The NFL doesn't return until the fall, but the spring brings a pair of monumental events that shape the year for the league to come: the NFL draft and the release of the coming season's schedule.
The draft didn't have the same level of star power that it often does, especially at the quarterback position. Just two QBs went in the first round of April's draft, and on paper there are only a few players who are expected to play major roles for their respective teams this fall.
Of course, there's no telling how the season plays out. Few would have guessed that Russell Wilson would be a Week 1 starter for the Seattle Seahawks after he went in the third-round of the 2012 draft, and the San Francisco 49ers just made a former Mr. Irrelevant, Brock Purdy, a $265 million man after he took control of the starting job as a rookie in 2022.
Based on the recent NFL schedule release, the league and its broadcast partners are in wait-and-see mode with this year's crop of rookie quarterbacks. Even so, you never know when a young gunslinger will become a household name. It could take just a single game on a national stage.
The 2025 draft saw 14 rookies selected across seven rounds. Here is the first opportunity for each of the quarterbacks to make their national broadcast debuts during the '25 season. (All kickoff times give are in ET.)
Kyle McCord – Week 1: Philadelphia Eagles vs. Dallas Cowboys ( – Thursday Season Opener)
Week
Date
Time
Channel
Location
1
Thursday, Sept. 4, 2025
8:20 p.m.
NBC
Lincoln Financial Field (Philadelphia)
McCord, a sixth-round pick, begins his NFL career for his hometown team. The Ohio State-turned-Syracuse quarterback grew up in nearby Mount Laurel, N.J. but played high school football at Philly's St. Joe's Prep. Barring an absolute Week 1 shellacking of the Eagles' rival Cowboys—or a disastrous set of injuries to Jalen Hurts and Tanner McKee—it is very unlikely that McCord sees the field for the Super Bowl champions, but he is the first drafted rookie quarterback that will have a regular season game as Philadelphia opens the 2025 campaign.
Other Eagles Prime-Time Games:Week 8: at New York Giants ()Week 10: at Green Bay Packers ()Week 11: vs. Detroit Lions ()Week 14: at Los Angeles Chagers (Monday Night Football)Graham Mertz – Week 2: Houston Texans vs. Tampa Bay Buccaneers ()
Week
Date
Time
Channel
Location
2
Monday, Sept. 15, 2025
7:00 p.m.
ABC/ESPN
NRG Stadium (Houston)
One of the more surprising quarterbacks selected in the '25 draft, Mertz was taken by the Texans in the sixth-round after a college career that took him from Wisconsin to Florida. C.J. Stroud is locked in as the starter in Houston, while veteran Davis Mills serves as QB2. Like McCord and most of the QBs on this list, he'll likely be waiting his turn for some time.
Other Texans Prime-Time Games:Week 7: at Seattle Seahawks ()Week 12: vs. Buffalo Bills ()Weel 14: at Kansas City Chiefs ()Tommy Mellott, Cam Miller – Week 2: Las Vegas Raiders vs. Los Angeles Chargers ()
Week
Date
Time
Channel
Location
2
Monday, Sept. 15, 2025
10:00 p.m.
ESPN
Allegiant Stadium (Las Vegas)
Week 2 brings fans a doubleheader, with the Raiders hosting the night cap in Sin City. Las Vegas picked two FCS superstars two picks apart in the sixth-round, in North Dakota State product Miller and Montana State counterpart Mellott. Both are tremendous athletes for the position, and Mellott is ultimately expected to move to wide receiver, so he has a shot to see the field if he adapts to his new position. Miller is behind offseason acquisition Geno Smith along with Aidan O'Connell, who has 17 starts across two seasons with the Raiders.
Other Raiders Prime-Time Games:Week 10: at Denver Broncos ()Week 11: vs. Dallas Cowboys ()Quinn Ewers – Week 3: Miami Dolphins at Buffalo Bills ()
Week
Date
Time
Channel
Location
3
Thursday, Sept. 18, 2025
8:15 p.m.
Prime Video
Highmark Stadium (Orchard Park, N.Y.)
Shedeur Sanders's slide dominated discussion during the NFL draft, but few expected Ewers to fall all the way to the seventh round. The Dolphins selected the Texas signal-caller with the No. 231 pick, making him the last QB taken in the field. He's expected to begin the season third on the depth chart behind Tua Tagovailoa and Zach Wilson, but given the former's injury history and the latter's career to this point, it wouldn't stun anyone to see Ewers get some run this season. Just probably not in Week 3.
Other Dolphins Prime-Time Games:Week 4: vs. New York Jets ()Week 9: vs. Baltimore Ravens ( )Week 15: at Pittsburgh Steelers ()Week 16: vs. Cincinnati Bengals ()Jaxson Dart – Week 3: New York Giants vs. Kansas City Chiefs ()
Week
Date
Time
Channel
Location
3
Sunday, Sept. 21, 2025
8:20 p.m.
NBC
Metlife Stadium (East Rutherford, N.J.)
The Giants made one of the biggest splashes of the draft by trading back into the first round to take Dart, the second quarterback off the board. Even as a first-round pick, he will likely be afforded the opportunity to sit and wait, especially early on against the juggernaut Chiefs. New York has already indicated that veteran Russell Wilson will start this season, while another experienced signal caller, Jameis Winston, will hold the clipboard.
Other Giants Prime-Time Games:Week 6: vs. Philadelphia Eagles ()Week 13: at New England Patriots ()Jalen Milroe – Week 4: Seattle Seahawks at Arizona Cardinals ()
Week
Date
Time
Channel
Location
4
Thursday, Sept. 25, 2025
8:15 p.m.
Prime Video
State Farm Stadium (Glendale, Ariz.)
Milroe's physical tools stand apart from any other quarterback in his draft class. Time will tell whether Seahawks coach Mike Macdonald and his staff will be able to harness them and turn the Alabama product into an NFL-caliber quarterback, but this fit is deeply intriguing. For this season, Seattle will be rolling with Sam Darnold, signed after the team traded Geno Smith to the Raiders. The team also brought back Drew Lock to add to the quarterback room.
Other Seahawks Prime-Time Games:Week 7: vs. Houston Texans ()Week 9: at Washington Commanders ()Week 16: vs. Los Angeles Rams ()Will Howard – Week 4: Pittsburgh Steelers vs. Minnesota Vikings (International Game)
Week
Date
Time
Channel
Location
4
Sunday, Sept. 28, 2025
9:30 a.m.
NFL Network
Croke Park (Dublin)
It is not a prime-time matchup, but the Steelers will play a standalone game to open the Week 4 Sunday slate against the Vikings in Ireland. Pittsburgh's quarterback situation for this game remains a bit of a mystery. As of today, Mason Rudolph is the projected starter, though the team is still waiting on Aaron Rodgers, who would step into the QB1 role if he opts to join the Steelers after weeks of speculation. Of the many late-round rookie quarterbacks, Howard—a national champion winner with Ohio State earlier this year—seems to have one of the more realistic pathways to playing, though it will certainly be an uphill battle, especially if Rodgers does play in '25.
Other Steelers Prime-Time Games:Week 7: at Cincinnati Bengals ()Week 8: vs. Green Bay Packers ()Week 10: at Los Angeles Chargers ()Week 15: vs. Miami Dolphins ()Kurtis Rourke – Week 5: San Francisco 49ers at Los Angeles Rams ()
Week
Date
Time
Channel
Location
5
Thursday, Oct. 2, 2025
8:15 p.m.
Prime Video
SoFi Stadium (Inglewood, Calif.)
The 49ers have had plenty of recent luck with their seventh-round quarterback selections, and Rourke was plenty impressive in his single season with Indiana a year ago, leading the Hoosiers to the College Football Playoff. San Francisco is financially locked in with Purdy as its starting quarterback, and has Mac Jones as a backup, so Rourke's chances of playing time are quite low.
Other 49ers Prime-Time Games:Week 7: vs. Atlanta Falcons ()Week 12: vs. Carolina Panthers ()Week 16: at Indianapolis Colts ()Week 17: vs. Chicago Bears ()Dillon Gabriel, Shedeur Sanders – Week 5: Cleveland Browns vs. Minnesota Vikings (International Game)
Week
Date
Time
Channel
Location
5
Sunday, Oct. 5, 2025
9:30 a.m.
NFL Network
Tottenham Hotspur Stadium (London)
The Browns took two bites at the apple in the 2025 draft, taking Oregon's Gabriel in the third round and Colorado's Sanders two rounds later. Given Deshaun Watson's injury and general ineffectiveness, the quarterback battle is wide open. Former Steelers first-rounder Kenny Pickett appears to have the inside track at the job, but he'll battle it out with veteran Joe Flacco and the two rookies. The Browns do not have a prime-time game on the 2025 schedule, with this London game serving as the franchise's only standalone broadcast of the season, barring a game being flexed into one of those windows.
Riley Leonard – Week 10: Indianapolis Colts vs. Atlanta Falcons (International Game)
Week
Date
Time
Channel
Location
10
Sunday, Nov. 9, 2025
9:30 a.m.
NFL Network
Olympic Stadium (Berlin)
Leonard, who led Notre Dame to a national championship appearance in 2024–25, joins a pretty chaotic quarterback situation in Indianapolis. They franchise certainly hopes that Anthony Richardson breaks out and locks down the job for years to come after a rough second season, but they've added Daniel Jones as insurance. Leonard, a true dual-threat players, shares some of the same characteristics of the two players ahead of him on the depth chart. The Colts' 2025 national TV debut is yet another international game, this one set to be played in Germany.
Other Colts Prime-Time Games:Week 16: vs. San Francisco 49ers ()Cam Ward (Tennessee Titans) and Tyler Shough (New Orleans Saints)
Two rookie quarterbacks enter their rookie seasons with expectations that they'll start from Week 1: Ward, the No. 1 pick in the '25 draft, and second-rounder Shough, who saw Saints starter Derek Carr retire weeks after the draft.
Amazingly, neither is set to play in a nationally televised game in '25.
The Titans are currently slated to play 11 games in the 1 p.m. ET window, with another five scheduled for 4:05 or 4:25 p.m. The Saints have 10 games at 1 p.m. and six set for the 4 p.m. window.
The entire Week 18 NFL schedule is TBD, so if one of these teams surprises this season and makes a playoff push, there is a chance that the league will shine a light on them to end the year. For now, fans outside of the Nashville and New Orleans markets will have to settle to catch highlights and snippets of the two young gunslingers on
