NFL Preseason Week 3: What to Watch for in Saturday's Action

For the most part, Week 3 will feature the last meaningful snaps for many starters in the preseason. Don't expect to see much out of the likes of Drew Brees and Peyton Manning in Week 4, which is generally just a tool to refine the end of 53-man rosters.

The battles this weekend will determine starting roles, while next week's slate will set the final eight to 10 players on a squad for the season. With deadlines pressing, it's go time for NFL franchises. Can they fill all of their holes now, while on-field failures still don't count as season-long demerits?

Three games were played Friday, and two national matchups take place Sunday. The other 11 games of Week 3 will air Saturday, starting at 4 p.m. ET with the Buffalo Bills hosting the Pittsburgh Steelers and ending with the San Francisco 49ers visiting the Denver Broncos at 9 p.m.

There are a number of storylines, but the five that stand out revolve around question marks to key contributing roles, including three injury fill-ins and two quarterback battles. If squads can solidify themselves in those five aspects, they should head into the regular season on a high.

Replacing Jordy Nelson

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Ty Montgomery

Coming off an MVP season, quarterback Aaron Rodgers and the Packers entered 2015 with a goal on the grand prize, the Lombardi Trophy. Over the course of Rodgers' career, he's had plenty of talented receivers, with names like Donald Driver to Greg Jennings scattered across box scores, but Jordy Nelson may top them all.

Rodgers' back-shoulder passes to Nelson might be the most difficult throws in the NFL to execute, but they're also one of the most difficult to cover. After 400 receptions, over 6,000 receiving yards and nearly 50 touchdowns in his career, Nelson finally made a Pro Bowl in 2014.

Unfortunately, he's not going to be able to repeat his performance, as he tore his ACL in Week 2 of the preseason against the Pittsburgh Steelers. Packers fans must be sighing in relief that general manager Ted Thompson re-signed receiver Randall Cobb, another 2014 Pro Bowler, this past offseason. If he hadn't, sophomore wideout Davante Adams would be the team's top target.

Adams caught 38 passes for 446 yards last year, turning in three scores. As a third threat, he was more than serviceable, but he's now going to have to be the No. 2 receiver for the squad, starting on the boundary each week.

Filling in as the third receiver for the group is going to be Ty Montgomery, a rookie third-round pick from Stanford who was being looked at in more of a return role than a pass-catching one before the injury. He has a good build at 6'0", 216 pounds, and he treats slot receptions with a return man's mentality, never stopping his feet in traffic.

Another guy to watch is sophomore Jeff Janis, a former seventh-round pick from Saginaw Valley State. When looking at his athletic comparisons, based on combine metrics on Mock Draftable, Kevin White, this year's seventh overall pick, and Javon Walker, a former Pro Bowler with the Packers, are players with similar tools.

No one knows what's in store for Green Bay in 2015, but if Rodgers is going to match his MVP efforts, he's going to need a third receiver option. Against the Eagles, keep an eye on Montgomery and Janis.

Josh McCown

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There seems to be a trend in the NFL these days.

This week, the Houston Texans named Brian Hoyer, their limited but consistent passer, their starting quarterback. The other signal-caller, Ryan Mallett, a high-upside throwback standing at 6'6" with a rocket launcher strapped to his shoulder, overslept and missed practice once he lost the job.

According to Aaron Wilson of the National Football Post, Mallett is now working with the third-string group, a punishment for his lack of commitment to the team, despite the fact he's a non-starter. The Texans must feel good about their decision. They realized who was and wasn't made to lead their team.

Another quarterback battle in the league was similar. The Cleveland Browns' Josh McCown is a trusted veteran with more than a decade of experience in the NFL. On the other hand, 2014 first-round pick Johnny Manziel is the high-upside passer with off-field issues.

According to Mary Kay Cabot of the Cleveland Plain Dealer, Browns head coach Mike Pettine stated Thursday, "I think I've said [McCown]'s the starter without saying it." ESPN's Adam Schefter later reported Manziel will miss the rest of the preseason with elbow soreness.

By all accounts, this is McCown's job. Without Manziel, McCown should see the vast majority of the first-half snaps against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. As long as he doesn't have a terrible performance, he should do enough to lock up the gig. But if things should start to go poorly, the seat once again will warm up.

Cody Wallace

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Cody Wallace (No. 72)

Cody Wallace isn't a spring chicken; he's a 30-year-old offensive lineman. He also has six career starts under his belt. This is a less-than-ideal situation for the Pittsburgh Steelers, who will need him to start the first half of the regular season in place of Maurkice Pouncey, who is coming off an All-Pro season and just signed a five-year extension in the summer.

Against the Green Bay Packers in Week 2 of the preseason, Pouncey broke his fibula and "more likely will return some time after the Nov. 22 bye," according to Mark Kaboly of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. This won't be the first time Wallace has replaced Pouncey at center. In 2013, Pouncey only started one game due to a knee injury, which eventually led to Wallace starting the final four games of that season.

According to Pro Football Focus' grading for this preseason, Wallace registers as the 82nd center. But if the Steelers want to make a run for another Lombardi, they'll need consistency from the center position, the leadership role on the offensive line.

With suspensions hanging over the fates of running back Le'Veon Bell and receiver Martavis Bryant, Wallace will need to hit the regular season with a full head of steam. Against the Buffalo Bills on Saturday, he will be matched up often against Marcell Dareus, a 2014 All-Pro nose tackle. By the end of the weekend, the football world will have a better feel for how Wallace will be able to contribute in 2015.

The Buffalo Bills Quarterbacks

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Tyrod Taylor

In a change of heart, the Buffalo Bills won't be starting Tyrod Taylor, who some previously thought won the gig. They will send out former first-round pick EJ Manuel as their first quarterback against the Pittsburgh Steelers.

According to Sal Maiorana of WGRZ in Buffalo, head coach Rex Ryan will test Manuel, Taylor and Matt Cassel with the first-string offense. Overall, this seems like more of a desperation move from the Bills than an ordinance from their coach to invest in a potential savior.

Manuel has been given 14 starts over his first two years in the league and has put up a quarterback rating of 78.5 over that time frame. While that's not a horrible stat, Kyle Orton, who has since retired from the sport, put up an 87.8 mark in 12 starts last season with the squad.

In the NFL, a player's third season is make or break. If Manuel doesn't show improvement now, he may never get the shot to compete for a starting gig again.

On the other hand, Cassel is who he is. Over the course of his career, Cassel has shown that he can hover around the 60 percent completion mark and will be safe with the football. Is the Bills offense so loaded that he's allowed to game-manage, despite the fact he's not an air or ground threat if the drive gets stalled into a 3rd-and-long situation?

Taylor is the real wild card of the bunch. He's not as green as Manuel, and he doesn't control the ball like Cassel, but he does have an upside: his legs. Taylor is a scrambler who might just be a poor-man's Russell Wilson. One thing that Wilson has taught the NFL is if a scrambling quarterback is combined with a strong run game, schematically, a passing offense can be built simply.

Taylor has never started a game in the NFL, but he did start in the preseason prior to Manuel taking over this week. While it sounds odd to send out a 26-year-old passer with less experience than a former top-20 pick, it might be the logical move for Ryan's team.

The efforts of Week 3's matchup against the Steelers will surely impact Week 1 for the Buffalo Bills and the overall trajectory of the franchise.

Roddy White's Substitutions

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Leonard Hankerson

Last season, the Atlanta Falcons posted the fifth-best mark in passing yardage. Conversely, they posted the ninth-worst rushing total. The 2015 Falcons offense looks to be built around the passing game, just as it was in 2014.

For the most part, no major offensive skill players were added in free agency. In the draft, Tevin Coleman, a third-round running back from Indiana, and Justin Hardy, a fourth-round receiver from East Carolina, were brought in. Coleman is battling for the starting tailback role, but at this point, it's hard to expect big things from him.

The situation with the receiving unit might provide Hardy enough of an open door to make a splash during his rookie year, though. While Leonard Hankerson, a free-agent signing from Washington, is currently the third receiver on the depth chart, Hardy may push him for the job. On top of that, Roddy White, the longtime wideout for the franchise, just underwent surgery for his elbow, but he should be ready for Week 1.

According to ESPN.com's Vaughn McClure, Julio Jones, the team's top pass-catcher, doesn't think it will hold out his teammate for long:

"

I think it was in and out, just a scope. I think he's going to recover. He's going to do great. It was just some freak thing that occurred to him. I'm not a doctor, so I really don't know all what's going on with him. But when it's the first (surgery) for anyone, somebody's going to be uncomfortable.

I think he's going to pull through. ... I think Roddy will be Roddy in Week 1.

"

If, for some reason, it does take longer than expected for White's elbow to heal, Hankerson and/or Hardy may have to start in Week 1 against the Philadelphia Eagles. This week against the Miami Dolphins will be crucial to letting the Falcons front office know if it can trust the rest of the unit to hold together while White is recovering.