Eight young NFL players whose development could propel their teams in 2025

There was so much expected of Williams in his rookie season that we sometimes forget he wasn’t a complete disaster. He did some impressive things for a player who had never played pro football, throwing for 3,541 yards with 20 touchdowns and six interceptions and rushing for another 489 yards. Legends like Peyton Manning and John Elway would’ve loved to have produced those kinds of numbers as rookies. The problem for Williams, the top pick in the 2024 NFL Draft, was that he was supposed to be a generational talent, then didn’t create much magic for a Bears team that finished 5-12 and imploded in epic fashion. The Bears quarterback heads into Year 2 with plenty of reasons to believe better days are coming. His new coach, Ben Johnson, is one of the most innovative minds in football. Bears general manager Ryan Poles retooled the interior of an offensive line that was largely responsible for a league-high 68 sacks and added two more pass-catchers in the draft (tight end Colston Loveland and wide receiver Luther Burden III) to an already deep group of skill players. The Bears had to do all this not only to help their second-year quarterback prosper. They’re also playing in the NFC North, which has turned into the toughest division in football. There isn’t a team in that division that shouldn’t be thinking about winning it and making a deep playoff run. If Williams does his part, it wouldn't be crazy for the Bears to dream the same thoughts.

There was a lot of buzz around McCarthy heading into last year, until a preseason knee injury opened the door for Sam Darnold to become the Vikings’ starting quarterback. McCarthy impressed the coaches and front office with his intangibles -- his charisma, his leadership and his ability to learn quickly -- and the expectation is that essentially taking a redshirt year will end up being beneficial to his development. McCarthy also is walking into the same situation that helped Darnold prosper in 2024. The supporting cast on offense remains stellar, particularly with All-Pro wide receiver Justin Jefferson at his disposal. The defense should be strong once more, especially with lineman Jonathan Allen joining a unit that tied for fourth in the NFL with 49 sacks in 2024. The key is whether McCarthy has the maturity to go out and not do too much. He was only 21 years old when he entered the league as the 10th overall selection, so that year on the sidelines wasn’t a bad deal for him. He’s also going to benefit from a coaching staff that is one of the best in the league at working with quarterbacks. Head coach Kevin O’Connell, offensive coordinator Wes Phillips and quarterbacks coach Josh McCown have proven their ability to maximize the strengths of the signal-callers that come under their tutelage. Those talents will be essential in helping McCarthy blossom. The Vikings won 14 games last year while he watched from the sideline. At the very least, he should be able to lead Minnesota back to the postseason. If he’s as good as advertised, this team could go on a deep playoff run.

Yes, the Chiefs must fix their offensive line problems, with left tackle being a major priority. They also need to see Worthy, their first-round pick in the 2024 draft, continue the development he displayed throughout last year and into the postseason. We still don't know whether or not Rashee Rice will serve a suspension because of his involvement in a car crash in Dallas last spring. Rice also is returning from a major knee surgery, and the Chiefs' third receiver, Marquise “Hollywood” Brown, has a history of dealing with injuries (he missed 14 games last year with a shoulder/collarbone injury). Worthy was the player who emerged when those setbacks occurred, and there likely will be stretches when he’s the top receiving option this fall (especially with star tight end Travis Kelce turning 36 in October). Worthy proved that he was more than a speedster who could stretch defenses, as head coach Andy Reid put more responsibilities on him with each passing week. He finished the season with 59 receptions, 638 yards and six touchdowns, but his postseason contributions were far more notable. He led the team with six receptions for 85 yards and a touchdown in an AFC championship win over Buffalo. He also was one of the few positives in a 40-22 loss to Philadelphia in Super Bowl LIX, as he finished with eight catches for 157 yards and two scores, most of which came in garbage time. Those efforts indicated how much Worthy grew over the season, and how high his ceiling could be moving forward. Reid and quarterback Patrick Mahomes have had little success at returning that offense to its more explosive ways over the last two years. The emergence of Worthy would help that cause immensely.

There’s been a lot of speculation about the factors that could keep the Eagles from repeating as Super Bowl champions, and most of it tends to revolve around the losses along their defensive front. Along with the departure of defensive end Milton Williams in free agency, the Eagles also watched edge rushers Josh Sweat and Brandon Graham (retired) leave the franchise. That means new faces must emerge to impact the quarterback, and Smith will be one of the most important pieces on the outside. He’s always had the talent, as his 4.39-second time in the 40-yard dash at the 2023 NFL Scouting Combine helped turn him into a first-round pick that year.

Last season, Smith showcased his ability to transform potential into production. He went from playing a limited role as a rookie to amassing 6.5 sacks and 24 quarterback pressures in his second year. Smith also had four sacks in three playoff games leading into Super Bowl LIX before adding a couple of quarterback hits in that win over Kansas City. Smith has spent the last two seasons playing behind more accomplished pass rushers. This is the season when he must take that next step and prove he’s more than just a nice rotational weapon. Philadelphia’s schedule is filled with prolific offenses and athletic quarterbacks, both outside the NFC East (like Mahomes, Buffalo’s Josh Allen and Green Bay’s Jordan Love) and within it (Washington’s Jayden Daniels and Dallas’ Dak Prescott). The Eagles' ability to defend those opponents won’t just come down to their strong secondary. They’ll need more disruptive players up front, and that’s where Smith needs to deliver.

There were high expectations for Kincaid after he produced 73 receptions as a rookie in 2023. But last year wasn’t nearly as much fun for him. His contributions decreased (he only had 44 catches in 13 games), and he dropped a desperation pass from Josh Allen in what became the final play of the Bills’ season in an AFC Championship Game loss to Kansas City. There were plenty of questions about Kincaid’s slippage, but it seems that health played a role in that, as the tight end dealt with a collarbone injury and injuries to both knees. So if he returns to form in 2025, there’s every reason to expect Kincaid to look more like the ascending talent he was in his first season. The Bills will still be relying on an assortment of pass-catchers to support Allen and fuel this offense. Plenty of targets will go to wide receivers like Khalil Shakir, Keon Coleman and Josh Palmer, but the usage rate of Kincaid also should be a critical aspect of what Buffalo hopes to accomplish on that side of the football. The Bills envisioned him as a matchup nightmare when they made him a first-round pick two years ago. If he becomes that, then this offense certainly goes to another level, with Allen’s improvisational skills, a couple of running backs who can create problems in the pass game (James Cook, Ty Johnson) and one of the best offensive lines in football. The Bills have been trying to get over the hump -- by that, we mean the Kansas City Chiefs -- in the AFC for the last five years. Kincaid becoming a dominant weapon is something this team definitely needs to see happen.

The Packers have made it known they want to do a better job pressuring opposing passers. They’ve also made it clear they think they have the necessary people in the building, which means there’s confidence in Van Ness showing marked improvement in his third season. Lofty expectations have hovered over him since Green Bay selected him 13th overall in the 2023 NFL Draft, but the results have been mixed. So far, he’s produced eight sacks and 17 quarterback hits in his career (including playoffs), which is not nearly enough for a player selected that high. Part of the problem might be circumstances. Van Ness has played for two different coordinators in two seasons, as he lined up as an outside linebacker in Joe Barry's 3-4 defense as a rookie before switching back to the role of down lineman in the 4-3 system current coordinator Jeff Hafley installed last offseason. It’s possible that Van Ness hasn’t been as productive because he’s had to learn a lot of things on the fly. Of course, the Packers don’t want to think about the other possibility, which is that he just might not be good at bringing quarterbacks down. The Packers enjoyed obvious improvement in Year 1 with Hafley, especially when it came to creating turnovers. However, harassing opposing signal-callers is vital to surviving in the NFC North. The Detroit Lions had the best offense in football last year. Their former offensive coordinator, Ben Johnson, is now the head coach of a Chicago Bears team that has loaded up on offense to help Caleb Williams thrive. The Vikings are relying on J.J. McCarthy to be an improvement over Sam Darnold. Even with all those challenges, the Packers can win that division. However, it’s not going to happen unless they can make life difficult for all those quarterbacks, and Van Ness needs to play a huge role in that.

Penix was a hot topic at this time last year because nobody really understood how the quarterback situation in Atlanta would play out. After all, the Falcons used the eighth overall pick in the draft on him nearly two months after giving Kirk Cousins $100 million in guaranteed money in free agency. The belief was that Cousins would hold the job for at least a couple of years, until Penix was ready to play. Now Cousins is trying to figure out where his career is heading after being benched for the last three games, and Penix is the player tasked with helping the Falcons break a seven-year playoff drought. Penix didn’t do anything breathtaking in his three starts -- he completed 58 percent of his passes for 737 yards with three touchdowns and three interceptions as Atlanta went 1-2 -- but he also didn’t do anything to make people think he couldn’t mature into a reliable leader.

There is still plenty to like about the situation that Atlanta is dropping him into this fall. The Falcons have a strong backfield (Bijan Robinson and Tyler Allgeier), talented receivers (Drake London produced 100 receptions in 2024, while Darnell Mooney amassed 992 receiving yards) and a solid offensive line. These are the types of assets franchises need to put around young quarterbacks, and the Falcons invested heavily in their defense by drafting two edge rushers in the first round in April. Penix is basically in a situation similar to Williams and McCarthy. He doesn’t have to morph into Patrick Mahomes. He just needs to avoid the devastating turnovers that plagued Cousins in the second half of last season and lead this team into the postseason.

Harrison produced a solid rookie season with the Cardinals, finishing with 62 receptions for 885 yards and eight touchdowns. Unfortunately for him, he suffered from the same issues that haunted Caleb Williams: The expectations were much higher for him when he entered the league. Some people talked about Harrison as if the Cardinals had just found their next Larry Fitzgerald when he became the fourth overall pick in last year’s draft, a foundational receiver who would dominate for years to come. Harrison still has ample time to deliver on his potential, and a breakout season this fall would make the Cardinals turn the corner on becoming playoff contenders. This team was sitting at 6-4 in early November, with a four-game win streak inspiring optimism about the Cardinals playing meaningful football in January. They ultimately lost five of their last seven games, and Harrison failed to reach 65 receiving yards in six of those contests. That can’t happen in his second season. Harrison displayed flashes of what he could become at multiple times last year (including a 130-yard effort in a 41-10 win over the Rams and a 111-yard day in a comeback victory at Miami). He just needs to do more of that, which isn’t a ridiculous goal, now that he’s had a full offseason to work with quarterback Kyler Murray. It’s rare for gifted wide receivers from Ohio State to fail, as we’ve seen talents like Garrett Wilson, Jaxon Smith-Njigba and Chis Olave produce 1,000-yard seasons within their first two years in the league. Harrison was considered better than all those guys when he arrived. The Cardinals need him to prove as much this fall.