The Most Important NFL Preseason Performances of the 21st Century

As the first overall pick in the 1998 draft, it wasn't as if Peyton Manning needed the 2000 preseason to maintain a roster spot. But in his first two regular seasons, Manning was more up and down that anybody may have expected. He threw 26 touchdown passes in both 1998 and 1999, but he led the league with 28 picks in his rookie season, and though he tamped that down to 15 in 1999, he hadn't quite become PEYTON MANNING yet.

That changed quite decisively in the 2000 preseason, when Manning completed 30 of 52 passes for 458 yards, five touchdowns, no interceptions, and a passer rating of 118.9. In the 2000 regular season, Manning led the NFL in completions, passing yards, and passing touchdowns, and there was never again any question that we were looking at one of the greatest quarterbacks we would ever see.

In many ways, that 2000 preseason was the line of demarcation.

Matt Hasselbeck, QB, Seattle Seahawks (2001)

Mike Holmgren's Green Bay Packers selected Matt Hasselbeck in the sixth round of the 1998 draft out of Boston College, and when Holmgren became the Seattle Seahawks' head coach in 1999, he saw enough in Hasselbeck to bring him over via trade in 2001. The idea was for Hasselbeck and Trent Dilfer to battle it out for the starting job, but Hasselbeck gained an edge in his first preseason with his new team when he completed 36 of 57 passes for 458 yards, six touchdowns, one interception, and a passer rating of 116.0. Dilfer did his best to counter in a preseason in which he completed 12 of 21 passes for 138 yards, two touchdowns, no interceptions, and a passer rating of 108.8, but the writing was on the wall.

Over the next decade, Hasselbeck became one of the most important players in Seahawks franchise history, with a Super Bowl appearance and three Pro Bowls.

Russell Wilson, QB, Seattle Seahawks (2012)

This Seahawks preseason quarterback battle was the one I saw up close. 2012 was my third year as a credentialed NFL reporter, and as I call Seattle my home, I was fortunate enough to see Pete Carroll and his crew build the Legion of Boom from the ground up. I also saw the team sign former Packers backup Matt Flynn to a three-year, $19.5 million contract with $10 million guaranteed to be the next starter in the wake of the Matt Hasselbeck era.

That was the idea, but a third-round quarterback by the name of Russell Wilson had something else in mind. I distinctly remember Wilson throwing perfect 30-yard fade balls in his rookie minicamp, and saying to a colleague, "Matt Flynn will never start for this team. No. 3 is the guy."

Which proved to be true from the outset. Wilson was given his first preseason start against the Kansas City Chiefs, diced that defense up in a 44-14 rout, and that was pretty much that. Flynn was eventually sent packing, and Wilson was indeed the man in Seattle for the next 13 seasons.

"First off, his poise and the ability to just feel comfortable and communicate really well and he has done a great job at that especially for a being a first-time guy at that," Carroll told me of Wilson back then, when I asked why he named his rookie the starter so quickly. "When you look at Russell's numbers passing, running, and putting points on the board it has been obvious that's the stuff that we have seen, he has a great arm and a great vision. It's just exciting to watch this kid play and everyone that's grown up and watched him back at N.C. State and Wisconsin and we're seeing the same thing they saw. He's carried the style of play from college level to our level in these first couple preseason games and we are going to see what that means in Game 3."

Safe to say, it worked out pretty well.

Patrick Mahomes, QB, Kansas City Chiefs (2017)

Mahomes' 2017 preseason was important in that the Chiefs had decided to sit the rookie through most of his first regular season as he learned the intricacies of the NFL game from head coach Andy Reid and starting quarterback Alex Smith. It all worked out pretty well eventually, but Mahomes got just one start in 2017 — Week 17 against the Denver Broncos, when he completed 22 of 35 passes for 284 yards, no touchdowns, an interception, and a passer rating of 76.4. Which made his preseason performance (34 of 54 for 390 yards, four touchdowns, no interceptions, and a passer rating of 109.3) a valuable preview.

Basically, the Chiefs didn't need to rush Mahomes, because he had already shown them what was up.

Victor Cruz, WR, New York Giants (2010)

The man who popularized the salsa post-touchdown dance was no sure thing to stick and stay on any NFL roster at first. Cruz was undrafted in the 2010 class coming out of Massachusetts, and the New York Giants signed him the day after the draft came down. Cruz knew that he would need a ridiculous preseason to stick and stay, and that's exactly what Big Blue got out of him.

The highlight game came against the New York Jets on August 16, when Cruz caught six passes for 145 yards and three touchdowns. Overall, Cruz proved impossible to stop in those first few games, which led to a spot on the roster — and over time, as one of the best speed slot receivers of his era through 2016.

Raheem Mostert, RB, Philadelphia Eagles (2015)

Another future undrafted star, Raheem Mostert was signed out of Purdue by the Philadelphia Eagles, who saw him blow stuff up in his inaugural preseason with 157 rushing yards, 191 receiving yards, and 162 kick return yards. Mostert didn't make final cuts, found a place on Philly's practice squad for a hot minute, and that began a long haul through multiple teams — the Miami Dolphins, Baltimore Ravens, Cleveland Browns, New York Jets, and Chicago Bears each gave Mostert a try before the San Francisco 49ers signed him to their practice squad in 2016. 2017 was a lost season for Mostert on injured reserve, but it all finally kicked in for the 2018 season, when Mostert started to get some play in Kyle Shanahan's backfield.

Mostert didn't get his first NFL start until the 2020 season, but he's managed 4,161 rushing yards, 904 receiving yards, and 1,172 kick return yards in his career. In 2023 with the Miami Dolphins, he led the NFL in rushing touchdowns with 18.

Without that first preseason, who knows whether Mostert ever would have been given the opportunities that ultimately led to the right NFL homes?

Rob Gronkowski, TE, New England Patriots (2010)

If we knew then what we know now, Rob Gronkowski would not have lasted as long as he did in the 2010 draft. Alas. When Gronk came out of Arizona, there weren't may concerns about his talent, but back surgery in 2009, and worries about spinal stenosis, saw his stock drop to the 42nd pick in the draft. That's where the Patriots took him in a pick they acquired from the Oakland Raiders, who reportedly had Gronk scouted as "the best all-around player in the draft."

Again, alas.

If there were any lingering issues with his back, Gronk set them to rest with a preseason for the ages. He led the league with four touchdowns on just eight catches for 109 yards, and the prophecy was already coming true. A five-time Pro Bowler, four-time First-Team All-Pro, four-time Super Bowl champion, and quite possibly the greatest tight end in pro football history, Rob Gronkowski was out to prove it all from his first NFL snap.

Geno Atkins, DI, Cincinnati Bengals (2010)

Geno Atkins was unquestionably one of the most dominant interior defensive linemen of the 2010s, but that was no automatic thing when he was taken by the Cincinnati Bengals with the 120th overall pick in the fourth round of the 2010 draft out of Georgia. The reason was simple: NFL teams keep undervaluing undersized defensive tackles, even when everybody from John Randle to Aaron Donald, and the 6-foot-2, 293-pound Atkins, keeps proving the big brains wrong.

On the way to an 11-year career in which he had 89 sacks, 596 total pressures, 237 solo tackles, and 279 stops, Atkins gave the Bengals and the rest of the NFL one heck of a preview in his rookie preseason, when he led the NFL with five sacks. From Day 1, Geno Atkins was a terror, and he took it out on all the people who decided that he was too small.

Adewale Ogunleye, EDGE, Miami Dolphins (2002)

Adewale Ogunleye had to overcome some seriously bad fortune before he was able to show the NFL what he could achieve. Projected as a possible first- or second-round pick at Indiana before his senior season of 1999, Ogunleye then suffered a knee injury that ended his collegiate career, and he also had a staph infection that caused him to lose 50 pounds.

So, the three-time All-Big Ten star went undrafted, and he was ultimately signed by the Miami Dolphins in 2000. The knee injury was bad enough to cause him to miss the 2000 season, and he played in just seven games in 2001, with no starts.

It was a point of crisis for Ogunleye's career, and he responded in the 2002 preseason about as well as anybody possibly could. Now that he was fully healthy, and had a taste of the rigors of the NFL, he showed it all by tabulating eight sacks and a forced fumble, and from there, nobody wondered whether Ogunleye was worthy of a starting role. In 10 seasons with the Dolphins, Chicago Bears, and Houston Texans, he totaled 295 solo tackles, 67 sacks, 17 forced fumbles, and 14 fumble recoveries.

Shaquil Barrett, EDGE, Denver Broncos (2015)

Talk about starting small — Shaquil Barrett had to transfer from Nebraska-Omaha to Colorado State in 2011 because Nebraska-Omaha decided to eliminate its football program. Ouch. In any event, once he got with the Rams, Barrett made the most of that opportunity. In his senior season of 2013, he was named Mountain West Conference Defensive Player of the Year with 12 sacks, 20.5 tackles for loss, two forced fumbles, and an interception.

None of that got Barrett selected in the 2014 draft, and none of it allowed him to play a single defensive snap for the Denver Broncos, who signed him as an undrafted free agent, in the regular season.

So, Barrett had to prove himself all over again. That happened in the 2015 preseason, when Barrett led the NFL with four sacks, adding 17 total pressures, eight solo tackles, nine stops, and a forced fumble. From there, Barrett saw six starts in the 2015 season, which just happened to be the one in which Denver's all-time defense brought the Mile High City a Lombardi Trophy.

Barrett was a bit player in that Super Bowl run, but he was anything but for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at the end of the 2020 season. He had one sack and 10 total pressures in the Bucs' 31-9 demolition of the Chiefs in Super Bowl LV, and there was a credible case to be made that he should have been the game's Most Valuable Player.

This was the season after Barrett led the NFL in sacks with 20, and going into the 2021 season, I ranked Barrett as the league's best edge defender.

Quite the turnaround for the guy whose first college closed for business.

Darious Williams, CB, Baltimore Ravens (2018)

Darious Williams' path to the NFL may have been the most circuitous of anybody on this list. After one season at Division III Marietta College, he enrolled at the University of Alabama at Birmingham in 2013, and was turned down when he tried to walk on to the football team. Williams did make the team in 2014 as a walk-on, and was given a scholarship that same year. But when UAB dropped its football program after the 2014 season, Williams enrolled at Florida State College at Jacksonville, working as a floral delivery man and waiting for UAB to change its mind about football, which the school eventually did.

Still, though he played well for the most part in college, Williams was also the kind of boom-or-bust cornerback that makes NFL teams wonder. Just as much as his five interceptions and 17 pass breakups in his final collegiate season of 2017 were very impressive, there was also the matter of the six touchdowns he allowed, against less than stellar offenses for the most part.

Of course, that left him undrafted, and in the care of the 2018 Baltimore Ravens as a UDFA. He didn't get a single defensive snap for them, Baltimore waived Williams in October, and the Los Angeles Rams picked him up. Perhaps it was his preseason for the Ravens that generated other interest — while Williams didn't have an interception, he did have four pass breakups, allowed 12 catches on 23 targets, and showed some juice as a blitzer.

Though he barely played in 2018, Williams started his real ascent in 2019, and by 2020, he was one of the NFL's true shutdown cornerbacks, allowing 38 catches on 78 targets for 578 yards, 174 yards after the catch, two touchdowns, five interceptions, 11 pass breakups, and an opponent passer rating of 55.4. In 2022, the Jacksonville Jaguars signed Williams to a three-year, $30 million contract with $18 million guaranteed. The Jags released Williams in 2024 in a salary cap move despite a 2023 season that was nearly as good as his breakout 2020 campaign, and the Rams welcomed him back with a three-year, $22.5 million deal with $10 million guaranteed.

Without that 2018 preseason, which ultimately didn't save him in Baltimore, Darious Williams might have disappeared before anyone knew how great he could be.

(All advanced metrics courtesy of Pro Football Focus and Sports Info Solutions. Whenever possible, all regular season statistics include the postseason).