Proposed Pressure Points for The 2025 NFL Season. Are They Justified?

Examining the validity of the scrutiny certain players are set to face heading into a pivotal year in their careers

The Anthony Richardson Dilemma:

Heading into his third season AR15 went from a player that fans were eagerly anticipating the evolution of after the 2023 NFL Draft to a player that average fans seem to have given up on. In his second year after having his rookie season last four games or 162 offensive snaps, Richardson struggled mightily with his accuracy, his drive to play the game, and his overall decision making. The guy was practically a rookie yet the league acted like it was his sophomore campaign expecting him to rise to the occasion in the worst division in all of football, the AFC South. Despite having a team with a historically bad defense, no running back when the team’s best player Jonathan Taylor missed several games, and no real WR1 (Michael Pittman doesn’t really count) the blame rested on Richardson’s shoulders. Although he deserved some blame for benching himself due to exhaustion and missing routine throws in seemingly every contest, NFL fandom seems to have forgotten how serious his injury was in his rookie season. 

He had his throwing shoulder landed on with all of Tennessee Titan linebacker Harold Landry’s body weight less than a quarter of the way through his rookie campaign. This caused a significant AC joint sprain requiring him to have surgery on his throwing shoulder that wouldn’t even allow Richardson to throw more than 40 passes a day during his rehab to get back to the field. It’s been a long time since the Colts actually pondered competing in the AFC South and their lackluster roster they’ve marched out through Richardson’s first two seasons helps reinforce that narrative. The thing is with an AC joint sprain is that it has a drastic effect on a quarterback's accuracy in the short to intermediate passing game. This explains why Richardson could make some of the craziest deep ball throws fans have ever seen against the Houston Texans and then turn around and miss a wide open quick out route in the blistering cold of Green Bay’s Lambeau Field. He uncorked the best pass I have ever witnessed in the Colts first game against the Texans that traveled 60+ yards in the air with pressure in his face rolling to his left as a right handed quarterback. He threw this pass unbalanced off of one foot. The guy has the tools to be a top tier QB and must see television. When watching him play it’s like you’re back in 2015 watching prime Cam Newton run away with the MVP award with some of his flashes or washed 2020 Cam Newton that couldn’t even throw an accurate quick slant at times.

Since Cam Newton there hasn’t been a quarterback with insane measurables, otherworldly athleticism, and an absolute cannon for an arm until AR15 entered the scene. This is what led the Indianapolis Colts to reach on AR15 with the fourth pick in hopes that history would repeat itself and that he could reach the pinnacle of performance like Newton had. Winning league MVP and leading the Carolina Panthers to the Super Bowl which was unfathomable for Panthers fans before he came to town. Richardson entered the draft with the strongest arm of any quarterback, the most straight line speed of all quarterbacks, and the biggest frame at a daunting six feet and four inches weighing in around 250+ pounds (AR put on weight despite his listing). Newton was an inch taller yet both share the exact same weight listed for the NFL at 245 pounds. What derailed Newton’s career is what has already happened in AR’s career: a significant shoulder injury. Newton’s caused him to miss 14 of 16 games in 2019, which was the end of his glory days in Carolina. He would then go on to quarterback the New England Patriots in 2020 in an awfully tumultuous season that would kill his career for good. He was no longer able to hit short to intermediate passes anymore and everyone could tell it was due to his shoulder. The Patriots offense would sputter the entirety of the season and Newton’s play was downright putrid missing seemingly every gimme pass that the offense afforded him. 8 TDs, 10 INTs, and 2,600 passing yards were stats that were a far cry from his 2015 season that made him the best player in the league. So why did everyone expect AR15 to be so good this year? He just  came back from an injury that could end an aging quarterback’s career, barely dipped his toes in the water as a rookie, and has no defense to allow the Colts to even get into the playoffs to begin with. The team needs pieces and AR needs time.

If the Colts get another wide receiver or a tight end to create space for Josh Downs and Pittman then the Colts really could have something brewing considering the plethora of issues that AFC South teams have in front of them. The Jaguars are set to implode with complete organizational failure looming over their once heralded quarterback Trevor Lawrence. The Texans have seen their promising wide receiver core disintegrate overnight with Stefon Diggs’ likely departure and Tank Dell having grueling injuries in both of his first two seasons that may sap the young talent of his potential. Lastly the Titans are just so far from being in the realm of contention with a below average offensive line, defense, and quarterback it’s not even funny. The opportunity is for the taking when it comes to AR and his future in Indy. The biggest issues with Richardson’s play are things that can easily be fixed. His rhythm and read progression. He just looks uncomfortable as a pocket passer too often, so the key with his game is to establish a stout rushing attack with Jonathan Taylor that can be enhanced by Richardson’s legs and ability to keep the ball. From that pillar in their offense Shane Steichen can draw up a game plan that gets Richardson out of the pocket with play action bootlegs and keep the offense simplified to a point where Richardson can consistently move the chains in the intermediate passing game and build upon his confidence. Richardson has the ability to throw the football seventy yards in the air in a tight spiral so if you simplify the offense and mix in shot plays every once in a while the Colts could seriously put up 30+ points a game. Richardson’s floor and ceiling are just so far apart that it’s hard for people to see the big picture. The man is 23 years old and needs another year or two to refine his game before he really takes flight. In the words of the most righteous man in the NFL, Aaron Rodgers, RELAX.

Darnold is Done playing for Minnesota:

This narrative is such an overreaction it’s not even funny. Meme pages relished in his failure to produce in the last two games of the Vikings season, ESPN pundits grilled his poor play, and Darnold himself believed he was a fraud. It was painted on his face clear as day. A guy who was most certainly labeled a bust at 26 years old prior to 2024, gets a shot with a stellar receiving core and an offensive guru Kevin O’Connell at head coach. The result was astonishing. The second best record in franchise history at 14-3 after expectations were set for the Minnesota Vikings to finish dead last in the NFC North. How many times are we going to see a player lead their team to one of the best records in the NFL and then be dumped a season later? Probably never. If the Vikings were smart they’d resign Darnold and here’s why.

Darnold showed all season that he could lead one of the most potent offensive attacks in all of football, protecting the ball, making excellent decisions, and launching missiles down the field as if it was natural to him. Then as the season approaches its end every media outlet that covers the NFL, specifically projected contract figures, floated out the idea that Darnold would get $50+ million a year this offseason. The mainstream media ran away with the narrative and then all eyes were on Darnold’s end of season performance. He played the Lions in at Ford Field to conclude the regular season in an away game that was possibly the biggest regular season game in NFL history with each team entering the contest with a 14-2 record. With the Lions defense in shambles with over a dozen injured players Darnold was expected to have a field day. He didn’t whatsoever in a blowout loss, but he easily could have. There were at least four or five wide open receivers for touchdowns that he didn’t even throw the ball to. He was in his own head and it would carry over into the playoffs where he stopped seeing the field, took an abundance of hits, and once again received a beatdown at the hands of the Los Angeles Rams. A Rams team that was one Kyren Williams fumble against the Eagles away from potentially making it to the Super Bowl. Darnold’s problem to end the season had nothing to do with skill, oddly, it was all psychology. The casual fan who didn’t watch the Vikings throughout the regular season would say to move on, but why?

If the Vikings moved on from Darnold who just displayed his best football this year for a young, inexperienced 22 year old JJ McCarthy it would be a boneheaded move to say the least. McCarthy was a player who was limited in his opportunities at Michigan as he conducted a run-centric offense that was aided by the best defense in all of college football. He was rarely asked to make huge throws and had moments where he randomly melted down on the biggest stages before U of M took home the National Championship Trophy. I’m not labeling McCarthy a bad player to clarify, but why not let the young talent with budding potential take a year or two to learn behind a veteran QB who’s starting to blossom and has familiarity with this level of football. Darnold also built rapport with Jordan Addison as the season began to wind down, which is a key factor. The organization needs to avoid hindering Addison’s production by giving JJ another year to observe O’Connell’s offense. Why risk throwing McCarthy into the fire when you just had a Darnold discount fall directly into your lap? If he’s $35 million or less it’s simply a no brainer for the Vikings to retain him. Once the organization believes McCarthy is ready then the team can look to move Darnold for a premium price. They'd have prime real estate on the trade market for any QB needy organization who doesn’t want to pay top dollar for a quarterback. In fact his diminished contract value could end up increasing his trade value because why would a team want to trade an ascending relatively young QB on a good contract? They wouldn’t. That’s the argument for keeping Sam Darnold.

Is Jordan Love Really Worth His Contract?

One thing that marked Jordan Love’s season this year was consistent inconsistency. An issue that also plagued the wideouts in his receiving core. Two of which, Dontayvion Wicks and Romeo Doubs, have routinely shown flashes and faded with crucial drops. You’ll watch Romeo Doubs make an incredible catch to seal a game and then turn around and drop a ball that should be a routine catch. The thing people have forgotten about is that not only does Jordan Love not have a real go-to wide receiver one in his offense, but he was playing through a gruesome knee injury he sustained in the team’s first game against the Philadelphia Eagles the entire season. Instead of missing the entire season with an MCL injury, he gutted it out while being nowhere near full health. Josh Jacobs was a huge help to Love as he solidified himself as a stud workhorse running back in Green Bay’s offense to alleviate some of the pressure on his quarterback, but in the end his heroball simply wasn’t enough. That being said even with a down year for Jordan statistics wise he showed some serious potential to be one of the best QB’s in the entirety of the NFL. It’s clear that he can make Aaron Rodgers-esque passes where he bounces up on his toes and delivers 60 yard strikes. None of which looked prettier than his throw to Jayden Reed against the LA Rams. He lofted a pass from his own 35 yard line on a rope to Jayden Reed who was blanketed in triple coverage. It was a perfect pass completed with a Jayden Reed contested catch on the Rams two yard line. A 63 yard throw that would be ill advised for nearly every quarterback in the NFL besides Love. The main issue with his game though was the lack of zip he’d put on some passes where he bounced up on his toes.

This lack of zip resulted in underthrown passes that resulted in interceptions and sometimes Love would have horrendously bad turnovers in pivotal moments for Green Bay. One notable instance of this I can recall is when Green Bay played the Lions at Lambeau Field on a cold rainy day. There were 42 seconds on the clock and Jordan Love was trying to lead his team down the field to muster any points possible in an uneventful 10-3 game in favor of the Detroit Lions. From his own forty he took the snap and retreated from the Lions pressure they had sent and had nowhere to go with the football. In desperation Josh Jacobs flashed his hands for a dump off pass well behind the line of scrimmage. Love threw the ball and it went directly into the hands of Lions safety Kirby Joseph which was returned for a Lions touchdown. This instance was an inexcusable blunder because Joseph was on Jacobs like white on rice as another Lions linebacker, Ben Nowaske, ran up to tackle Jacobs for what surely would have been an eight yard loss even if the pass was completed. That’s the issue Jordan Love had all season. With his knee injury it only amplified the issue because Jordan Love was taking some outrageous gambles as a gunslinger all year, which was probably due to his efforts to avoid big hits. The talent will shine through this next season though once the team acquires an X-factor wideout to give Love the ability to launch deep balls consistently at full strength. There is one obvious candidate that suits Love’s game the best. DK Metcalf.

DK Metcalf has had his fair share of ups and downs, but his specialty is making spectacular plays on deep balls. His blazing speed and 6 foot 4 inch frame would give Love the ability to attack teams down the field at any moment leaving defenses susceptible to home run plays. This key addition would cement the Packers as a force with Jayden Reed receiving less attention so he can get open in the short game and create after the catch. When he gets space the guy is electric. You pair Reed, Metcalf, and Jacobs together and there really would be no answer for the Packers arsenal. It’s unknown what Metcalf’s value truly is since Seattle just got Jaxon Smith-Njigba who looks like the best guy the Seahawks have at receiver and Seattle is at a weird point in time for their franchise. Do you keep limping in the NFC West with Geno Smith at quarterback or do you move pieces on the roster to gain draft capital that will bolster the roster for contention? Both teams would likely win from this deal. Seattle could beef up their offensive line with picks and Green Bay would give Love a weapon he desperately needs. It’s a compelling draw for Green Bay considering they haven’t had a stud wideout since Davante Adams left for the Raiders. The Love hate agenda has resulted from a culmination of his injury, the media moving away from his injury to cover the 2024 NFL season, and having a wide receiving core that has been plagued by injuries that haven’t allowed for the emergence of a true #1 guy. Mark my words Jordan Love will become a top 5 guy at one point in his career and will hoist the Lombardi Trophy. 

The Dolphins Reek, Hill is trapped

Tyreek Hill is one of the fastest players that has ever graced a football field. Perhaps the fastest. Despite his slump in numbers that saw him have a season that was far from his best and the worst since his rookie season, he is nowhere near a shell of himself. This year the Miami Dolphins were an absolute dumpster fire once again with their franchise cornerstone quarterback Tua Tagovailoa missing chunks of the season due to repeatedly getting concussed each and every year. At this point the experiment and confidence Tua can lead a high powered offense should be at an all time low. He always melts against the league’s best defenses turning the ball over at an exceptionally high rate. His numbers are smoking mirrors with Mike McDaniel as his head coach because his career year was defined by playing the worst teams and defenses in the entire NFL. It’s hard to fathom how the team can have faith in Tua moving forward. He’s a well below average deep ball passer, often missing the long ball by throwing it on the wrong shoulder of his receiver or underthrowing wide open opportunities. Tyreek expressed his frustration with losing at the end of the year, but now has pivoted his stance to convey he wants to stay in Miami. This simply appears to be a ploy to inflate his value on the open market because there is absolutely no way Hill is happy wasting his prime in South Beach.

Despite Tyreek having some glaring character issues he undoubtedly is a top three to five wideout in the entirety of the NFL. Next to Jaylen Waddle’s blazing speed and Devon Achane’s track sprinter burst in the backfield this team should be competing for the AFC East every single season, but haven’t lived up to expectation in the slightest. It’s incredibly ironic when looking at the arc of Tua since he began his tenure in Miami when looking at this team. He infamously had his dispute with former Dolphins Head Coach Brian Flores who didn’t believe the hype around the young quarterback out of Alabama. This was well documented as Brian Flores would give Tua tough love and question his leadership to a point that apparently broke his confidence. This led the organization to cut ties with Brian Flores and the elite defense he had put together for them in favor of a coach that could coddle Tua and restore his faith in himself. Mike McDaniel came into town and the team would trade for Tyreek Hill to give Tua all the tools he needed to succeed after having flashes of potential when the team drafted his former college teammate Jaylen Waddle. The results today have been incredibly underwhelming as teams know exactly who Tua is, a system QB who doesn’t excel at seeing defenders in his passing lanes. It’s like a broken record watching Tagovailoa in a game against a team that has a winning record. He locks onto reads, forces passes, and refrains from throwing the ball longer than ten yards because good teams key in on Tyreek’s ability to beat them deep. Tyreek was sold on a false promise that Tua was elite and wanted to make the money he deserved, so it’s hard to understand why people label him as a player that only is in it for the money.

If the Dolphins don’t give up on Tua very soon it would be utterly shocking considering he has one of the best offensive rosters around him and hasn’t been able to even compete in a playoff game. The organization can keep pretending Tua is their guy with unshakable confidence, but it will blow up in their face. I can assure you that with 100% confidence. Miami should look to get a reasonable price for Tyreek Hill that allows the front office to retool and look ahead to the future. Pretending like everything is fine while there’s trouble in paradise won’t cut it and if any team shows interest in Tua then trade him there. This team needs to be blown up because as each year passes they are wasting premium contract value with Achane and Waddle who are both worth far more than what they are currently being paid. Being complacent with fighting to sneak into the playoffs isn’t a place an organization wants to be each and every season. Even at 31 years old Tyreek can still be the guy on a team with Super Bowl aspirations. Some landing spots could be the Atlanta Falcons so long as they can dump Kirk Cousins’ contract, the Raiders who are looking to give their first round quarterback a number one option next to Brock Bowers, and even the Patriots who have an abundance of cap room, premium draft picks, and a young QB who can blossom with an elite wide receiver after playing with the worst wide receiving core in the NFL. Tyreek will be back with vengeance next season no matter what team he ends up playing for.