It’s time for everyone’s favorite NFL offseason content carousel, this time focusing on positional rankings for the 2025 season.
Life is all about balance—ebbs and flows, cons and pros, pros and joes, and plenty more antithetical rhyming flows.
So for every player in a position of power entering the 2025 NFL season, there has to be another facing a great deal of risk.
As we peer together through a glass half-empty, which players inevitably have the most to lose? Here are my nominees and rankings for every position ahead of the new NFL calendar.
2025 NFL positional rankings: Most to lose
#10: Justin Fields (QB, New York Jets)
Fields is in his NFL equivalent of Last Chance U. The former 11th-overall pick was thrown out the back door in Chicago, benched for the relic of Russell Wilson in Pittsburgh, and now has to take over a dysfunctional organization looking to recover from the stain of Aaron Rodgers under a new head coach.
On the bright side, Fields gets to reunite with his standout Ohio State receiver, Garrett Wilson. On the down side, a poor year could relegate Fields to being a career backup.
#9: Aaron Rodgers (QB, Free Agent)
Speaking of Rodgers, the general expectation is that he will sign with the Pittsburgh Steelers. That should stabilize a rocky ending to his career, but it also creates the possibility of the all-time worst scenario.
Mike Tomlin’s primary claim to fame is that he has never had a losing season as an NFL head coach. If that streak were to snap in Rodgers’ 2025 season with the team after he blew up the Jets’ franchise, it would arguably lead the rankings of worst finish to a historic NFL quarterback’s career.
#8: Marvin Harrison Jr. (WR, Arizona Cardinals)
Anyone remember who the first wide receiver taken in the 2024 NFL Draft was? That’s right, it was Harrison, an utterly phenomenal college player and the son of the 2016 Hall of Fame inductee.
Harrison Jr. had a solid rookie campaign with 62 receptions for 885 yards and eight touchdowns, but that was nothing compared to the seasons produced by his draftmates, Brian Thomas Jr. (87 receptions, 1,282 yards, 10 TDs) and Malik Nabers (109 receptions, 1,204 yards, seven TDs). Another year of separation between him and his peers would make the Cardinals’ selection look like a glaring mistake.
#7: Sam Darnold (QB, Seattle Seahawks)
A resurgent season with the Vikings allowed Darnold to go from getting kicked out of the NFL to landing a three-year, $100.5 million contract in the Pacific Northwest. His first and only season in Minnesota saw him produce career highs in completion percentage (66.2), yards (4,319), and touchdowns (35) and only threw 12 interceptions.
Skeptics will say that Darnold’s success only came as a product of being able to play in a Kevin O’Connell offense with Jefferson, Jordan Addison, T.J. Hockenson, Aaron Jones, and a great offensive line. He won’t have any of those luxuries and will play for a defensive coach in Seattle, putting his previous status as a fringe backup quarterback back on the table.
#6: Jayden Daniels (QB, Washington Commanders)
Daniels is one of two players that has the most to gain and lose in our 2025 NFL player rankings. He made the unfortunate part of the list because it will objectively be extremely difficult for him to find the same success he found last year, when he ranked fourth in QBR and got the Commanders to the NFC Championship Game.
Washington made several upgrades in the offseason, but its roster is still underwhelming as a whole. Daniels’ friend and fellow young QB, C.J. Stroud, just had a sophomore slump after a sensational rookie showing, and Daniels could be in for the same if they don’t add another high-level playmaker to the offense.
#5: Caleb Williams (QB, Chicago Bears)
Williams is the second player to make both lists. He’s one of the players with the most to lose because he has to show progress and positive signs after all of the upgrades his team made, particularly at head coach, to begin to vindicate his selection with the first-overall pick in the 2024 Draft.
A second consecutive disappointing season for Williams will create very real conversations about him being one of the biggest busts in modern NFL history. The Bears are a cursed franchise, and everyone should pray that Williams doused himself in holy water.
#4: Russell Wilson (QB, New York Giants)
“Giants country, let’s… fee-fi-fo-fum?” Wilson is probably approaching his final chance to revive his career as a starting quarterback in the NFL. If he fails, he could end up out of the league earlier than he could’ve simply because of his name and brand, a la Cam Newton.
Wilson had 16 touchdowns and five interceptions in 11 games last year. He’ll get to work with a stud in Malik Nabers and potentially Travis Hunter, but he’ll be the worst quarterback on the worst roster in his division.
#3: Patrick Mahomes (QB, Kansas City Chiefs)
A “down” year that culminated in a Super Bowl appearance? Who cares! But a second straight underwhelming season and, dare it be said, another MVP for Josh Allen or Lamar Jackson will have people questioning if Mahomes is still the best quarterback in the NFL.
Let’s be honest, Mahomes’ 3,928 yards and 26 touchdowns (both career-lows) were part of a 10th-best-ish quarterback season last year. With Travis Kelce getting another year older and the team mentally exhausted from all of their deep playoff runs, this might even be the first year the Chiefs don’t win the AFC West with Mahomes under center.
#2: Myles Garrett (DE, Cleveland Browns)
Garrett would’ve made his situation a lot better if he just admitted that he stayed in Cleveland for the money instead of his belief he could win there. His new four-year deal will keep him in Ohio until he’s 33, and by my eye, the Browns won’t be any closer to championship contention this season than they were in 2024.
Cleveland owes an enormous chunk of its cap to Deshaun Watson, who can’t play because of a torn Achilles, and Garrett, who was there when they went 3-14. There have been no notable upgrades and several downgrades, and Garrett looks like the NFL’s Bradley Beal—a bag chaser with no true desire to win.
#1: Brock Purdy (QB, San Francisco 49ers)
Purdy is entering the final year of his “Mr. Irrelevant” rookie contract. The 49ers front office released or traded a number of crucial players, including Deebo Samuel, Brandon Aiyuk and Christian McCaffrey are both coming off persistent injuries, and the offensive line was flat-out bad.
Purdy benefitted from playing with a stacked deck, but he now has to prove that he can be the man if he wants a lucrative long-term deal. A great season could net him $60 million per year, while a disastrous one could see him sign with a new team for $20-30 million annually.
