- Browns quarterback battle will dominate the preseason: While Joe Flacco enters coaching camp as the favourite to win the beginning job, youthful challengers are making their presence felt, with Shedeur Sanders, specifically, drawing consideration throughout minicamp.
- Potential trades may open up Packers‘ receiving corps: Young skills like Dontayvion Wicks and third-round rookie Savion Williams may carve out significant roles in Matt LaFleur’s scheme, however Mecole Hardman has been the standout early in minicamp.
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Estimated Reading Time: 8 minutes
NFL coaching camps are proper across the nook, signaling the beginning of one of the crucial aggressive stretches of the offseason. After months of roster strikes, draft picks and free-agent signings, groups will lastly get a more in-depth take a look at how their new lineups stack up.
Depth charts are removed from settled, and coaching camp is the place jobs are received or misplaced. From quarterback competitions to beginning roles at extensive receiver, cornerback, and past, these are the vital place battles that can form the 2025 NFL season.
Quarterback battles
Cleveland Browns: Joe Flacco vs. Kenny Pickett vs. Shedeur Sanders vs. Dillon Gabriel
The quarterback battle set to dominate headlines this preseason will unfold in Cleveland, the place head coach Kevin Stefanski should determine who will lead an offense that ranked final in EPA per dropback in 2024.
Veteran Joe Flacco enters camp because the presumed front-runner, however youthful challengers — notably rookie Shedeur Sanders — have made early impressions, with Sanders drawing reward all through minicamp. With a troublesome early-season schedule, this competitors may stay unsettled into the common season, and the Week 1 starter is probably not the one beneath heart by 12 months’s finish.
Indianapolis Colts: Anthony Richardson vs. Daniel Jones
Inconsistency and accidents have left Anthony Richardson trailing within the Colts’ quarterback competitors heading into coaching camp, and a latest setback together with his shoulder may additional hinder his probabilities. With Richardson sidelined, Daniel Jones is reportedly rising because the early favourite to win the beginning job.
While Jones confronted his share of criticism throughout his time in New York, he demonstrated competence when working inside construction. Before being benched and finally launched final season, he earned an 83.2 PFF passing grade when stored clear — an indication that he can reach the proper system.
New Orleans Saints: Tyler Shough vs. Spencer Rattler
The Saints face main uncertainty at quarterback following Derek Carr’s retirement. Without Carr beneath heart in 2024, New Orleans’ quarterback group posted a league-worst 50.4 PFF passing grade.
Spencer Rattler and Jake Haener had been a part of that underwhelming efficiency, prompting the Saints to speculate a second-round decide in Tyler Shough. Despite a historical past of accidents, Shough impressed in his last school season, incomes a 94.3 PFF passing grade on throws at or past the sticks.
Dallas Cowboys Running Backs
Javonte Williams vs. Miles Sanders
The Cowboys overhauled their backfield after ending thirty first in staff dashing grade (60.7) in 2024, including 4 new gamers to compete for touches.
Javonte Williams and Miles Sanders headline the competitors, with rookies Jaydon Blue and Phil Mafah aiming to carve out complementary roles. While each Dowdle and Sanders have confronted challenges in recent times, every affords upside. Sanders earned an 84.8 dashing grade on hole runs final season (albeit in a restricted pattern), and Dowdle ranks within the 77th percentile in yards per route run over the previous two seasons.
Carolina Panthers Wide Receivers
David Moore vs. Jalen Coker vs. Jimmy Horn Jr. vs. Hunter Renfrow
After Bryce Young closed the 2024 season with an 83.7 passing grade from Week 8 onward, the Panthers doubled down on their receiving corps by drafting Tetairoa McMillan within the first spherical. With McMillan becoming a member of Xavier Legette and Adam Thielen, Carolina’s prime three receiver spots seem locked in, leaving the depth battle extensive open.
The shock return of Hunter Renfrow and the presence of David Moore present veteran stability, however it’s the youthful names making early waves. Sixth-round decide Jimmy Horn Jr. has impressed together with his explosiveness throughout minicamps, and Jalen Coker earned a 73.8 receiving grade in a breakout marketing campaign final 12 months, positioning him as a robust candidate for a significant function in 2025.
Green Bay Packers Wide Receivers
Dontayvion Wicks vs. Mecole Hardman vs. Savion Williams
Drafting Matthew Golden within the first spherical despatched a transparent message to the Packers’ receiver room. With commerce rumors swirling round Romeo Doubs and Christian Watson, alternatives may open up for different gamers to earn vital roles throughout coaching camp.
Young skills like Dontayvion Wicks and third-round rookie Savion Williams are well-positioned to make an impression in Matt LaFleur’s system, however it’s Mecole Hardman who’s turning heads in minicamp. While he by no means absolutely emerged in Kansas City, Hardman has persistently proven elite separation abilities, rating within the 93rd percentile in separation price over the previous three seasons.
Houston Texans Offensive Line
After ending twenty first in pass-blocking grade (65.3) and twenty fifth in run-blocking grade (57.4) in 2024, the Texans spent the offseason revamping their offensive line. The unit is anticipated to proceed evolving all through coaching camp, however early indications recommend Houston may characteristic 4 new starters, with Tytus Howard because the lone returning starter.
Joining Howard within the present first-team lineup throughout minicamp are Cam Robinson, Laken Tomlinson, Jake Andrews and Blake Fisher. With rookie Aireontae Ersery, veterans Trent Brown and Ed Ingram, and 2023 picks Juice Scruggs and Jarrett Patterson all within the combine, the beginning 5 stays removed from settled heading into Week 1.
Denver Broncos Cornerbacks
Riley Moss vs. Ja’Quan McMillian
The Broncos adopted up a robust 2024 defensive efficiency — ending fourth within the league with a 77.9 PFF grade — by making one other key funding, deciding on Jahdae Barron within the first spherical of the draft. Barron’s versatility, with the power to play each outdoors and within the slot, gives Denver flexibility because it reshuffles the secondary to search out its optimum lineup.
While Riley Moss and Ja’Quan McMillian received’t be going head-to-head for a similar function, every should show he belongs within the rotation. Though neither earned standout grades final season, each deliver distinct strengths to the protection: McMillian confirmed off his ball abilities with eight pressured incompletions and two interceptions (together with a pick-six), whereas Moss stood out in tight protection, permitting only a 26.7% open goal price.
Carolina Panthers Edge Defenders
Nic Scourton vs. Princely Umanmielen
The Panthers’ 2024 protection was a significant weak spot, because the unit completed the season with a 44.9 PFF grade , the bottom within the NFL by a large margin. After a heavy offseason funding within the line of defense, a number of beginning roles are up for grabs, with the sting rusher spot shaping as much as be essentially the most intriguing competitors.
The Panthers’ 24.4% strain price in 2024 ranked final within the NFL, prompting them to signal Pat Jones II and draft a pair of promising Day 2 prospects in Nic Scourton and Princely Umanmielen. While Jones figures to play a significant function, the highlight shall be on the rookies, who flashed high-end potential in school.
Dallas Cowboys Edge Defenders
Dante Fowler Jr. vs. Donovan Ezeiruaku vs. Payton Turner vs. Marshawn Kneeland vs. Sam Williams
As the Cowboys navigate a possible contract extension with All-Pro cross rusher Micah Parsons, consideration shifts to the alternative edge dashing spot following the departure of DeMarcus Lawrence. Dallas introduced in former first-round picks Dante Fowler Jr. and Payton Turner in free company to compete with second-rounders Sam Williams and Marshawn Kneeland, and so they additionally added Boston College standout Donovan Ezeiruaku within the second spherical of the 2025 draft.
While Fowler and Turner deliver veteran expertise, neither has lived as much as their first-round pedigrees. Among the incumbents, Williams has quietly excelled in a rotational function with consecutive seasons above a 71.0 pass-rushing grade, whereas Kneeland struggled as a rookie with sub-55.0 grades in each cross rush and run protection. Still, it’s Ezeiruaku — extensively considered one of many prime worth picks within the draft — who may make the largest impression on this wide-open competitors.