With how intent the NFL is on keeping an even playing field, we see a couple of teams turn things around every year. I ranked the eight teams who just finished last inside their division by how most likely to improve to number one!
Category Archives: NFL Offseason
What does success look like for your favorite NFL team in 2025?
The following conversation goes against what the NFL’s shield is trying to sell the public at the start of every single season – the idea of all 32 teams having a chance to hoist the Lombardi Trophy at the end of it. As much as I love how they strive for parity, conceiving anything but achieving the ultimate goal as a failure would always leave all but one fan base dissatisfied. Generally, I sway away from asking questions like the one in the title, but due to several factors, I thought laying out which factors we should pay attention to and what constitutes a “successful campaign” was particularly interesting this year.
I’m fully aware that this by no means is an innovative concept, but looking back at this past season, I thought the gap between “the rich and the poor” was as large as ever once we got to around Thanksgiving. So I do believe it’s important to offer a frame of context for how we should probably view what these franchises are about to put onto the field once we kick things off. For some teams, simply measuring it by where the journey ends for them in 2025 is fair, yet for others, showing growth in certain areas may be even more crucial for their future outlook.
We’ll go through them all by division here!
Second- and third-year breakout candidates for the 2025 NFL season – Defense edition:
We’re back for the second half of yet another two-part series, only this time in written form, as we switch sides of the ball and talk about some of my favorite second- and third-year defenders, who I expect to take the next step. Just like we did in the offensive edition last week, we’ll discuss seven players today.
Once again, to identify what would qualify a “breakout” or rather players excluded in this discussion, I’m largely relying on statistical measurements that they haven’t reached yet – no front-seven defenders who recorded double-digit sacks or tackles for loss, players who intercepted 4+ passes, earned a Pro Bowl/All-Pro nominations or are just generally considered one of the better performers at their respective positions. I also generally stay away from players who have barely seen action in the pros yet. That makes names like Cardinals defensive lineman Darius Robinson and Eagles cornerback Kelee Ringo, for example.
Daiyan Henley emerged as one of the best linebackers in all of football after making the list a year ago, but I’m still waiting on names like B.J. Ojulari and JuJu Brents to stay healthy and show if they can justify me putting them up there in the most recent version of this. Let’s get into these next few names for 2025:
Second- and third-year breakout candidates for the 2025 NFL season – Offense edition:
These last two months have been loaded with video content, discussing basically every single offseason move made by all 32 teams and, most recently, going through one burning question for each of them. So now it’s time for one of my favorite projects in written form every year – breakout candidates. Split up into offense and then defense next week, we’re looking at seven players on each side of the ball, coming off their rookie or second season, who I project to make a leap in 2026.
Since it’s tough to set the guidelines for what would qualify a “breakout” for the purposes of this exercise, I’m relying mostly on statistical metrics that the players in question haven’t reached yet – no 1000-yard rushers or receivers, players that have scored double-digit touchdowns, earned a Pro Bowl/All-Pro nominations or are just generally considered one of the better performers at their respective positions already. I also generally stay away from players who have barely seen action in the pros yet. That makes names like Vikings quarterback J.J. McCarthy and Steelers offensive tackle Troy Fautanu ineligible, for example.
Chase Brown, Khalil Shakir and Cam Jurgens all delivered on the lofty expectations I set for them last July, while Anthony Richardson is someone I’m still rooting for to reach his sky-high potential. Here’s this year’s list:
One burning question for each AFC team ahead of the 2025 season:
In the second half of this little mini series, we’re discussing what I believe are the biggest questions for all 16 AFC teams projecting forward to the 2025 NFL season!
Most improved position groups across the 2025 NFL offseason:
We officially put a close to our coverage of the talent acquisition period of the calendar, as we’ve extensively discussed everything heading into and coming out of the NFL Draft, before weaving it into the rest of the roster construction in our month-long video series, where I broke down every single move and its meaning one division at a time.
Now, it’s time to draw conclusions one more time through a league-wide lens and identify the position groups that were most improved through free agency, trades and the draft. This is based on what each roster looked in week 18, not taking injuries into account, whether they affected who was actually able to be on the field at that time or those who may linger into the season.
And one more disclaimer – I always look at this exercise in more of a holistic sense. One singular player may give an entire unit a very different feel, but I try to point out those groups that at least made multiple meaningful acquisitions.
Here’s what I came up with:
AFC West Draft & Roster Review 2025
We’ve reached the final episode of our divisional draft & roster review series for 2025! And we’re closing things out with the AFC West, who just sent three teams to the playoffs and saw the other one make some drastic changes to the key figures of their organization!
NFC West Draft & Roster Review 2025
We’re entering the final week of our divisional draft & roster review series, as we head West, starting off on the NFC side with the Cardinals, Rams, 49ers and Seahawks!
(This was recorded prior to the 49ers trading for Bryce Huff, hence why he wasn’t mentioned at all)
AFC South Draft & Roster Review 2025
Once again, switching conferences as part of this extensive video series, we’re taking a deep look at what the Texans, Colts, Jaguars and Titans did in the draft and the offseason as a hole to improve their rosters!
NFC South Draft & Roster Review 2025
We enter the second half of our divisional draft and roster review series, where today we’ll taking a look at the Falcons, Panthers, Saints and Buccaneers. I’ll break down every single player they drafted, their roles on the roster, incorporating all the other offseason moves, and share my perspective on what they did overall.
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