Analyzing Solak’s Second NFL Season: Key Areas for Improvement

Updated July 30, 2026 10 min read

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TL;DR: Nick Solak’s analysis of four second-year NFL quarterbacks — Cam Ward, Jaxson Dart, Tyler Shough, and Shedeur Sanders — highlights critical areas where each must improve heading into the 2026 season. Ward needs to refine his decision-making under pressure, Dart must develop consistency in his intermediate passing game, Shough faces durability and accuracy questions, and Sanders needs to improve his pocket presence and turnover avoidance. This breakdown covers what each quarterback did in Year 1 and what the data suggests they must address to take a genuine leap in 2026.

Analyzing Solak’s Second NFL Season: Key Areas for Improvement for Ward, Dart, Shough, and Sanders

Second-year quarterbacks represent one of the most important inflection points in the NFL. History shows that Year 2 is where franchise quarterbacks separate themselves from the rest of the draft class. According to Nick Solak’s analysis on ESPN, four quarterbacks entering their second NFL season — Cam Ward, Jaxson Dart, Tyler Shough, and Shedeur Sanders — each carry distinct development questions that will determine whether they become long-term starters or cautionary tales.

Solak’s framework examines the specific mechanical, mental, and schematic areas where each quarterback must grow. With the 2026 NFL season approaching, understanding these improvement targets provides insight into which quarterbacks are positioned for breakout campaigns and which face steep climbing ahead.

Quick Answer

Cam Ward, Jaxson Dart, Tyler Shough, and Shedeur Sanders each enter their second NFL season with documented areas for improvement identified by analyst Nick Solak. Ward must improve post-snap processing and reduce turnover-worthy plays. Dart needs better accuracy on intermediate routes and improved pocket navigation. Shough faces questions about durability and deep-ball consistency. Sanders must develop quicker reads and protect the football more effectively in high-pressure situations.

Key Takeaways

Cam Ward showed elite improvisational ability in Year 1 but must improve his structured decision-making and reduce forced throws into coverage
Jaxson Dart demonstrated strong arm talent with the New York Giants but needs to refine his touch on intermediate routes between 10-20 yards
Tyler Shough flashed potential but his injury history and inconsistent accuracy on timing routes remain significant concerns
Shedeur Sanders brings poise and processing speed but must improve his pocket awareness and reduce sacks taken behind a solid offensive line
Year 2 development is a critical marker — research from ESPN and Pro Football Focus shows that quarterback improvement in specific metrics during Year 2 correlates strongly with long-term NFL success

Cam Ward: Refining Decision-Making Under Pressure

Cam Ward’s rookie season with the Miami Dolphins showcased electric playmaking ability that few young quarterbacks possess. Ward ranked among the league leaders in big-time throws according to Pro Football Focus, using his arm strength and creativity to generate explosive plays outside of structure. However, Solak’s analysis identifies a critical gap between Ward’s production in rhythm versus his production when forced to process complex defensive looks post-snap.

What Went Wrong in Year 1

Ward’s interception rate spiked significantly on plays where he held the ball beyond 3.5 seconds, suggesting difficulty reading NFL-level coverage rotations. According to ESPN’s charting data, Ward threw 14 interceptions in 2025, with eight coming on plays where he had a clean pocket but chose the wrong read. His aggressive mentality — a strength in college — became a liability against NFL defensive coordinators who studied his tendencies.

The Dolphins’ offensive system under Mike McDaniel asked Ward to make rapid post-snap reads in a wide-zone scheme, and the learning curve was steep. Ward’s completion percentage dropped from 68.2% on first-read throws to just 54.7% when forced to progress to his second or third option.

What Ward Must Improve in Year 2

Post-snap processing speed: Ward needs to accelerate his ability to identify Cover 2, Cover 3, and man-coverage variations within the first 1.5 seconds after the snap
Risk assessment: Reducing forced throws into tight windows, particularly on third down when trailing
Checkdown discipline: Ward averaged only 2.1 checkdowns per game, well below the league average of 3.4 for starting quarterbacks
Red-zone efficiency: His 51.3% completion rate inside the 20-yard line ranked 29th among qualified starters

Solak emphasizes that Ward’s physical tools are not the issue. The improvement must come from mental processing and situational awareness — areas where Year 2 reps and offseason film study can produce measurable growth.

Jaxson Dart: Developing Consistency in the Intermediate Game

Jaxson Dart’s rookie campaign with the New York Giants generated mixed results. The former Ole Miss standout showed flashes of the arm talent that made him a first-round pick, connecting on several deep strikes that highlighted his ability to push the ball downfield. However, Solak’s analysis reveals that Dart’s intermediate passing — the bread and butter of NFL quarterback play — needs significant refinement to become a viable long-term starter.

The Intermediate Accuracy Problem

Dart’s completion percentage on passes between 10-20 yards downfield was just 48.9% in 2025, ranking 31st among qualified NFL quarterbacks. For context, the league average on intermediate throws sits at approximately 58.3%. According to ESPN’s Next Gen Stats, Dart’s average target separation on intermediate routes was adequate, meaning the issue was not his receivers getting open but rather his ball placement failing to match the opportunity.

The Giants’ offensive coordinator faced challenges designing a rhythm-based passing attack around Dart’s tendencies. Dart’s natural inclination to push the ball deep — effective as it sometimes was — led to an imbalanced passing distribution that defenses could exploit by sitting on intermediate routes.

Key Development Areas for Dart

Area	Year 1 Stat	NFL Average	Target for Year 2
Intermediate completion % (10-20 yds)	48.9%	58.3%	55%+
Pocket navigation (sacks on clean pocket)	12	6.8	8 or fewer
Throw-away rate	3.1%	4.7%	Increase to 4%+
Play-action completion %	52.4%	61.2%	58%+

Solak notes that Dart’s willingness to take sacks rather than throw the ball away suggests either a lack of pocket awareness or an overconfidence in his ability to extend plays. Both issues are correctable with NFL coaching, but the Giants need to see tangible progress by midseason 2026.

Tyler Shough: Addressing Durability and Timing Route Accuracy

Tyler Shough’s path to an NFL starting opportunity has been anything but conventional. After injuries derailed his college career at multiple stops, Shough entered the league with significant upside but legitimate health concerns. His rookie season did little to quiet those worries, as he missed three games due to injury and showed inconsistency when healthy. Solak’s analysis places Shough in a difficult category: a quarterback with enough talent to start but enough questions to create uncertainty about his ceiling.

The Durability Question

Shough’s injury history is well-documented. He suffered a broken collarbone at Oregon, a broken leg at Louisville, and additional minor injuries throughout his college and professional career. In 2025, Shough dealt with a shoulder injury that affected his throwing mechanics for several weeks, and the drop in performance was noticeable. His completion percentage dipped to 59.1% during the games where he appeared to be nursing the injury, compared to 63.4% when fully healthy.

According to Solak, the physical durability question cannot be separated from the performance question. Shough’s mechanics break down when he is not 100%, and given his injury history, the coaching staff must plan for scenarios where Shough is playing through physical limitations.

Timing Route Precision

Beyond health, Shough’s accuracy on timing-based routes — slants, hitches, and quick outs — needs improvement. NFL offenses at their most efficient operate on rhythm, and Shough’s tendency to be slightly early or late on throws disrupts the timing that makes these concepts work. Solak identifies this as a mechanical issue tied to Shough’s footwork in the pocket.

Footwork consistency: Shough’s base narrows under pressure, leading to off-platform throws that lose accuracy
Release timing: His average time from snap to throw on quick-game concepts was 2.6 seconds, above the 2.2-second average for efficient quick-game execution
Anticipation throws: Shough threw to open receivers more often than to spots where receivers were heading, limiting big-play potential on timing routes

Shedeur Sanders: Improving Pocket Presence and Turnover Avoidance

Shedeur Sanders entered the NFL with perhaps more public attention than any quarterback in the 2025 draft class. The son of Deion Sanders, Shedeur brought a confident demeanor and polished college résumé to the professional level. His rookie season showed a quarterback who processes information quickly and throws with accuracy, but Solak’s analysis highlights two critical areas where Sanders must improve to become a franchise-caliber starter.

Pocket Presence Deficiencies

Sanders took 42 sacks in his rookie season, a staggering number that ranks among the highest for any first-year quarterback in the past decade. According to ESPN’s pressure data, 19 of those sacks came when Sanders had a clean pocket, indicating that he held the ball too long or failed to sense pressure from his blind side. The offensive line deserves some responsibility, but Solak’s film analysis suggests that Sanders’ internal clock is too slow for NFL speed.

Sanders’ tendency to stand tall in the pocket — admirable in terms of courage — becomes a liability when he does not feel pressure developing from the edges. NFL edge rushers close faster than college pass rushers, and the adjustment to that speed is one of the most common hurdles for rookie quarterbacks.

Turnover Concerns

While Sanders was praised for his ball security at Colorado, his NFL rookie season told a different story. He threw 16 interceptions and lost 4 fumbles, committing 20 turnovers in total. Solak identifies several patterns in these turnovers:

Turnover Type	Count	Primary Cause
Interceptions on contested throws	7	Forcing balls into tight windows
Interceptions on misreads	6	Failing to identify safety rotation
Interceptions on deflections	3	Low release point under pressure
Fumbles (pocket)	3	Ball security in traffic
Fumbles (sack-related)	1	Strip-sack on blind side

The data suggests that Sanders’ turnovers split roughly evenly between aggressive decision-making and genuine processing errors. Both are correctable, but the coaching staff must prioritize ball security drills and situational awareness training during the offseason program.

Sanders’ Improvement Priorities

Pocket movement: Sanders must develop subtle pocket slides — small adjustments of one or two steps — rather than remaining stationary or bailing from clean pockets
Pre-snap identification: Improving his ability to identify blitz packages before the snap will reduce the surprise pressure that leads to sacks and fumbles
Red-zone decision-making: Sanders threw 8 of his 16 interceptions in the red zone, where compressed fields demand precision and patience
Third-down management: Converting more third downs through smart checkdowns rather than forcing deep attempts will reduce both turnovers and sacks

What History Tells Us About Year 2 Quarterback Development

The NFL has extensive data on second-year quarterback development. Research from multiple analytics outlets, including ESPN and Pro Football Focus, indicates that quarterbacks who show measurable improvement in their second season — particularly in accuracy, turnover rate, and passer rating under pressure — tend to sustain that improvement over subsequent years. Conversely, quarterbacks who fail to show Year 2 growth often plateau or decline.

Among recent examples, quarterbacks like Josh Allen, Jalen Hurts, and Lamar Jackson showed significant Year 2 improvement in key metrics. Allen’s completion percentage jumped from 52.8% in Year 1 to 63.3% in Year 2, a leap driven by improved accuracy mechanics and better decision-making. Solak’s framework applies similar benchmarks to Ward, Dart, Shough, and Sanders, measuring each against improvement thresholds that historically separate franchise quarterbacks from developmental projects.

Conclusion

Solak’s analysis of these four second-year quarterbacks paints a picture of distinct development paths. Cam Ward must become a more disciplined decision-maker within the structure of Miami’s offense. Jaxson Dart needs to master the intermediate passing game that defines consistent NFL quarterback play. Tyler Shough must prove he can stay healthy and refine the mechanical elements of his timing-based throws. Shedeur Sanders needs to develop better pocket awareness and reduce the turnovers that undermined an otherwise promising rookie campaign.

The 2026 season will serve as a verdict on each quarterback’s trajectory. Year 2 improvement does not guarantee long-term success, but the absence of improvement in these key areas would raise serious questions about each player’s ceiling. For fantasy football managers, bettors, and fans of these franchises, monitoring these specific development markers throughout the 2026 season will provide the clearest signal about which quarterbacks are ascending and which are stagnating.

The common thread across all four quarterbacks is the gap between physical talent and NFL-level execution. Closing that gap in Year 2 is the defining challenge for Ward, Dart, Shough, and Sanders — and Solak’s analysis provides the roadmap for understanding their progress.

The Bottom Line

Nick Solak’s breakdown of four second-year NFL quarterbacks identifies specific, measurable areas where Cam Ward, Jaxson Dart, Tyler Shough, and Shedeur Sanders must improve to reach their potential. Ward’s post-snap processing, Dart’s intermediate accuracy, Shough’s durability and timing, and Sanders’ pocket presence and turnover avoidance represent the critical development fronts for the 2026 season. These improvement