Half of the National Football League’s 32 teams are in action today with eight games on the schedule beginning with a pair of early contests involving the Kansas City Chiefs at the Chicago Bears and Washington Commanders entertaining the Carolina Panthers.

In 2018, the NFL draft had a handful of top quarterback prospects and the Cleveland Browns tabbed Baker Mayfield with the first pick. After the New York Giants selected runningback Saquon Barkley with the second pick, the New York Jets selected USC Quarterback Sam Darnold.

At the time, I thought the Jets scored the best quarterback prospect in the draft, while results since that draft have pretty conclusively shown that the team that got the best quarterback out of college in 2018 was the Buffalo Bills. They selected Josh Allen with the seventh pick that year. It can also be argued, based on early career results, that Darnold was the weakest of those three signal callers and after some success in Cleveland, the Browns decided Mayfield was not their franchise leader.

Today, when the Panthers visit Washington, they have both the top quarterbacks taken in that draft on their roster. Darnold joined Carolina last year after the Jets selected Zach Wilson with the second pick in the 2021 draft, and acquired Mayfield this offseason after the Browns rolled the dice and traded for Deshaun Watson.

A quarterback with the skill set both Mayfield and Darnold have flashed on occasion can still have a productive career. In 1971, Jim Plunkett was the first player taken in the draft by the New England Patriots. The quarterback out of Stanford struggled to establish himself as a top tier signal caller during five seasons in Foxboro, and was sidelined by an injury in 1975 and replaced by Steve Grogan.

In 1976, he was traded to the San Francisco 49ers, and after two uninspiring campaigns in San Francisco was shipped across the Bay to join the Oakland Raiders.

Boom, as John Madden might have said, his career turned in Oakland as he twice led the Raiders to Super Bowl titles to complete the 1980 and 1983 seasons.

Will Darnold or Mayfield turn their pedestrian career starts into Super Bowl wins?

The Panthers are hoping one of them will take their team to the promiseland and today will open preseason action with Mayfield behind center. Unfortunately, both Mayfield and Darnold are currently with a team that needs a lot of help before they can match the success the Panthers enjoyed during the height of Cam Newton’s career which did land Carolina in Super Bowl 50, which resulted in a loss to Peyton Manning and his Denver Broncos.

While finishing his career in Denver, Manning spent most of his Hall of Fame career leading the charge of the talented Indianapolis Colts. During Manning’s seasons in Indianapolis, the Colts were perennial postseason participants and twice appeared in the Super Bowl. They beat the Chicago Bears in Super Bowl XLI, and were downed by the New Orleans Saints three years later to complete the 2009 season.

With the talent the Colts had during the Manning years, their summer preparation seldom focussed on the scoreboard of a preseason scrimmage. They had a horrible record in preseason results while preparing for the games that counted beginning in September.

Today, the Colts open their preseason against the Buffalo Bills. A dozen seasons ago it would have been the Bills who were looking to gain some momentum even with a meaningless preseason win while the Colts were preparing for the regular season. Now, it is the Bills who are the dominant team that knows they enter the 2022 season as favorites to win the Super Bowl and it is the Colts who are looking to gain some revenge while in search of a franchise signal caller.

Indianapolis missed the playoffs last year while surrendering a final day of the regular season contest to the hapless Jacksonville Jaguars. This is their first outing since that stinging defeat, and they are making this trip into the new season with another veteran quarterback looking to right their ship.

Two years ago, Indianapolis cracked the playoff field with veteran Phillip Rivers playing his final professional season with the Colts. Last year, Frank Reich’s squad had Carson Wentz behind center. Dissatisfied with those results, this year Indianapolis acquired longtime Atlanta Falcons Quarterback Matt Ryan, who had once led Atlanta to a Super Bowl berth.

The Colts have a lot more to play for in this matchup, and the Bills are certain of future success without regard for the final score in this practice game. Which means this, the books had Indianapolis as a road favorite … and they know what they are doing. The public stepped in and backed the talent of the Bills this morning and drove the line down to a pick 'em ... which is better for us.

Qoxhi Picks: Indianapolis Colts (pk) over Buffalo Bills