The rookies have it ...

 ... or, you know, they don't.

It's August 22 now and we've arrived at last on the outskirts of that place where belief and reality collide, often in a rending screech of accordioned metal and shattered glass. But, hey, maybe not!

Maybe it's just a fender bender and you swap insurance info, and that's it. Or maybe it's not a collision at all, but merely a close call on the way to Victory and Joy and Subway Ads, and headlines like "Meet Football's Caitlin Clark."

Which is to say, the Denver Broncos announced the other day they'll be starting a rookie at quarterback for the first time since John Elway showed up 41 years ago. His name is Bo Nix, the former Auburn and Oregon star (because hardly anyone stars in just one place anymore, now that college football has become a home for itinerants), and hopes are higher than the Rockies at the base of the Front Range.

Ditto in Chicago, where the locals have seen enough of Caleb Williams to recycle a hardy perennial, This Guy Is Gonna Be The Guy.

Ditto in Washington, where 2023 Heisman Trophy winner Jayden Daniels has done Heisman-y things in the preseason, and thus will be the Commanders starting quarterback when the regular season begins a week from now.

Three rookies starting at maybe the toughest position in sports isn't particularly ground-breaking these days, but it does separate These Days from Back In The Day. This is either an expression of how much more pro-ready college quarterbacks are here in the 2020s, or  an indictment of the quality of NFL backups these days.

In Chicago, the Bears drafted Caleb Williams to be QB1 from day one, so maybe he's a different case. But in Denver, Sean Payton is going with Nix partly because all he had in the larder otherwise were a couple of retreads, Jarrett Stidham and Zach Wilson. If Nix couldn't beat out those two jimmies, then the Broncos wasted a first-round pick on him.

And in Washington?

Daniels, the No. 2 pick in the draft,  has drawn praise for his work ethic and how quickly he's picked up the nuances of the Washington system. But again, his competition consisted of another retread, Marcus Mariota. And it was pretty much oracle that Mariota's role was  to shepherd the kid along.

Nonetheless, it's a new day in three NFL cities, and like all new days it looks brighter than it might turn out to be. But maybe not!

Maybe all those Chicagoans who've convinced themselves Williams is the franchise quarterback they haven't had since Sid Luckman -- Sid Luckman, for pity's sake! -- will finally be right and snap their 80-year being-wrong streak. Maybe Bo Nix will be the next Elway, and not the next (choose one) Steve Tensi, Brock Osweiler or Paxton Lynch.

Maybe Jayden Daniels will be a bigger Lamar Jackson, and not, you know, a bigger Janet Jackson.

They've all played well in the preseason, which means they've all played well in the preseason. Which means, ultimately, not a hell of a lot.

In any event, the live fire is a week away now. And in three NFL cities, the votive candles have been duly lit.

Please, God. Don't let this guy be all those other guys.