Who will start for the Browns and Colts in Week 1? We made QB battle predictions

Th 2025 NFL training camp season is a little light on true quarterback battles, but the four we can clearly identify are fascinating.

The Saints have a rookie trying to beat out veterans who’ve been there — but haven’t done much. The Giants have a rookie and a pair of veterans who also just got there. The Colts have their own former first-round pick and the Giants’ former first-round pick, both of whom could be on their last chance. And the Browns… well, the Browns have a QB competition the likes of which we’ve never seen before.

So after spending the past couple weeks calling around and asking league sources what they know and who they think will win these four camp QB battles, I wanted to give you a rundown of where things stand with just under six weeks until the start of the season. We couldn’t start anywhere but Cleveland:

Jump to a QB battle:
Browns | Colts | Giants | Saints

Candidates: Joe Flacco, Kenny Pickett, Dillon Gabriel, Shedeur Sanders

Flacco and Pickett are both former first-round picks, though not by Cleveland. Gabriel and Sanders are rookies who were drafted in the third and fifth round in April, respectively. Let’s tackle them in order of seniority.

Flacco, who was the Super Bowl XLVII MVP for the Ravens 13 seasons ago, is 40 years old and entering his 18th NFL season. He started five games for the Browns at the end of the 2023 regular season and won four, helping lift Cleveland into the playoffs in a season that saw them start five different quarterbacks. (The Browns lost to Houston in the wild-card round, with Flacco throwing two pick-sixes.) Last season he started six games for the Colts and posted a QBR of 53.4 — the first time he has put up a QBR over 50 since 2020 when he played four games for the Jets. In the past six seasons since leaving Baltimore, he has thrown 46 touchdown passes and 28 interceptions while making 29 starts and winning nine of them.

Pickett was the first-round pick of the division rival Steelers just three years ago, but he washed out of Pittsburgh quickly and spent last season backing up Jalen Hurts for the Super Bowl champion Eagles. This offseason, the Browns traded quarterback Dorian Thompson-Robinson and a fifth-round pick for Pickett, who has thrown 15 touchdown passes and 14 interceptions in 30 games across three NFL seasons.

Then came the draft, where the Browns passed on Sanders multiple times, drafted Gabriel on Day 2 and then finally moved up on Day 3 to get Sanders after all. Gabriel played for three different college programs over six years, but his best season was 2024 with Oregon, when he threw for 3,857 yards with 30 touchdowns to lead the Ducks to an undefeated regular season and Big Ten title before losing to eventual champion Ohio State in the playoff quarterfinal in the Rose Bowl. Sanders played for his father, Pro Football Hall of Famer Deion Sanders, for two years at Jackson State and two years at Colorado. He threw for 4,134 yards with 37 touchdowns and 10 picks last season and was projected by many to be a first-round pick in the weeks leading up to the draft.

(It’s also important to note that Deshaun Watson is still on the Browns’ roster making $46 million in fully guaranteed money this year and next. He is rehabbing an Achilles tendon injury and is not likely to play this season.)

The Browns are struggling to find ways to get all four quarterbacks an appropriate number of practice reps to stage a real competition, and that could cost the rookies, who spent most of the spring working behind Flacco and Pickett on the depth chart. Cleveland is open to the idea of any one of the four winning the job for Week 1, and the way the coaching staff divides reps in the coming weeks could offer clues about who is in the lead. It’s also possible — even likely — they end up trading one of these guys before season starts to ease the logjam.

Week 1 starter prediction: Pickett. I’m sure that’s not the most popular choice among the fan base, but as one league executive pointed out to me, he’s the one of these four the Browns tried the hardest to get. They acquired him in early March, knowing Watson was a long shot to play this season and before they knew whether they would bring back Flacco or select a single quarterback — let alone two — in the draft.

There was a time this offseason when Pickett — who now has a hamstring injury — was the only healthy quarterback on the roster. If he performs well enough in camp and in the preseason, don’t be surprised if he gets first crack at this thing, though I’d expect at least one of the rookies to start this season so the Browns can figure out what they have in them before taking two first-round picks into the 2026 draft.

More Browns camp coverage

Candidates: Anthony Richardson Sr., Daniel Jones

Jones was supposed to be the long-term quarterback answer for the Giants, who picked him No. 6 in the 2019 draft. But he got benched and then released last season, which he finished as a member of the Vikings. He then signed with the Colts in March to provide competition for Richardson, whom Indy picked No. 4 in 2023.

Richardson has played just 15 games over his first two NFL seasons, mainly due to a variety of injuries. He had an issue with his throwing shoulder that kept him out of offseason work, but he arrived at training camp healthy and ready to compete. Richardson is still very young — he turned 23 in May — and his raw ability is off the charts. But he has had trouble staying on the field and hasn’t played well when he has been available. He has 11 touchdown passes and 13 interceptions in his career, though he has added 10 rushing scores.

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McAfee: Anthony Richardson looks like he’s about to take over the entire AFC

Pat McAfee reacts to a photo of Anthony Richardson showing up to Colts training camp looking better than ever.

Both Richardson and Jones offer something extra with their legs, but Richardson’s size and speed are the main reasons he was picked as high as he was. The Colts always saw him as a project. The problem is that he hasn’t been healthy enough for them to develop him the way they had hoped. Indianapolis hasn’t won the AFC South since 2014, when Andrew Luck was the quarterback and Chuck Pagano was the coach. That’s the longest division-title drought of any team in the division, and there’s pressure on general manager Chris Ballard and coach Shane Steichen to end it soon. Which means that yes, they still need to see what Richardson can be, but they also need to win games.

Week 1 starter prediction: Richardson. I know Jones appears to have taken over the No. 1 spot on the depth chart after Richardson’s spring injury, but training camp is where Richardson looks the best — if he’s healthy, he’s likely to outperform Jones on the practice field.

The Colts also have a lot more invested in Richardson, and if it’s a close competition, most people I talk to believe that will tilt things in his favor — at least to start the season. Whether he can stay healthy enough or play well enough to hold the job is another matter entirely.

More Colts camp coverage

Candidates: Tyler Shough, Spencer Rattler, Jake Haener

Shough is the rookie the Saints selected with the No. 40 pick in April’s draft. He played seven college football seasons, the first three with Oregon, the second three with Texas Tech and then last season with Louisville, where he threw for 3,195 yards with 23 touchdowns and six interceptions. Injury issues are a big reason he didn’t get picked higher, but the Saints weren’t the only team that was high on him predraft; many around the league still believe he could turn out to be one of the best — if not the best — quarterbacks in the 2025 class. He turns 26 in September.

When they drafted Shough, the Saints still had veteran Derek Carr under contract, though at the time there was some concern about his health and availability for the season. Carr surprised everyone by retiring in May, and when that happened the easy assumption was that Shough was the front-runner to start.

Not so fast, say the Saints. They are holding a true three-way competition between Shough, Rattler and Haener — a group that has made a combined seven NFL starts and won zero. The coaching staff is dividing first-team reps evenly in the early part of camp and isn’t likely to move deep into the decision-making process until they see these guys play in preseason games.

Rattler was the team’s fifth-round pick last season. He played in seven games (with six starts) last season and completed 57% of his passes while throwing four touchdown passes and five picks. Haener was the team’s fourth-rounder in 2023, didn’t play at all that season and made one start a year ago. He has one touchdown pass and one interception in the NFL, where he has completed 18 of his 39 attempts.

On the surface, the numbers indicate Rattler and Haener should be pretty easy for the 40th pick to beat out. But multiple league executives insist there are people in the Saints’ building who are big fans of Rattler and believe he could develop into a good starter if given the chance and the right coaching. And Haener is a guy they liked enough to draft in Round 4 but hasn’t had a real chance to show what he can do yet. The important data points are all still to come, as this competition is just beginning.

Week 1 starter prediction: Shough. I don’t know that it’s fair to call him new coach Kellen Moore’s pick, but obviously Moore is a fan and might enjoy a chance to build his program around the guy for whose draft he was already with the organization.

What the Saints are doing is fair, and it could produce a surprise if Rattler (who is exactly one year younger than Shough) outperforms Haener and the rookie in the preseason. But this coaching staff has no prior connection to Rattler and Haener, so without any real data on which to base a prediction at this point, I’ll lean toward the guy they liked enough to pick in Round 2 four months ago.

More Saints camp coverage

Candidates: Russell Wilson, Jameis Winston, Jaxson Dart

Tommy DeVito is the only QB on the roster who has ever played a game for the Giants, and it’s likely that all three of the others would have to get hurt for him to start. The Giants signed Winston, then Wilson, ahead of the draft so that whichever rookie they selected wouldn’t have to feel pressure to play right away. That rookie ended up being Dart after they traded back into Round 1 to get him.

Dart threw for 4,279 yards with 29 touchdown passes and six interceptions last season for a 10-3 Ole Miss team. Of the quarterbacks the Giants knew they would have a chance to get (meaning any of them but Cam Ward), he was the one who most impressed coach Brian Daboll and the New York staff in the pre-draft process. Daboll is now tasked with molding him into a quality NFL starter, no matter how long that takes.

Daboll has said on the record that Wilson is the Giants’ starter. The 13-year veteran and former Super Bowl champion has bounced around from Seattle to Denver to Pittsburgh to New York over the past four years. He’ll turn 37 in November. Multiple league execs I spoke to for this story believe this could be a situation akin to the one the Giants pulled off in Eli Manning‘s rookie season in 2004, when veteran Kurt Warner started the first half of the season then gave way to Manning. But that’s only going to happen if Dart shows he’s ready. New York would love to play well enough around Wilson to win games and let Dart develop. It would rather this be Patrick Mahomes‘ 2017 rookie season than Manning’s 2004 one.

Of course, the Giants are coming off a 3-14 season and haven’t won their division since 2011, when they went on to win their fourth Super Bowl. They’ve made the playoffs only twice in the past 13 years, their schedule looks formidable and Wilson hasn’t played well in at least three years.

Could Winston factor in as the No. 2 QB on the depth chart early on if they really don’t think Dart is close to being ready? Sure. Could Winston be a trade possibility if Dart looks like he might be ready soon? Absolutely. This situation is really all about Dart, who has to get a shot to be the Giants’ franchise quarterback sooner or later. Both veterans know they’re just keeping seats warm for the rookie.

Week 1 starter prediction: Wilson. Daboll has been clear all along that Wilson is there to be the starter and Dart is there to learn and develop. It’s certainly not out of the question that Dart dazzles and Wilson fizzles in preseason and Dart becomes the Week 1 starter. But at the present time, that is not the way the Giants are thinking about this situation or setting up the practice reps.

I predict Dart plays at some point this season but that Wilson will get the start in the opener in Washington (and probably Week 2 against Dallas as well).

More Giants camp coverage