The NFL is back, and we’ve got questions — 25 of them, to be exact.
We can project and predict, hope and speculate and wonder aloud all we want, but ultimately nobody knows what’s about to unfold over the course of this brand new season.
It’s with that in mind that we’re highlighting 25 of our most pressing questions ahead of the 2025 campaign — the answers to which might just shape the season.
1. Can the Eagles run it back?
The defending Super Bowl champs are the betting favourites to hoist the Lombardi Trophy again in February, and it’s easy to see why. GM Howie Roseman lost some pass-rush talent but doubled down on defence in the draft and free agency while keeping his star-studded offence intact. The only thing harder than heading back to the Super Bowl, however, might just be claiming the crown of their own division — the last time the NFC East crowned the same division champ two years in a row was in 2004, when the Eagles won it for the fourth consecutive time. The top spot in the NFC East has changed hands every year since.
2. Can Saquon Barkley or Derrick Henry make (more) history? How about both?
With his 2,005 rushing yards in 2024, Barkley not only propelled the Eagles to the top of the NFC and, eventually, the Super Bowl stage, he also wrote his name into the history books in the process as the ninth player ever to hit the 2,000-yard single-season milestone. He also set a new record for most rushing yards in a single regular season and playoffs combined, with 2,504. Henry is the only other current player on that list of running backs to surpass 2,000 yards — he did it with the 2020 Titans, when he ran for 2,027 yards (fifth most ever in a single season), and came close to matching it last year with the Ravens when he piled up a whopping 1,921 yards. That success in Baltimore, at age 30, marked a career revival for the future hall-of-famer, who holds two of the top 11 single-season collections, and gave opposing teams nightmares when trying to stop the Ravens’ run game between Henry and Lamar Jackson. Both veterans paved the way for a resurgence at the running back position. Neither looks ready to pass the torch just yet, but…
3. Is Ashton Jeanty poised to become the next great running back?
Credit the game-changing seasons of both Barkley and Henry, at least in part, for reminding everyone just how impactful a feature running back can be — after a down year at the position in the 2024 draft, two went in the first round last spring. And none had more hype than Jeanty — and for good reason. Vegas’s sixth overall draft pick is as dangerous in the passing game as he is on the ground, and because of that is one of the more intriguing players not just from his rookie class, and not just in fantasy circles, but in the league overall. He’s well-positioned for a heavy workload, with Pete Carroll at the helm and his former Seahawks quarterback Geno Smith under centre, and might just hold the keys to igniting this stalling offence.
4. Can anyone chase down the Chiefs in the AFC?
Kansas City is one year shy of a full decade standing alone atop the AFC West. With Patrick Mahomes as the starter, the team has competed in seven straight AFC Championships and has been in the Super Bowl five times with three rings to show for it. Try as they might, neither Lamar Jackson nor Josh Allen has been able to stop him. The only AFC quarterbacks who have managed to top Mahomes are Joe Burrow and some guy named Tom Brady. Look around the conference, and there’s no lack of challengers. Burrow’s biggest hurdle, aside from his own slow starts, is his own squad’s porous defence. Can he overcome both? Jackson and Allen are both coming off the best statistical campaigns of their respective careers, with pressure to win it all at an all-time high in both markets. Can they finally get over the hump? One year ago, we viewed Stroud as the next man up, but a sophomore slump cast doubt. Is it possible that the biggest threat is within the Chiefs’ own division? Denver’s defence is building something special, and while the inclination is always to pit elite QB against elite QB, perhaps we’re looking at it all wrong. Maybe it’ll be the Broncos’ elite pass rush and brick-wall secondary — much like the Eagles team that dismantled Kansas City on the Super Bowl stage in February — that might just be up to the task. Then again, we should all know by now to bet against the Chiefs at your own risk.
5. Can the Bengals bring December urgency to September?
Considering how steep the competition is in the AFC, there’s no room for early-season errors — the Bengals know this better than most. Take last year: Joe Burrow finished the season as the league’s passing yards leader, Ja’Marr Chase its receiving leader, and Trey Hendrickson had more sacks than anyone else, and yet it still wasn’t enough to launch the Bengals out from behind their sluggish 0-3 start and into the playoffs. These slow starts are becoming an unfortunate calling card for Cincinnati: Over five seasons with the Bengals, Joe Burrow is 7-10-1 in September, with a combined 2-5 record in the past two years. Meanwhile, he’s rarely met a December game he hasn’t won — he’s 10-3 in those games (injuries sidelined him late in the 2020 and 2023 seasons, which is why the game totals are noticeably lower). Only once has Burrow posted a winning record in September — that was in 2021, and he went on to lead the team to the Super Bowl.
6. With his MVP in-hand, can Josh Allen level up again?
Allen and Jackson are appointment viewing every week, and it’s almost as though NFL schedule-makers know what they’re doing or something because they’re treating us to a Sunday Night showdown between the two elite QBs in Week 1. It’s hard to say which of the two is under more pressure to win it all this year. Let’s call it a tie — and an enticing storyline to follow all year.
7. Is Mike McDaniel on the hot seat?
There may be no clearer-cut favourite to claim a division than the Buffalo Bills in the AFC East. While the Patriots are expected to take a step forward under new head coach Mike Vrabel and the Jets are expected to bounce back — on defence, at least — with Aaron Glenn calling the shots in New York, the team most capable of pressing Buffalo is located due south in Miami. But expectations and potential haven’t matched reality, particularly when it comes to post-season results. McDaniel’s lack of success in January despite boasting one of the league’s most dangerous offences, and the team’s lack of resilience in the wake of Tua Tagovailoa’s injury absences, make this season a pivotal one for McDaniel’s Dolphins.
8. Did the Texans do enough to help C.J. Stroud regain his stride?
Only Bears rookie Caleb Williams was sacked more in 2024 than Stroud, who, after igniting the NFL in his own rookie year in 2023, fell flat in 2024. Injuries didn’t help, of course, but the biggest culprit was the porous offensive line. And unlike Chicago, Houston failed to land a big name to shore things up, relying instead on scheme adjustments and developing in-house. We’ll see if that’s enough.
9. Have the Titans found their guy in Cam Ward?
The first overall pick was handed the reins to Tennessee’s offence as soon as his name was called on the draft stage in April, and after a season rich in rookie QB talent last year, Ward is the lone true rookie to start at QB in 2025. No pressure.
10. How will the Jaguars use the most intriguing player in football?
That’s a question every single one of Jacksonville’s opponents will be asking before taking on Travis Hunter’s team this year as the rookie wide receiver/cornerback brings his dual-position game to the pros.
11. Have we seen the last of Anthony Richardson in Indy?
The 2023 fourth overall pick’s development hasn’t lined up with the Colts’ immediate need for a starting QB, and that’s set both franchise and athlete back. Benched in both of his first two pro seasons, Richardson now sits second on the QB depth chart behind free agent signing Daniel Jones, who beat out the 23-year-old for the job in training camp. Even if the step back is a good thing for the third-year pro and his long-term development, it’s worth wondering whether a fresh start might be best for both sides.
12. Will Daniels play his way into the MVP conversation?
After taking the league by storm in his rookie season, some regression could be expected now that the playbook on him is out — not to mention, a team can only orchestrate so many last-play victories before the luck dries up a little — but the Commanders didn’t stand idly by this summer. The club brought in a new weapon in dual-threat Deebo Samuel, (finally) resolved a contract standoff with leading receiver Terry McLaurin, and made some moves in the trenches, too. Daniels is one stellar sophomore season away from becoming the next face of the league, and we should all enjoy the show.
13. Taylor Swift is totally going be the Super 60 halftime act… right?
Why sit through the commercial breaks as Taylor Swift’s fiancé and his teammates take on the Chargers Friday night, when you could fall down a rabbit hole of numerology-fueled fan theories and follow fascinating trails of Swiftie-scavenged Easter Eggs that all point to her taking the Super Bowl Halftime Show stage in February? Hey, we can all dream, right?
14. Are we sleeping on the Giants?
All this talk about the quarterback battle between Russell Wilson and rookie Jaxson Dart — and of Brian Daboll’s job security as he navigates it — distracts us from the club’s real strength. New York has quietly constructed a pretty enticing group of pass-rushers, led by Dexter Lawrence II, Kayvon Thibodeaux, and Brian Burns, and with the addition of third overall pick Abdul Carter, the Giants are looking like a real force. The wins won’t come easy — according to Sharp Football Analysis, the Giants face the toughest schedule in the league this year — but the opportunity is there for this unit to make a statement.
15. What was Jerry Jones thinking?!
Trading Micah Parsons amid the bizarre summer-long contract standoff was always an option for Jerry Jones, but one no one thought would actually happen. After preaching (somewhat emptily) his desire to go all in to win, Jones’ decision to ship off a generational defender — and to a team that’s delivered more than its share of playoff trauma to your fanbase over recent years, to boot — is truly bewildering.
16. Is this the year Jordan Love hits another gear?
He’s had starts, stops, and flashes of greatness since taking over the starter’s role in Green Bay in 2022. He’s had back-to-back playoff berths, but also back-to-back early exits. He’s dealt with injuries — to himself, to his best weapons around him. All that contributes to the feeling that we haven’t really seen what Love can do on a consistent basis. Is the third year the charm for Jordan Love?
17. Can the Steelers revive Rodgers?
Or should it be the other way around? Strange as it is to see Rodgers don black and yellow in Pittsburgh, this might just be a perfect union. Both the franchise and the veteran QB found themselves at a crossroads — for the Steelers, it’s a question of how to translate a long-standing tradition of regular-season success into playoff glory; for Rodgers, it’s about shaking off two disastrous years in New York and giving the game one more year of the Rodgers we used to know and love (or, at least appreciate). At 41 — he’ll be 42 by season’s end — and about two years removed from rupturing his Achilles in front of millions of football fans, Rodgers isn’t the player he once was. But if he can show glimpses, with his elite football mind and his still-accurate arm, maybe he can remind us all he’s still one of the best to suit up. The Steelers are counting on it.
18. How do the Browns navigate their crowded QB room?
Joe Flacco starts Week 1, but how long is his leash? Dillon Gabriel won the backup job, but how long until the calls for Shedeur Sanders grow too loud to ignore?
19. Which Bryce Young will we see in 2025?
After a dismal rookie campaign and an uninspiring start to Year 2, Panthers head coach Dave Canales benched Bryce Young with the promise of a much-needed reset for the young quarterback. It worked — the Young we saw upon his return in the second half of the season looked confident, competent, refreshed, and ready to reprise his role. If Young can open the upcoming year like he closed the last one, we can stop questioning whether Carolina’s got their guy.
20. Do the Bears finally have a winning formula?
Bears fans have been burned by off-season expectations in the past, but this time feels… different. Doesn’t it? After watching his rookie QB take a league-high 68 sacks last year, Chicago GM Ryan Poles went out and built Caleb Williams a new offensive line. After the scheme and talent didn’t blend, he landed the brightest available offensive mind in the game in Ben Johnson to take over as head coach and play-caller. Williams still undoubtedly has a lot to prove in Year 2, and his fellow NFC North neighbours certainly won’t be making things easy on him, but the 2024 top pick is now better-situated to let his play, not just his surroundings, do the talking.
21. How will Lions QB Jared Goff fare in this new-look offence?
After another superb season in Detroit, the coaching carousel came calling, with the Bears hiring offensive coordinator Ben Johnson as their new head coach and the Jets doing the same with defensive mastermind Aaron Glenn. We’re about to find out just how big an impact they both had.
22. Can QB whisperer Kevin O’Connell work his magic again with McCarthy?
While Kevin O’Connell helped revive Sam Darnold’s career in 2024, first-round pick J.J. McCarthy sat and waited and watched from the sidelines as he recovered from a knee injury that held him out for his entire rookie year. Now, it’s McCarthy’s turn to take the spotlight. Is he ready? There’s a reason Minnesota stuck with its first-round pick rather than bringing Darnold back, and we’re about to find out what it is.
23. Was Sam Darnold’s 2024 season the exception, or the rule?
Darnold’s resurgence in Minnesota last year was a testament not only to the beleaguered QB’s resilience, but to how much an athlete’s environment can shape his success. Get him in the right situation, and he can thrive. Minnesota, known for running a very QB-friendly offence, was the ideal launch point for the second half of Darnold’s career. Whether he can carry that career momentum into Seattle will determine just how long this chapter lasts.
24. How serious is Matthew Stafford’s back injury?
He’s healthy enough to start the season this Sunday against the Texans, but even if the back injury that sidelined Stafford the first few weeks of training camp doesn’t follow him into his 17th pro campaign, speculation about it will. The 37-year-old’s every move will be studied under the microscope, the Rams’ weekly injury report will now be required reading. If Stafford stays healthy, these Rams — with their young, powerful defence and an offence that now features Davante Adams alongside Puka Nacua — are more than capable of defending their NFC West crown and orchestrating another playoff run. If he isn’t, bigger-picture questions emerge in L.A.
25. Are the 49ers back?
Injuries plagued San Francisco last year, the team digging deep into its depth chart to field a roster at times and sinking to the bottom of the division’s standings because of it. With a healthy offence, a newly paid quarterback in Brock Purdy, and the league’s easiest schedule in 2025 according to Sharp Football Analysis, the Bay Area squad is expected to bounce back in an NFC West that feels impossible to predict.
