchdowns and no interceptions in their 34-17 win over the Cincinnati Bengals.
McKee ranked second in the league with a 135.3 passer rating, as well as an impressive 80.0% completion percentage. He hardly figures to be a threat to Jalen Hurts’ job as the Eagles’ starting quarterback, but it’s encouraging to see McKee looking strong in case Hurts were to ever go down with an injury.
Here’s 2:22 of Tanner McKee absolutely cooking the Bengals’ starting defense.
20/25
253 total yards
3 total TDs
135.3 passer rating pic.twitter.com/ggj4WoJxBu— Brenden Deeg (@BrendenDeeg_) August 8, 2025
Loser: Eagles CB Kelee Ringo
Conversely, the Eagles saw disappointing play from an expected starter at cornerback in their preseason opener. Kelee Ringo is slated to start outside alongside Quinyon Mitchell with Cooper DeJean in the slot. However, Ringo put together a weak outing against Cincinnati.
Ringo got beat by Ja’Marr Chase on a quick out route, pursued downhill too uncontrolled, and gave up a touchdown for overpursuing. After Philadelphia’s trade acquisition of Jakorian Bennett in a trade with the Las Vegas Raiders, the pressure is on Ringo to win that starting role over. Giving up a touchdown won’t help his case.
Winner: Saints OT Kelvin Banks Jr.
The New Orleans Saints have a difficult quarterback situation ahead of them going into 2025. However, they saw encouraging play in the preseason from their first-round pick this year, offensive tackle Kelvin Banks Jr.
Though it was only on 12 pass-blocking snaps, Banks didn’t allow a single pressure in pass protection. The Saints ended up losing to the Los Angeles Chargers 27-13, but seeing strong play out of their first-round offensive lineman is encouraging.
