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ERROR: type should be string, got "\n\nhttps://preview.redd.it/maas0enec4yd1.png?width=780&format=png&auto=webp&s=c102d2907ec110fb2618025bc6b1222e09cae90c\n\nWelcome to today's open thread, where r/nfl users can discuss anything they wish not related directly to the NFL.\n\nWant to talk about personal life? Cool things about your fandom? Whatever happens to be dominating today's news cycle? Do you have something to talk about that didn't warrant its own thread? This is the place for it!\n\nRemember, that there are other subreddits that may be a good fit for what you want to post - every day all day!\n\n* r/NFLFandom for showing off your fandom\n* r/NFL_Draft for talking in depth about the draft\n* r/NFLNoobs for noob questions, no judgment\n* r/nflblogs for posting blog posts - including your own\n* r/nflofftopic for talking about anything with NFL fans\n* r/nfffffffluuuuuuuuuuuu for all kinds of humor posts\n* r/nflcirclejerk for when r/NFL just becomes too much\n* ... and more - see the sidebar! Welcome to today's open thread, where r/nfl users can discuss anything they wish not related directly to the NFL.Want to talk about personal life? Cool things about your fandom? Whatever happens to be dominating today's news cycle? Do you have something to talk about that didn't warrant its own thread? This is the place for it!Remember, that there are other subreddits that may be a good fit for what you want to post - every day all day!r/NFLFandom for showing off your fandom r/NFL_Draft for talking in depth about the draft r/NFLNoobs for noob questions, no judgment r/nflblogs for posting blog posts - including your own r/nflofftopic for talking about anything with NFL fans r/nfffffffluuuuuuuuuuuu for all kinds of humor posts r/nflcirclejerk for when r/NFL just becomes too much ... and more - see the sidebar!"

ERROR: type should be string, got "https://preview.redd.it/6bvf0ivryp6f1.png?width=900&format=png&auto=webp&s=09cd94ce4a12c555469f778e4dcebc901d29e297\n\n.\n\nWe 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.\n\nNow, 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.\n\nAnd 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.\n\nHere’s what I came up with: \n \n.\n\n.\n\nhttps://preview.redd.it/093cfsstyp6f1.png?width=900&format=png&auto=webp&s=3c6034592d227814ce477faa9668f59fa7c1f777\n\n.\n\n**Quarterbacks – Las Vegas Raiders**\n\n*Additions: Geno Smith, Cam Miller (& Tommy Mellott)*\n\n*Departures: Gardner Minshew II & Desmond Ridder*\n\n.\n\nIt’s always a good starting point for a position group when arguably the best player among it is now in a backup capacity. That’s how I feel about Aidan O’Connell and what he’s been able to do when called up and he’s had a solid run game to complement him. More importantly, I think they added what I believe has established himself as a legit franchise quarterback and what they lost are pretty definitively a QB2 and QB3 in this league. Gardner Minshew has had some really fun moments and deservedly has received opportunities to start for extended periods when called upon in Jacksonville, Indianapolis and Las Vegas. Yet, he’s also had some rough turnovers and missed throws at the worst times and needs a certain set-up to succeed. Meanwhile, Desmond Ridder is someone I used to defend to a certain degree in Atlanta, when I believed he delivered more high-level quarterback play for the majority of games than he was given credit for, but the lack of consistent accuracy and more of those catastrophic giveaways made the Falcons move on from the former third-round pick, and it took several injuries for him to see the field in multiple games for the Raiders last year.\n\nGeno Smith is on a whole different level of existence in my opinion, as far as NFL signal-callers go. And based on the general temperature on him, I don’t believe people truly understand how bad his protection in Seattle was last season and the level of difficulty he operated under. Pete Carroll immediately trading for his former QB when he took over this gig and abruptly handing him a new two-year, 75-million-dollar extension, should be very telling for how highly he’s regarded in that organization. I’m willing to acknowledge that by the numbers, he’d be around the middle of the pack. Yet not only would that be an upgrade compared to what they had in-house previously, but I believe what his aggressiveness as a passer provides is a level of game-changing throws as part of the risk assessment that was almost completely missing, if their quarterbacks didn’t have a clean look. We have yet to see if a couple of the young guys on this O-line can take a step forward and/or if either Alex Cappa or one of their draft picks can step into a prominent role, but even if all of their guys stayed the same, you’re working with a unit that finished last year as 13^(th) in PFF pass-blocking grade compared to 26^(th) for Seattle. At the same time, although we have yet to see how this receiving corp comes together, second-round pick Jack Bech (TCU) can do a lot of the same stuff out of the slot for Geno as a zone-beater as Jaxon Smith-Njigba, and this is a QB who can take advantage of a couple of speedsters they’ve brought in recently. Envisioning what this offense will look like under offensive coordinator Chip Kelly, leaning on sixth overall pick Ashton Jeanty as your workhorse on the ground and then using heavy play-action off that, but then also being able to isolate a talent like Brock Bowers on the backside of 3-by-1 sets and attacking the space created by spreading the field, I believe Geno is a great fit.\n\nAt the end of round six in the draft, Las Vegas also basically selected the two quarterbacks who faced each other in the FCS Championship game, with Montana State’s Tommy Mellott – who was actually announced as a wide receiver – and North Dakota State’s Cam Miller. The former being expected to make a position change right away isn’t shocking, considering he ran the 40 in the high 4.3s reportedly and not only was he the fastest player on the field pretty much anytime I saw him onto the field for the Bobcats, but for someone at six foot, 205 pounds, his toughness to fight for yards and embrace big collisions stood out on numerous occasions. He’ll probably be utilized as a package player by Chip, considering how often upon his quarterback’s number last year at Ohio State, with plenty of “power” and “counter” concepts, along with the occasional trick play off that, as they how he can develop his game as an actual pass-catcher. Miller, on the other hand, is much more of your traditional pocket passer, who minority owner Tom Brady has already endorsed publicly. The former member of the Bison shows a lot of poise, is consistent with his base and has enough arm talent to access pretty much all areas of the field. He’s shown the mentality capacity to handle even full-field progressions at times in timely fashion and I saw some high IQ moments by replacing the blitz with throws that led his targets away from nearby defenders. It’s when he’s moved off his spot and gets a little lazy with his feet, that you saw the ball being sprayed to some degree, and overall, there’ll be a learning curve operating in a crumbling NFL pocket compared to the time he was afforded at NDSU.\n\n.\n\n**Honorable mention:** Tennessee Titans\n\n.\n\n.\n\nhttps://preview.redd.it/8hxkayzvyp6f1.png?width=900&format=png&auto=webp&s=7ab6face4dc11d30b5356b6a28e0dd3c0c28fdfc\n\n. \n\n**Running backs – Los Angeles Chargers**\n\n*Additions: Najee Harris & Omarion Hampton*\n\n*Departures: J.K. Dobbins & Gus Edwards*\n\n.\n\nTo discuss this Chargers backfield appropriately, we have to go back to 2023 and the transition it’s gone through since then. At that point, this trio consisted of a seemingly washed Austin Ekeler and a couple of fourth-round picks from the previous two drafts. The long-time veteran went through a little bit of an upswing this past season as a role player and actual second-team All-Pro kick returner in Washington this past season, but the other two are scratching and clawing for roster spots on the Titans and Chargers respectively. When Jim Harbaugh, Greg Roman and company came in last year, they basically imported the previous Ravens backfield, which the offensive coordinator of course, was very familiar with from his days in Baltimore. Edwards has generally been a very serviceable power runner as part of a rotation for his career, while Dobbins has put together truly impressive stretches in his career as a second-rounder, but unfortunately injuries have marked his career. That includes 2024, when he put up 1058 yards and nine touchdowns from scrimmage across 13 games, and definitely offered the most “juice” of anyone in that group. However, the Bolts fundamentally didn’t end up producing the efficient ground game they probably envisioned coming in. Dobbins ripping off the occasional chunk run was the difference between finishing 18^(th) in rush EPA (-0.079) and tied for 27^(th) in rushing success rate (36.9%), as an indication of their down-to-down consistency. That’s largely a result of their offensive line, in particular on the interior, and with the “Gus Bus” lacking that explosiveness, the lows of this rushing attack became more prevalent, as he averaged just 3.6 yards per carry. We can question how much they improved up front this offseason, although I do believe swapping out Trey Pipkins for Mekhi Becton at right guard is a substantial indication of where they want to go.\n\nNonetheless, L.A. clearly thought they needed to upgrade from the guys handling the ball, who were both on just one-year deals. First, they signed free agent Najee Harris, who was generally regarded as an underwhelming former first-round pick in Pittsburgh, whose fifth-year option was declined, but we do have to give him credit for going over 1000 rushing yards in all four seasons with the Steelers and he added another 1149 yards on 180 receptions. I have wanted more out of him based on what he was at Alabama, as he’s another guy who can grind out tough yardage, but simply lacks the short-area burst or long speed to be a true difference-maker. Still, he has largely operated in antiquated offensive systems until this past season, when he simply wasn’t necessarily a great fit for a wide zone-based run game. Getting him going downhill and showcasing his ability to conceptually take advantage of the blocking should be helpful, and maybe his best contributions have been as a reliable outlet in the passing game, which he’s now working with a quarterback in Justin Herbert, who’s very willing to check the ball down.\n\nIn the draft, the Chargers came back in round one and selected what was pretty universally accepted as the RB2 in this class in North Carolina’s Omarion Hampton. The former Tarheel is built pretty similarly as Najee, at six feet and a more muscular 220 pounds. He runs behind his pads and is fully capable of churning through attempted tackles, but what differentiates him from the veteran is his re-acceleration after pulling himself out of those. Hampton has excellent feel for allowing creases to develop on inside zone concepts, but he also does a good job of keeping his pads square on man/gap plays. While he can be overly reliant on his burst to capture the edge and I wouldn’t call him a particularly creative open-field runner, he has such light feet for a guy that can finish this violently. So he brings a lot of the same qualities as Najee, even though what he was asked to do conceptually was lesser, but he has the willingness and strike force to become a plus pass-protector as well, and he adds a big-play threat that the veteran simply doesn’t provide.\n\nLast year’s sixth-round pick Kimani Vidal is someone who flashed his all-around game to some degree as a rookie in a more sawed-off bowling ball-type of frame. And I will also bring up the name of an undrafted free agent in Raheim Sanders here, since that guy racked up over 1700 yards and 12 touchdowns from scrimmage for Arkansas in 2022 and somewhat quietly put up 1200 yards and 13 scores for a surging South Carolina team this past season. I viewed him as someone with the quality of being on an NFL roster, but he’ll have to beat out last year’s promising sixth-round pick Kimani Vidal and to some degree also Hassan Haskins, who at least dressed in all 17 weeks for the Chargers and was a core special teamer for them. Making it a priority to swap out the top two of that chain for younger, slightly bigger players without injury concerns, gives this backfield a different feel.\n\n.\n\n**Honorable mentions:** Las Vegas Raiders & New England Patriots\n\n.\n\n.\n\nhttps://preview.redd.it/qtlnw1iyyp6f1.png?width=900&format=png&auto=webp&s=9a83a995df68c18731d348918310c2999ebbdf7a\n\n. \n\n**Receiving corp – Houston Texans**\n\n*Additions: Christian Kirk, Justin Watson, Jayden Higgins & Jaylin Noel*\n\n*Departures: Stefon Diggs, Robert Woods & Steven Sims*\n\n.\n\nIf you showed a casual football fan these two rows of names, they might think Houston actually downgraded since Christian Kirk is the only pro addition with any notoriety, while Stefon Diggs and Robert Woods have played a combined 22 seasons and produced nearly 19.000 receiving yards in the NFL. However, what you’re really looking at with that duo nowadays is someone coming off a torn ACL at mid-season who’ll turn 32 years old this season in Diggs, whose yards per route run mark has dropped from an average of 2.31 the previous four seasons down to 1.87 these last two. While Woods is already 33, his yardage total has decreased each of the past four years, from 556 down to just 225 in 2024, and at this point is probably more valuable when he doesn’t touch the ball, as still a quality blocker. You throw in journeyman Steve Sims, who has played on four teams in six years and has combined for just 129 yards since 2021, and you’re not losing much of what you were willing to part ways with. This isn’t saying those players can’t be useful for their current teams, but for a team that was so reliant on Nico Collins as their alpha receiver, especially when Tank Dell wasn’t available, it was time to overhaul this room.\n\nTrading for Christian Kirk from their division rival Jaguars, was a reasonable move for both sides, as Jacksonville wanted to dump his cap hit and for Houston, he can provide a vertical component out of the slot, along with also using that speed on a horizontal plane. Everything felt so out of sync at his previous stop last year, when they had guys in and out of the lineup, including Kirk himself missing half the action. Yet, in his 29 total games previously with the Jags, he averaged 4.9 catches for 65.3 yards per game, as someone who’s always been at his best when provided a runway. The other veteran in the mix here is Justin Watson, who was selected in the fifth round by Tampa Bay back in 2018 and barely saw the field for them, but quietly played a lot for the Chiefs since coming over four years later. Over his three seasons in KC, his snap percentage consistently rose from 43 all the way to 61%, combining for well over 1000 yards and seven touchdowns over that stretch. He gained a lot of trust of that coaching staff for the work he put in as a blocker, clearing out space underneath on downfield routes and then hauling in contested catches at a 57% rate over the latter two years, as someone who can finish through contact when given opportunities.\n\nPlus, then of course the Texans did something fairly uncommon, when they decided that they liked both Iowa State receivers so much, that they might as well select both in the second and third round respectively. Jayden Higgins can be more of your traditional big-bodied boundary receiver with a pretty advanced release game already, but also profiles as someone who finds success as a power slot. He’s not going to get on top of corners consistently, but he really understands how to get defenders leaning the wrong way, how to expand windows in zone coverage for himself, consistently is friendly with working back towards the quarterback, has excellent hand-eye coordination and plucks the ball out of the air, even with someone on his hip. Meanwhile, Jaylin Noel comes in with a more compact package and right now is mostly limited to the slot, but his ability to eat up cushions to safety with his vertical push stands out constantly. He tracks the ball tremendously well and surprises with a 54.5% success rate in contested situations. You see that strength also show up in his ability to defeat leverage by breaking across the face of off-defenders and when he catches the ball on the run, no one’s going to catch him – even though his ability to make people miss in space leaves you wanting more.\n\nI believe Higgins is pretty much locked into two-wide receiver sets thanks to his alignment versatility, but then the question will be how quickly Noel can battle for slot snaps in 11 personnel groupings. Something I pointed out in my AFC South draft and roster review is that this coaching staff I’m sure loved what those two former Cyclones provide as blockers right away – especially Noel. So if new offensive coordinator Nick Caley wants to tap more into a downhill rushing approach, coming over from the Rams, where he uses these guys in more condensed sets, that might sway him more towards the rookies, along with how well they play off each other. Taking out Tank Dell, coming off that gruesome leg injury he suffered at Christmas, no matter which two guys of this trio is paired up with Nico, that feels a lot more dynamic than beforehand.\n\n.\n\n**Honorable mentions:** New England Patriots & Chicago Bears\n\n.\n\n.\n\nhttps://preview.redd.it/6vbpym41zp6f1.png?width=900&format=png&auto=webp&s=8340a8f009420d818541c88cf41c65034afd24f0\n\n. \n\n**Offensive line – Chicago Bears**\n\n*Additions: Joe Thuney, Jonah Jackson, Drew Dalman, Ozzy Trapilo & Luke Newman*\n\n*Departures: Teven Jenkins, Coleman Shelton, Matt Pryor, Larry Borom & Jake Curhan*\n\n.\n\nTrying to weigh which offensive lines are most improved every year creates a certain challenge, because probably more so than any other unit on the field, so much about their success collectively is about cohesion and on-field reps together. So these guys staying healthy and together is a huge piece in this, and so is having answers in case they do deal with an injury or two at some point. Regardless, even though swapping out three starters by no means automatically results in an improvement, I feel a lot better about this new interior trio for Chicago. First and foremost, we do have acknowledge that Teven Jenkins had developed himself into a quality starter when available, I would argue. However, he’s only been available to play for 52.3% of potential snaps on offense since he was drafted by the Bears four years ago. Otherwise, while Coleman Shelton and Matt Pryor were fixtures at center and right guard, they have at best been fringe starters for their careers and combined for 10 sacks and 50(!) total pressures allowed last season. A lot of the missed assignments, where someone would come free on a twist or someone from the second level was unaccounted for were partially due to their questionable protection plans, but to some degree can be relayed back to this duo. Larry Borom logged about 1000 snaps at right tackle his first two years and then just over 700 on the left side over the latter two of his rookie deal as a former fifth-rounder, who they ultimately viewed as a definitive backup. While Jake Curhan finished 212^(th) among 223 offensive linemen last season who logged 200+ snaps and is someone you could pick at even more so in protection, when he was asked to jump in for Jenkins.\n\nThat means, they bring back their starting tackle tandem of Braxton Jones entering the final season of his rookie deal and Darnell Wright, who showed substantial improvements in year two (and they were also the highest-graded performers along this unit). Plus, they sent a fifth-round pick to Buffalo last year in exchange for Ryan Bates, who at least has been a serviceable sixth linemen, although he missed almost all of 2024. Yet, when they brought in new head coach Ben Johnson, they didn’t mess around with heavily investing into the guys they’d put in front of Caleb Williams, trying to show why he was the number one overall pick in the previous draft, since I believe so many of his issues were compounded by never having protection he could trust, as things started to spiral out of control. And they did so by hitting the trade block and jumping on opportunities to bring over veteran guards for day three draft picks, who they felt like were available at a discount, thanks to their previous teams being tight on cash and willing to move on to younger options in-house already. Joe Thuney is coming off a rough showing in the Super Bowl and I’d say the playoffs altogether. Typically operating in a more condensed space where he’s not facing opponents with a runway into contact to bully him with speed-to-power maneuvers, he has been about as good as any pass-protecting guard over the last seven seasons, averaging an efficiency of 98.3 over that lengthy period. And he’s been insanely durable, only missing two of 169 possible starts in his career. Meanwhile, Jonah Jackson was made available by the Rams after just a one-year trial following a pretty strong run with the Lions on his rookie deal. He only played 267 total snaps for L.A. and those were pretty evenly split between each of the three interior spots, as they were trying to figure out how the best construction of that grouping looks like early on, and they never really had a chance to fully find out, considering their slated starter at left guard got hurt before halftime of their week one game, they moved Jackson over there from center before he went on IR himself and inserted a rookie, who they must feel comfortable with sticking there long-term, along with coincidentally bringing back over Coleman Shelton for competition. Taking over his 17.5-million annual cap hit looks a lot more reasonable through the spectrum of what linemen were paid in this free agency cycle. We already know he excelled in a multi-faceted ground game under Johnson in Detroit and his recovery skills out of compromised positions in pass-pro have always been a huge plus.\n\nChicago didn’t stop there however, because in order to finalize this group, they needed to find someone at center and they signed the best one on the market in Drew Dalman. I understand that there may be some size limitations in terms of what you can ask of him to dig shade nose-tackles out of their gap, but this has been a premiere player in an outside zone-based system for Atlanta over the last one-and-a-half season, who also diversifies your play-action game since he was regularly tasked with pulling duties as part of the Falcons’ dart protections. Added to that trio, they spent one of their second-round picks on Boston College’s Ozzy Trapilo, who has NFL size and anchor strength along with starting experience on both ends of the line, and immediately presents an improvement as your swing tackle. And sixth-round pick Luke Newman is built on the smaller end, but provides flexibility across the three interior spots, if he gets called upon from the practice squad to begin the season most likely.\n\n.\n\n**Honorable mentions:** Minnesota Vikings & Washington Commanders\n\n.\n\n.\n\nhttps://preview.redd.it/4kr9dw37zp6f1.png?width=900&format=png&auto=webp&s=1f760f9733b1d3d096fd10b5265d0a106bac9729\n\n. \n\n**Defensive line – New England Patriots**\n\n*Additions: Milton Williams, Harold Landry, K’Lavon Chaisson, Khyiris Tonga, Joshua Farmer & Bradyn Swinson*\n\n*Departures: Davon Godchaux, Deatrich Wise Jr., Yannick Ngakoue, Daniel Ekuale, Jeremiah Pharms & Eric Johnson*\n\n.\n\nSwitching over to the opposite side of the ball, New England had claims for both running backs and their receiving corp being much improved coming into 2025. However, I believe we’ll even more so see a very different defensive front, not just by names but also style of play – and this includes what may be “outside linebackers” on the depth chart, as long as they overwhelmingly line up on the line of scrimmage. This by no means is an outlier occurrence, but we saw the Patriots undergo wholesale changes to their D-line room, allowing six players who played at least 150 defensive snaps last season for them to walk in free agency (2596 combined), yet brought in the same amount of new guys, primarily as free agents, along with a fourth- and fifth-round pick respectively. Looking at the names they’re looking to replace, Davon Godchaux and Deatrich Wise Jr. were the most fundamental to what they were doing under former head coach Jerod Mayo. Outside of Foxborough, nobody would necessarily describe them as difference-makers, but they at least provided a steady baseline, clogging up rushing lanes and delivering solid pressure numbers respectively. Their level of play has unfortunately fallen off as of recent. Having said that, I was kind of shocked to find out that Jeremiah Pharms played over 40% of snaps last season due to Christian Barmore missing so much time with the blood clot situation – and Pharms performed at a replacement level. Daniel Ekuale was very much in the same mold, as more of a rotational piece. Yannick Ngakoue has at worst been a serviceable designated pass-rusher, even if he’s largely benefited from being schemed free on different games, but he was abysmal for the Pats once brought in over the second half of last season, only collecting three pressures on 116 opportunities. And then Eric Johnson they were comfortable waiving once they were done acquiring players.\n\nIf you solely compared that to the trio of free agents they brought in – Milton Williams, Harold Landry and K’Lavon Chaisson – I would already classify those as a major upgrade collectively. We can argue if the first among those is actually worthy of a 26-million-dollar price tag, considering he was the third D-tackle in Philadelphia and had the benefit of lining up next to Jalen Carter in defined passing situations regularly, where he’d rarely have an extra hand in protection coming his way. Still, he’s developed himself into one of the best interior rushers in the game, backed up by the highest PFF grade in that capacity (91.7) among the position, with some of the best per-snap numbers and win rates. In run defense is where he’ll need to prove himself, but if you allow him to penetrate as a three-technique in more of an attacking front than previously, he can be a disruptive force. Meanwhile, Harold Landry is someone Mike Vrabel is very familiar with from their days in Tennessee together. He offers more of that bendy speed-rusher off the edge that they didn’t really have on the roster, even if he never quite elevated to a legit number one guy. Still, he’s consistently been around the pressure-per-10-pass-rush-snaps benchmark and just received his highest PFF grade in run defense last year (82.2). K’Lavon Chaisson meanwhile, is still trying to reach that level of baseline as a former first-round pick by Jacksonville, who simply never lived up to his promise of actually becoming quite a similar style of player, with his flexibility. Yet, he just had his most productive season in Las Vegas, where we was right on the line I just described and could at least be a valuable piece on the deeper end of the rotation.\n\nThen in the draft, the Patriots made it a priority to surround second-year quarterback Drake Maye with the pieces he needs to succeed, but once day three rolled around, they added young talent to the front- and back-end of their defense. Joshua Farmer in round four is someone with legit knock-back force and over 35-inch arms to lock up and pull aside blockers in the run game. He can also get underneath pass-protectors and take away space for opposing quarterbacks with the bull-rush. I labelled him as more of a straight-line athlete in my draft profile on him, because he doesn’t really show the ability to contort his frame and corner his rushes, but he can deliver some disruption as an upfield player on a certain number of snaps. Bradyn Swinson, who they selected out of LSU a round later, on the other hand, I viewed as an early second-round talent, before character concerns supposedly dropped him that far. If he learns to be a professional and that staff provides him the opportunities, he can potentially become a legit three-down starter for them. He sets a pretty firm edge on the ground and then he expertly converts speed-to-power, along with packing a pretty wide array of rush combats, stacking moves on top of each other as he’s working his matchups throughout games. Overall, I think what this collection of names sells to us is that they’ll be a more aggressive front and I believe the backfield production will follow.\n\n.\n\n**Honorable mentions:** New York Giants, Arizona Cardinals & San Francisco 49ers\n\n.\n\n.\n\nhttps://preview.redd.it/r4wxfwh9zp6f1.png?width=900&format=png&auto=webp&s=a65197b46c231301540b20d6d210a7df5ab90a3f\n\n.\n\n**Linebackers – Philadelphia Eagles**\n\n*Additions: Jihaad Campbell & Smael Mondon Jr.*\n\n*Departures: Oren Burks*\n\n.\n\nMoving on to the second level, there weren’t many contenders for this position group, due to a more lackluster draft class and even more so, almost all of the noteworthy names slated to hit the open market, re-signing with their team. Robert Spillane earning an average of 11 million dollars over the next three years in New England ended up being the top mark for any off-ball linebacker in free agency, and number three was already down to seven million AAV. That’s how the Super Bowl champion Eagles can make the list despite only adding a couple of rookies to their room. First and foremost – as I pointed out in the intro – Nakobe Dean isn’t considered as part of his discussion, since he’s expected to miss the entire 2025 season with a torn patellar tendon that he suffered in the Eagles’ Wildcard Round win over the Packers. His substitute Oren Burks did a nice job filling in and with him moving on to Cincinnati, you are replacing an established backup linebacker at least. However, I don’t believe he’d be a cemented starter basically anywhere in the league and a big reason for that are his problems as a tackler. Depending on the source you look at, he missed between 19.4% and 23.5% of his attempts over those four playoff games in place of Dean. In the meantime, they selected two big-time players at that position from the SEC.\n\nComing to Tuscaloosa as a five-star edge rusher recruit, Campbell’s career took a while to take off, sitting behind the likes of fellow first-rounders Will Anderson Jr., Dallas Turner and others. When he transitioned to more of an off-the-ball role last season, he became one of the nation’s more dynamic players at that position. There are some false steps initially and although he offers plus length, he’s still figuring out how to approach these more head-on interactions with blockers, but when he trusts his eyes, that short-area burst to beat guys to a spot and his range when the ball goes wide pops off the screen. His fluid movement skills in coverage will only shine more as he learns the intricacies of what he’s being asked to do, and he’ll be fully capable of matching backs and tight-ends as the pattern develops. And while he has room to grow with his hand-combats, just looking at the bend and quicks that he flashes when deployed as a pass-rusher, he can become a legit difference-maker in that capacity.\n\nMeanwhile, Smael Mondon may not have the same type of physical presence, at 6’2”, around 225 pounds. However, he was an impact starter for the Bulldogs each of the past three seasons and their head coach Kirby Smart at one point called him “as good an athlete” as he has ever seen, which is wild statement considering the guys who have come through that program since he took it over (not to mention who he was working with at Alabama previously). When there’s a lane opening up for him on the front-side, he’ll fill it in a hurry, yet his agility to scrape from the backside and run down wide plays led to him cleaning up a lot of stuff for that defense. Those wheels at LB are why that coaching staff was comfortable splitting him out with slot receivers and legitimately running stride-for-stride with them up the seam or on shallow crossers. Not to speak of his spatial awareness in zone assignments, to fall underneath targets coming in behind him, the reason Philly couldn’t pass on him in the fifth round is that at the very least he should immediately be a chess piece to deploy in matchups against some of the better receiving tight-ends in the game.\n\nThat combination of someone with Campbell’s pass-rushing tools, which should only be enhanced with continued work on his technique, and Mondon’s coverage profile really adds more dynamism to what they can do behind what was a dominant front last season. Although Nakobe Dean’s instincts and willingness to just run through a pulling guard before that guy can even turn the corner will be missed to a certain degree, but excluding him from this discussion due to the injury, the range these two rookies bring to the table gives that unit a different feel. What I’m really curious about is how much Vic Fangio leans into the flexibility of Campbell in concert with Zack Baun. He already implemented his own version of the old “40 front”, where the eventual All-Pro would drop down to the line of scrimmage once the quarterback initiated his cadence, to change up blocking angles and muddy up the picture on RPOs, etc. – Will those two become sort of interchangeable in who is deployed in that way, and will they tap into more variety in terms of games that involve second-level rushers?\n\n.\n\n**Honorable mention:** Cleveland Browns\n\n.\n\n.\n\nhttps://preview.redd.it/u8ne77qbzp6f1.png?width=900&format=png&auto=webp&s=5076b945e63e6cd5b1884cadd2cdff984c9b0a41\n\n. \n\n**Secondary – New York Giants**\n\n*Additions: Jevon Holland, Paulson Adebo & Nic Jones*\n\n*Departures: Jason Pinnock & Adoree’ Jackson*\n\n.\n\nWhile not as pronounced as the cohesion necessary to perform at a high level on the offensive line, defensive backfields operate similarly to a certain degree. Especially in today’s game I’d argue, where so many coverage structures are based on match rules and being able to trust your teammates when you pass off assignments, you need to operate as a well-oiled machine. Denver is my honorable mention because they actually only added pieces without giving up who they already had in place. The Giants ended up being my pick here nevertheless, since they replaced two clear weak spots with what I regard as established pieces. The grading services have not been kind to 2023 first-round pick Deonte Banks through his first two seasons, although I’d argue he’s had plenty of bright moments in some tough coverage assignments and as a tackler. Yet, Jason Pinnock otherwise received the lowest overall mark in this secondary by PFF last year (54.5), as an unreliable tackler and someone who provides too much air in the coverage and easy completions in his vicinity, surrendering passer ratings in the mid-130s/140s, depending on which source you look at. Adoree Jackson on the other hand, had a slight bounce-back this past season, but he was pretty abysmal in 2023, finishing with tied for the 12^(th)\\-most yards allowed (753) on just the 37^(th)\\-most targets. New York kept him around for longer than expected, based on the sizable deal they handed to him after the Titans cut him in 2020. They already waived Nick McCloud early on in November last year by the way, after he couldn’t live up to some of the promise he had previously shown.\n\nI might be in the minority at this point in how high my opinion on Jevon Holland is, but when healthy, but signing him for 45.3 million dollars over the next three years to me was a steal in this free agency cycle. The two reasons he didn’t command top dollar were injuries leading to him missing seven games over the past two seasons and – to contributing in this to some degree – the lack of statistical production. After starting his career with 21 passes defensed (four interceptions) over his first couple of years, that number dropped to eight of the latter half of his rookie deal, with that incredible 99-yard pick-six on a Hail Mary just before halftime against the Jets in that 2023 Black Friday game being the only moment of note for most fans. Even though I would concur that he took a slight step back and just had his worst year as a tackler, for the majority of his young career I thought you clearly felt his presence on the field. This is someone with the range to be trusted in the high post, he has tremendous click-and-close burst to drive on routes breaking in front of him in match assignments or give you quality off-man snaps, and he’s an angle eraser when runs bounce out wide. I believe he deserves some grace for just having played in three completely different defensive systems in as many seasons.\n\nPaulson Adebo meanwhile, didn’t come in at that kind of discount, with an AAV of 18 million dollars over that same stretch. Over his four years in New Orleans, he has showcased consistent improvement, taking out one really poor tackling game against the Bucs, in which it felt like that entire Saints defense was disinterested in trying to get the guy with the ball to the ground. Still, until Adebo broke his leg the following week (seven), he was off to arguably his best start so far. Over these past two seasons, he’s been responsible for a passer rating of just 67.4, and even though to some degree in 2023 especially he matched up with number two receivers, due to the presence of Marshon Lattimore as part of a more traditionally man-oriented scheme, he more than held his own when targeted. The only thing that has been an issue throughout his rookie deal is how many flags he’s drawn (35 total). Maybe being asked to play less with his back to the ball in more vision zone set-ups can lessen those.\n\nNic Jones can be largely ignored for the sake of this conversation since he was primarily a special teamer as a seventh-round pick for the Chiefs two years ago (67 defensive snaps), before getting waived and then sticking around on the practice squad this past season. He’ll be in competition with a UDFA from South Carolina in O’Donnell Fortune and a couple of fringe roster candidates in Tre Hawkins and Art Green for that CB6 spot, assuming they carry that many guys on gameday. Focusing on the top two names, I’m still a believer in their defensive coordinator Shane Bowen, now having been allowed to hand-pick pieces on the back-end, combined with how they’ve continued to boost their front. The Titans were one of the best teams at limiting rushing success with negative box counts, and with less volatile pieces in the secondary combined with this level of pass-rush, spearheaded by third overall pick Abdul Carter, they could really turn things around in 2025.\n\n.\n\n**Honorable mention:** Denver Broncos\n\n.\n\n.\n\n.\n\n**If you enjoyed the analysis, please consider checking out** [**the original article**](https://halilsrealfootballtalk.com/2025/06/11/most-improved-position-groups-across-the-2025-nfl-offseason/) **and feel free to follow me on social media!**\n\n.\n\n**Instagram:** @ halilsrealfootballtalk\n\n**Blue Sky/X:** @ halilsfbtalk\n\n."