Week 2 of the NFL preseason kicks off on Thursday night when the Las Vegas Raiders travel to Houston to take on the Texans at 8 p.m. ET. But that’s just the beginning of a 16-game slate that’s sure to be full of action and storylines.

I know a lot of fans don’t watch the preseason because the games don’t count for anything, but this is the best time of the year to learn about each team’s depth and learn about some of the up-and-coming young players in the league.

Not everyone has time to tune into preseason games, which is understandable, so I identified five things you should keep your eye on so that when you do have time to sit down and watch, you know which games to turn on.

Fernando Mendoza vs Houston’s Defense

The Week 2 opener is one of the more intriguing games of the week. Fernando Mendoza, the first overall pick and the Raiders’ quarterback of the future, is expected to take the field for his second NFL game against one of the NFL’s best defenses.

Get The Huddle Newsletter. The day's biggest NFL stories — rivalries, matchups, expert analysis, power rankings, and insider draft news.

The Houston Texans did announce that they are sitting their starters this week, but this is still going to be a very good test for Mendoza. The Texans have what I believe is the best defense in the NFL, so even their second-stringers are as good as some teams’ first-stringers.

In his NFL debut, Mendoza threw for 97 yards and one touchdown with no turnovers behind a 63 percent completion rate. I’m not going to lie and say it knocked my socks off, but it was still a very strong debut for the former Heisman Trophy winner. But that was against the Arizona Cardinals. The Texans should provide a much stiffer test, and I’m excited to see how he performs.

Can Drew Allar & De’Zhaun Stribling Do It Again?

Drew Allar and De’Zhaun Stribling were two of the most talked about rookies after the first week of the preseason, and they’re going to take center stage again this week.

Allar was by far the most impressive Steelers quarterback last weekend, throwing for 153 yards and two touchdowns with a 155.1 passer rating. 74 of those yards came off of one completion, which came mostly after the catch, but still, it was a very impressive debut for the third-round man out of Penn State.

As for Stribling, the San Francisco 49ers shocked the NFL world when they selected him with the first pick of the second round, but he’s slowly proving he was worth the pick. Stribling has had a strong camp, and in his preseason debut, he caught seven of eight targets for 63 yards and could make a push for the 49ers’ WR2 job with another strong performance.

Outside of Mendoza, Allar and Stribling should be two of the most-watched rookies this weekend.

Can Cam Ward Bounce Back?

Cam Ward was the first overall pick in last year’s NFL Draft, and statistically, he had a very disappointing rookie season, completing 59.8 percent of his throws for 3,169 yards and 15 touchdowns with seven interceptions. But if you turn on the tape and watch him play, you’d know how talented this kid really is.

With Robert Saleh taking over as head coach and Brian Daboll coming over to call plays, plus the addition of Wan’Dale Robinson and Carnell Tate on the outside, Ward has some high expectations entering year two, and fans were excited to see how he played in Tennessee’s preseason opener, but it wasn’t pretty.

Ward completed just five of his 12 pass attempts for 57 yards in his preseason debut, and he wasn’t able to connect with his rookie WR Carnell Tate a single time. Ward is expected to start again this week when the Titans take on the Seahawks on Sunday night, but Seattle’s going to pose a much bigger threat than San Fran did last week.

Can Ward bounce back? He needs to, or else things could continue to go south in Nashville.

Browns QB Battle Rages On

With the Raiders and Vikings having made up their mind on their starting quarterback and Michael Penix still out with an injury, the only real quarterback battle going on this preseason is in Cleveland, where Deshaun Watson and Shedeur Sanders are battling it out for the starting role.

In the Browns’ first preseason game, neither guy was super impressive. Watson completed 11 of his 15 attempts for 126 yards, but he gave up a strip sack in Chicago territory and missed a couple of easy throws. Meanwhile, Sanders didn’t do much to help his case, going 6-for-11 for 79 yards and an interception.

Watson still seems like the leader in the clubhouse, but anything can change in the preseason. We’ll see if either guy can get an obvious leg up on the other this Saturday.

How Can Teams Replace Their Major Injuries?

Injuries have been the talk of the town this preseason. We’ve seen far too many players go down since the start of training camp, including Jordyn Tyson, Tyler Biadasz, Jayden Higgins, Breece Hall, Emeka Egbuka and plenty of others. Injuries suck, but they open the door for other players to get opportunities, and I want to see who can take advantage.

In New Orleans, the WR2 and WR3 spots are wide open. Devaughn Vele is likely going to be one of the two starters outside of Chris Olave at the beginning of the year, but will Bryce Lance or Barion Brown be able to step up and secure the other one? Or will it be someone else entirely?

With Tyler Biadasz out for a significant period of time, the Chargers will likely turn to Jake Slaughter, the rookie from Florida, at center. How will he do this week? And can he secure the starting center spot?

What about in Houston? Jayden Higgins was going to be their WR2, and with Jalen Noel and Tank Dell still out with injuries, will they have anyone step up? Maybe Xavier Hutchinson or their rookie Lewis Bond?

So many young players are going to get a chance to step into a role they never expected, and I’m excited to see who can take advantage and who can’t.