Mac Jones

Buffalo Bills star Josh Allen currently has the best-selling jersey in the NFL, while two rookie quarterbacks rank among the top five heading into Week 1 of the 2021 regular season. 

Mac Jones of the New England Patriots and Justin Fields of the Chicago Bears rank second and fourth in NFL jersey sales since Aug. 1, respectively, according to Fanatics:

Jones and Fields making it into the top five against such established players speaks volumes about how high the expectations are for both rookies. 

Tom Brady (No. 3) and Patrick Mahomes (No. 5) are superstars in the NFL, so it's hardly a surprise to see them high on this list. 

Allen has only played at an elite level once in his three seasons, but his historic leap in 2020 catapulted the Bills back to prominence in the AFC. Anyone who has followed the Bills Mafia on social media knows how passionate the fanbase is about supporting their team.

Jones is one of three rookie quarterbacks expected to make their first career start in Week 1. Trevor Lawrence of the Jacksonville Jaguars and Zach Wilson of the New York Jets should also line up under center. 

The Patriots made Jones their starter on Aug. 31 when Cam Newton was released. The 23-year-old had a fantastic preseason, completing 36 of 52 passes for 389 yards and one touchdown in three games. 

The Bears have opted to go with Andy Dalton as their No. 1 quarterback to start the regular season. Fields should eventually take over the offense after the team traded up nine spots to select him with the 11th overall pick in the 2021 draft. 

Fields, like Jones, also looked good during the preseason. The Ohio State alum went 30-of-49 with 276 passing yards, two touchdowns, no interceptions through the air. He also had 11 carries, 92 yards, one rushing touchdown in three games.

Chicago fans are understandably excited to have a young quarterback with Fields' potential. Even though the wait for him to see the field will be a little longer than they would like, it's clear by sales of his jersey that they will be ready to greet him with open arms whenever head coach Matt Nagy makes the switch.    

People around the NFL do not think Josh Allen's 2020 breakout was a one-year fluke.

Jeremy Fowler of ESPN spoke to executives, scouts and coaches around the NFL to get their preseason awards predictions, with Allen standing out as the MVP favorite. 

Here is a look at every award prediction:

MVP: Josh Allen, QB, Buffalo Bills
Offensive Player of the Year: Christian McCaffrey, RB, Carolina Panthers
Defensive Player of the Year: T.J. Watt, OLB, Pittsburgh Steelers
Offensive Rookie of the Year: Mac Jones, QB, New England Patriots / Trevor Lawrence, QB, Jacksonville Jaguars
Defensive Rookie of the Year: Micah Parsons, LB, Dallas Cowboys
Comeback Player of the Year: Saquon Barkley, RB, New York Giants
Coach of the Year: Kyle Shanahan, San Francisco 49ers

Allen threw for 4,544 yards and 37 touchdowns against 10 interceptions and added 421 yards and eight scores on the ground last season. It was a largely unexpected breakout after Allen struggled with accuracy his first two NFL seasons but a welcomed one for the Bills, who enter the 2021 campaign as Super Bowl contenders.

McCaffrey is coming off a lost 2020 season that saw him limited to just three games. The NFL's most versatile running back when healthy, McCaffrey will need to stay in the lineup to make good on the lofty expectations. A running back has won Offensive Player of the Year four of the last 10 seasons, including Derrick Henry in 2020.

Barkley, like McCaffrey, greatly disappointed his fantasy owners last season through no fault of his own. A Week 2 ACL tear ended the Penn State product's year prematurely and caused him to miss most of training camp. Though not yet cleared for Week 1, Barkley has a good chance to rebound in a better Giants offense. 

Watt was viewed by some as a snub last season, barely losing to three-time DPOY Aaron Donald. The Steelers star has recorded at least 13 sacks in each of the last three seasons.

The rookie breakdown is the expected suspects. Jones and Lawrence will be Week 1 rookie starting quarterbacks; there's an inherent advantage they have over the field simply due to the position they play. 

Parsons, despite sitting out his final season at Penn State, looked every bit like a surefire star in Happy Valley and should translate instantly to a Cowboys defense in desperate need of his tackling prowess. 

New England Patriots rookie Mac Jones won the quarterback battle this summer over Cam Newton, prompting the team to ultimately release his veteran counterpart. 

But Jones knows that simply winning the job is just the beginning of the work ahead. 

"Doesn't mean much," he told the Merloni & Fauria show on WEEI (h/t Phil Perry of NBC Sports Boston) about being the starter. "The label is the label, but you gotta go out there and produce. That's what it comes down to."

Jones added that Newton was "obviously a really good mentor to me" and believes they'll remain in touch. 

"I never felt like we were butting heads or anything like that," he said. "Obviously Cam's a great guy and a great player, and hopefully he lands somewhere."

Being the starting quarterback for any NFL team comes with enormous pressure. But being the starting quarterback for the Patriots, after Tom Brady led the team to six Super Bowl titles in 20 years, is a different beast altogether. 

Jones has obviously gotten his career off to a strong start, winning the starting gig after throwing for 388 yards, a touchdown and no interceptions during the preseason, completing 69.2 percent of his passes. He did take five sacks, however. 

Nobody will expect the rookie to be as good as Brady in his career, let alone as a rookie. But the standards for quarterback play are pretty high in New England after the past two decades. 

Give Jones this, though—he has a unique way of ensuring he's prepared:

And he doesn't appear to lack for confidence. 

"Not really," he said on the Merloni and Fauria show when asked if he was surprised he won the starting job (h/t Zack Cox of NESN). "Like I always say, I prepare to be the starter... and I had a chance to get a lot of reps. So nothing really changes."

Well, one major thing changes—the games matter now. And if the Patriots aren't consistently winning them, the questions about whether Jones is ready to be the starter will soon follow. 

Despite cutting Cam Newton last week, New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick still thinks highly of the quarterback.

Appearing on WEEI's The Greg Hill Show (h/t ESPN's Mike Reiss), Belichick said he has "nothing but positive thoughts and feelings for Cam."

"He came in here, he worked hard, and gave us everything he had," Belichick added. "Right now, our future is going to be Mac [Jones] at quarterback. So that's where we're going to go."

The Patriots made the surprise decision to release Newton as part of their initial cuts to get the roster down to 53 players. The three-time Pro Bowler had a decent preseason, going 14-of-21 for 162 yards with one touchdown and one interception in three games.

Newton's release ensured that rookie Mac Jones, whom the Patriots drafted No. 15 overall, will open the season as the starter.

New England re-signed Newton to a one-year, incentive-laden contract in March. He was looking for a rebound season after a disappointing 2020, where the 32-year-old threw for 2,657 yards, eight touchdowns and 10 interceptions in 15 starts.

Instead, he finds himself a free agent with the regular season set to begin Thursday.

Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk reported Sunday there hasn't been significant interest in Newton because of his recent injury history and throwing issues.

During the 2018 season with the Carolina Panthers, Newton missed the final two games of the year with a shoulder injury. He appeared in the first two games the following year before a Lisfranc injury caused him to sit out the rest of the season.

Despite playing in 15 games with the Patriots in 2020, Newton's eight touchdown passes were the fewest in the NFL among quarterbacks with at least 300 attempts.

The NFL preseason typically teaches us more about what the back end of fantasy football rosters will look like. 

The primary fantasy stars are usually decided before training camp begins. That is true again in 2021, with Saquon Barkley and Christian McCaffrey among the running backs expected to be taken in the first few picks. 

Success in fantasy football is not determined by one single player. One key waiver-wire addition may end up as the difference-maker in a few head-to-head matchups. 

If you already drafted, there could be some gems out on the waiver wire. If you are drafting between Monday and Thursday, the players below could be solid late-round picks to fill out your roster depth. 

Top Waiver-Wire Pickups From NFL Preseason

Mac Jones, QB, New England

The most stunning quarterback news of preseason came from the New England Patriots. 

The Patriots chose rookie Mac Jones over Cam Newton to be their starting quarterback, but that job does not come with automatic fantasy success. 

Jones should still be ranked in the bottom half of fantasy quarterbacks. Until he proves what he can do in the regular season, he should be a No. 2 signal-caller on most rosters. 

Jones could even drop to the waiver wire in leagues that have not drafted yet because of the supporting cast that will be around him for the 2021 campaign.

Damien Harris is a solid first-choice running back, and there could be more dependency on him in the red zone with Newton's running ability off the roster. 

However, there are concerns about the wide receiver production since there is not a clear-cut top pass catcher. 

Nelson Agholor had the most receiving yards of any Las Vegas Raiders wideout in 2020, but Darren Waller was the team's leading receiver. Agholor set a career best of 896 receiving yards. That was the first time he had more than 800 yards and the second time he produced eight touchdowns in a single season.

Kendrick Bourne was a supporting player in San Francisco's passing attack during his time there, while Jakobi Meyers was forced into being the main target for Newton last season. 

Jones does have the benefit of tight ends Jonnu Smith and Hunter Henry being in the system, but they may catch more defensive focus if the wide receivers are not productive enough. 

If Jones develops a nice chemistry with his targets over the first few weeks, he could be a nice bye week replacement or a spot starter for a No. 1 quarterback with a bad matchup.

Jones' waiver-wire value comes with his potential, and it would not be a terrible idea to stash him with the hope that he thrives enough to warrant a roster spot. 

Ty'Son Williams, RB, Baltimore

Baltimore's running back situation changed when J.K. Dobbins went down with a season-ending ACL injury. 

Dobbins' injury moved Gus Edwards from late-round draft pick to a surefire selection in the first few rounds. 

Ty'Son Williams could be the answer to take over Edwards' No. 2 spot on the depth chart. That is what makes him an intriguing waiver-wire selection. 

Williams totaled 130 rushing yards on 24 carries in the preseason to earn his spot on Baltimore's 53-man roster. 

Williams' ceiling right now is a depth piece on fantasy rosters. He has to compete with Edwards and Lamar Jackson for touches in the rushing game. 

A year ago, Edwards picked up 723 yards and six touchdowns behind Dobbins and Jackson, but he only had more than 70 yards on four occasions. 

Williams is worth an addition because of Baltimore's rushing volume, but he will have to earn his spot in your starting lineup.

Chris Herndon, TE, Minnesota

Minnesota acted right away when Irv Smith Jr. went down with a meniscus injury.

The Vikings traded for Chris Herndon from the New York Jets to fill in Smith's spot on the depth chart. 

Similar to Williams, Herndon is not an automatic starter in fantasy lineups, but he could be added because of his potential. 

Even with Smith in the fold, Kirk Cousins was going to target Justin Jefferson and Adam Thielen on a more frequent basis. 

Smith produced 30 receptions for 365 yards and five scores over 13 games last season. Kyle Rudolph had 28 receptions for 334 yards. 

For Herndon to be a weekly starter, his season totals need to be over 500 yards, and he must find the end zone on a more consistent basis. 

That may not be possible right away, but if he makes a fast transition into the Minnesota offense, he could be worth the patience of a preseason addition. 

Statistics obtained from Pro Football Reference.