NFL pre-season review & results: Hunter, Sanders & Dallas Cowboys

Results do not mean too much, but NFL pre-season games do offer the first set of clues about what will happen in the new season.

The league’s major stars will not play too often in the opening build-up games, but some top rookies have already made good first impressions as competition for starting places hots up.

Most of the big talking points revolve around the quarterbacks, but there is also the NFL’s ‘unicorn’ and a new Patrick Mahomes bodyguard worth discussing.

Travis Hunter signalled his intention to play both offence and defence as he made his debut working as a receiver and cornerback for the Jacksonville Jaguars.

The second overall pick of this year’s NFL Draft admitted he “was a little nervous at first” as he started one of the most high-profile debut seasons in the league.

Hunter had two catches for nine yards in his 10 plays as a receiver before switching and playing eight snaps on defence.

Jaguars head coach Liam Coen labelled it a “solid” start and plans to give Hunter more defensive work next week – with the team intent on deploying their talented rookie on both sides of the ball.

Shedeur Sanders made an eye-catching debut for the Cleveland Browns that raised suggestions he has a chance to be the team’s starting quarterback this season.

It would be quite the turnaround after his high-profile draft slide down to 144th overall – but beyond the hype he still faces an uphill battle, with veterans Joe Flacco and Kenny Pickett ahead of him along with another rookie in Dillon Gabriel.

Cleveland did not field their starters against the Carolina Panthers and Sanders has not had any practice time with the first team – only getting a start on Friday because of injuries to Pickett and Gabriel.

But he made the most of his opportunity and despite head coach Kevin Stefanski insisting he was “in evaluation mode” and “not diving into a quarterback competition”, Sanders has given him a selection headache.

Patrick Mahomes threw just one pass for one yard in his first outing since being on the losing side in the Super Bowl – but it was for a touchdown in his brief 48-second seasonal debut.

So, of more interest was the impressive debut of rookie left tackle Josh Simmons.

He is the man the Kansas City Chiefs hope can solve the problem they had all last season – protecting their star quarterback.

The Chiefs used four left tackles last year but their issue keeping Mahomes upright ultimately cost them a Super Bowl three-peat as he was sacked six times and manhandled by the Philadelphia Eagles.

Simmons showed enough in his first 11 snaps to suggest he could be the answer to their problems.

Jaxson Dart may just be Russell Wilson’s back-up but his impressive debut has excited New York Giants fans singing his praises.

He threw for 154 yards and a touchdown and ran for 28 yards in a poised and balanced outing – against some Buffalo Bills starters – that probably just topped Sanders for the best performance by a rookie quarterback.

Number one overall pick Cam Ward played just two series for the Tennessee Titans but his second was an 11-play touchdown drive where he showed promising chemistry with top receiver Calvin Ridley.

Second-round pick Tyler Shough replaced Spencer Rattler in the second half of the New Orleans Saints’ 27-13 defeat by the Los Angeles Chargers and had a 54-yard touchdown pass and a ‘pick six’ in an up-and-down display.

Although not technically a rookie, JJ McCarthy will play his first season with the Minnesota Vikings after a knee injury cost him the entire campaign last year.

McCarthy had a tear in his eye before his first game in 364 days, where he led one solid 13-play drive in what could be his only action before the NFL season opener.

A messy first Dallas Cowboys game for new head coach Brian Schottenheimer culminated with even Pro Bowl wide receiver CeeDee Lamb getting a flag – despite not even being on the field.

Lamb was on the sidelines for the defeat against the Los Angeles Rams but strayed almost onto the field and was hit by an official racing down the touchline.

That led to Lamb not only taking a big hit but also Dallas getting one of 11 flags in the game, which cost them 83 yards and angered the new man in charge.

“I hope the guy’s OK. But we have to be better than that,” Schottenheimer said. “CeeDee knows better. We know better.”

Dallas, who have star defender Micah Parsons watching on despite requesting a trade away from the team, will hope that comedy of errors is not a sign of things to come this season.