2026 NFL Preseason: Friday’s Stock Up, Stock Down

The second night of preseason Week 1 of the NFL is in the books. Once again, we’re getting our first looks at players who are fighting for starting jobs, roster spots and larger roles. Just like Thursday night, this isn’t the final Stock Up & Stock Down list for these NFL players. There are still games to be played, and plenty can change before the weekend is over.

However, Friday night gave us some players who strengthened their cases and a few who missed opportunities. Here is my Friday Night Stock Watch.

2026 NFL Preseason: Friday’s Stock Up, Stock Down

Stock Up

Jarrett Stidham — QB, Denver Broncos

Jarrett Stidham looked like a NFL starting quarterback Friday night. Not a franchise quarterback. Not a guy you’re building your organization around. But a legitimate bridge starter.

Stidham controlled the game throughout the first half, consistently attacking every level of the field and helping Denver build a significant halftime lead. He looked comfortable operating the offense, made decisive throws and generally looked like a quarterback who knows how to run an NFL offense.

And honestly, what more could you have asked from him?

Stidham has never been viewed as a high-end starter, but that’s not what this is about. There are 32 starting quarterback jobs in the NFL, and there are always teams that need a veteran capable of stepping in and giving them competent quarterback play. Friday night was a reminder that Stidham can be that guy.

If a team loses its starter at some point this season and needs someone capable of coming in and winning games without completely changing the offense, Stidham has shown that he can potentially fill that role.

His stock isn’t rising because he’s suddenly a star. It’s rising because he looked like exactly what he is capable of being: A capable NFL quarterback who can start games.

Jonah Coleman — RB, Denver Broncos

Jonah Coleman lived up to my expectations Friday night. He played his brand of football.

Coleman is built like a fire hydrant and runs like he’s trying to rip one out of the ground. The physicality jumps off the tape. He consistently runs with good pad level, shows impressive burst through the hole and possesses outstanding contact balance. Coleman was routinely bouncing off defenders, keeping his feet moving and squeezing every possible yard out of each carry. That’s who he is. He’s not going to win by being the biggest or fastest running back on the field. Nor is he going to win by being incredibly difficult to tackle.

The three-down aspect of his game wasn’t really on display Friday, but that’s not necessarily a concern. Coleman is capable as a pass catcher and has enough versatility to fill multiple roles in Denver’s backfield. That’s especially valuable considering the Broncos appear to have defined roles emerging around him.

J.K. Dobbins looks like the physical, between-the-tackles option. R.J. Harvey brings a change-of-pace element and receiving ability. Coleman can potentially do either. That versatility gives him a path to a meaningful weekly role while also giving Denver a player capable of taking on a much larger workload if injuries strike.

Coleman doesn’t need to win the starting job to be valuable. He just needs to force his way onto the field. Friday night, he did exactly that.

Courtland Sutton — WR, Denver Broncos

I know Jaylen Waddle has received plenty of hype over the last several weeks. Don’t forget about Courtland Sutton. Sutton has quietly put together two of the best seasons of his career over the last two years under Sean Payton. Friday night looked like another continuation of that trend.

He was involved early and often and came away with a couple of remarkable catches. The first should have been a 41-yard touchdown, but instead Sutton was tackled at the one after a 40-yard reception. He followed that up with another outstanding catch along the sideline. This is what Sutton does.

He’s always been one of the better contested catch receivers in football, and nothing about the arrival of Waddle changes that. If anything, Waddle’s presence could make Sutton even more dangerous. The two receivers have very different skill sets, as Waddle can stretch a defense horizontally and vertically with his speed. Sutton can win with size, physicality, body control and contested catches.

Waddle may take some targets away from Sutton, but he doesn’t take Sutton’s role away from him. There is plenty of room for both. Don’t let the excitement surrounding Waddle cause you to forget that Sutton remains one of the most important pieces of this Denver offense.

Braelon Allen — RB, New York Jets

It’s easy to forget about Braelon Allen. After all, he missed the vast majority of the 2025 season with an MCL injury. Friday night was a reminder of why the Jets were so excited about him in the first place.

Allen has always been a big, physical back, but one of the more underrated aspects of his game is how light his feet are for someone his size. We saw that on his 31-yard touchdown run. Allen found the cutback lane, planted his foot and exploded through it for a big play. Then he showed something else that has always made him intriguing: good long speed for his size.

Once Allen gets into the open field, he’s capable of turning good blocking into explosive plays because he has enough speed to separate from defenders and maintain that separation downfield. That’s a dangerous combination for a back his size.

I believe Allen is the clear RB2 behind Breece Hall in New York, and that’s a very good thing for the Jets. Fantasy football managers may not love what this means for Hall’s touchdown opportunities. The Jets should love it.

Allen gives them a legitimate red-zone and goal-line weapon while also giving them a hammer for short-yardage situations. I don’t think Isaiah Davis should be overlooked either. He has shown enough to warrant consideration for a meaningful role himself, but as a depth RB3. Allen is the clear No. 2 for me.

The MCL injury may have taken Allen out of sight for much of last season. Friday night was a reminder that it didn’t take away his talent.

Kyle Pitts — TE, Atlanta Falcons

Kyle Pitts may have been the brightest spot for Atlanta Friday night. He was the primary target for Tua Tagovailoa early and often, and the Falcons repeatedly looked his way. Now, there is an important caveat.

Drake London and Bijan Robinson didn’t play. That obviously affects the target distribution and makes it difficult to draw firm conclusions from Pitts’ usage. But I still came away encouraged. The biggest thing I want to see is how Pitts fits into Kevin Stefanski’s offense. And Friday night gave us a glimpse.

Pitts has the physical skill set to be a major weapon in this offense. If Stefanski can consistently manufacture opportunities for him, there is a path for Pitts to have a significant season. Pitts was also moved accords the formations and even lined up as the X receiver at times.

The quarterback situation remains unsettled, and that’s going to matter. But regardless of who ultimately wins the job, Pitts looks like a player Stefanski intends to feature. That’s worth watching.

Washington Commanders Running Back Room

Sometimes the most encouraging thing a player can do during the preseason is not play. That’s essentially what happened in Washington.

Jacory Croskey-Merritt and Rachaad White sat out Friday, along with other projected starters. That is a pretty strong indication that Washington already knows what it has in those players and is more interested in evaluating the depth behind them. And that depth looked good.

Kaytron Allen and Robert Henry Jr. combined for 35 carries, 160 yards and two touchdowns for an impressive 4.57 yards per carry. Allen had 23 rushing attempts himself and of them, zero resulted in negative yards. That’s exactly what you want from your second-unit running backs.

Croskey-Merritt and White are both talented backs who are capable of carrying significant workloads, but injuries happen over the course of an NFL season. If either of them misses time, Washington appears to have legitimate depth behind them. And that’s before accounting for the extra dimension Jayden Daniels brings to the running game.

The Commanders may have the makings of a very balanced rushing attack in 2026. Friday night only strengthened that belief.

Cade Klubnik — QB, New York Jets

This is technically an NFL Stock Up segment, but it’s worth separating Klubnik from Zappe because the story here is about the competition. Klubnik looked more prepared for the moment. That’s important for a rookie quarterback competing for a backup role.

Nobody should be crowning Klubnik after one preseason game. The Jets have plenty of time to evaluate both quarterbacks, and preseason reps can be misleading. But if the question is simply: Who looked more ready Friday?

The answer was Klubnik.

That’s a significant development for a rookie who entered camp trying to establish himself in a quarterback room with a veteran ahead of him. Zappe gave Klubnik an opportunity. Klubnik didn’t waste it.

Stock Down

Bailey Zappe — QB, New York Jets

Nobody was confusing Bailey Zappe for a quarterback competing for the starting job in New York. But there was a legitimate question entering the preseason: Who is the Jets’ No. 2 quarterback?

Could Zappe provide enough veteran stability to hold that role? Or, would rookie Caden Klubnik push his way into the conversation? Friday night may have settled the competition early.

Zappe needed to demonstrate that he could be trusted to operate the offense if called upon during the regular season. Instead, his performance left something to be desired. That doesn’t mean the Jets are ready to hand the backup job to Klubnik after one preseason game. But when you’re competing against a rookie, you don’t want to give that rookie an opening.

Zappe did. And Klubnik took advantage of it.

Tua Tagovailoa — QB, Atlanta Falcons

Tua Tagovailoa had an opportunity Friday night. He didn’t exactly take advantage of it.

The game started with a botched shotgun snap that put the Falcons behind the chains immediately, setting up a third-and-14. That was an ugly start.

Tua was only expected to play one drive, but Atlanta’s first series ended quickly enough that he got another opportunity. Unfortunately, the second series didn’t go much better.

Tua managed to move the chains once, but his passing offense was heavily concentrated on Kyle Pitts, who was essentially his only consistently targeted pass catcher. There are obvious contextual factors here. London and Robinson didn’t play, so the supporting cast was limited. And, preseason football is preseason football. But that’s not the point.

Atlanta is currently trying to determine its quarterback situation, and Tua had an opportunity to make his case. He didn’t have a disastrous night. He just didn’t do enough, and that’s potentially the bigger problem. This is a competition, and opportunities are valuable.

I still want to see what Michael Penix Jr. looks like before the preseason is over. I believe Penix has a slight edge in my evaluation at this point, although the injury situation obviously complicates the decision.

For Tua, Friday night was a missed opportunity.

Cooper Rush — QB, Atlanta Falcons

Nobody expected Cooper Rush to walk into Atlanta and win the starting quarterback competition. That’s not really the concern. The expectation was that Rush could provide veteran leadership and stability to the quarterback room while Tua Tagovailoa and Michael Penix Jr. compete for the starting job. Friday night didn’t exactly strengthen that case.

Rush completed fewer than half of his passes and threw two interceptions, making for a difficult outing. And the biggest problem wasn’t simply the mistakes. It was the contrast.

Jack Strand actually looked more effective than Rush during the game. He even led Atlanta’s only scoring drive which something neither Tua nor Rush was able to accomplish. Again, this doesn’t suddenly mean Strand is jumping Rush on the depth chart yet. But it does mean Rush didn’t do himself any favors.

If his value to this team is supposed to be veteran stability, he needs to look stable. Friday night wasn’t that.

Final Thoughts

Two nights down, and one more to go.

And that’s the important thing to remember with these NFL stock up and stock down reports. We’re watching the trends, not making final judgments.

Jarrett Stidham looked like a legitimate NFL bridge quarterback. Jonah Coleman showed exactly why his physical running style can translate to the next level. Courtland Sutton reminded everyone that Denver’s passing game isn’t simply about its newest addition.  Braelon Allen looked like the physical complement the Jets need behind Breece Hall, while Kyle Pitts gave us another reason to be intrigued by his fit in Kevin Stefanski’s offense.

Meanwhile, the Jets’ backup quarterback competition became a little more interesting, and Atlanta’s quarterback competition remains very much unsettled. And that’s exactly what preseason football is supposed to do. It gives us questions. It gives players opportunities to answer them. Sometimes they do, and sometimes they don’t.

We have one more night of Week 1 preseason football to go.