50 bold predictions for the 2025 NFL season (Part 1)
By Matthew Coller
It’s that time of year again, friends: Prediction season. Every year here on Purple Insider, we have made a list of bold prognostications, which either turn out to be brilliant or foolish but nonetheless fun to follow throughout the season. So we begin with predictions No. 50 through No. 26.
Let’s roll….
*Subscribers, leave your own bold predictions in the comments*
The New England Patriots will finish over .500
After a brutal season under Jerrod Mayo, the Patriots went big by hiring proven head coach Mike Vrabel with hopes that he could repeat the success that he had in Tennessee. New England also made a serious effort to improve every area of the roster, which was arguably the NFL’s worst in 2024. They acquired Eagles DT Milton Williams, edge rusher Harold Landry, CB Carlton Davis, S Marcus Epps, C Garrett Bradbury and WR Stefon Diggs in order to bolster the defense and help support young QB Drake Maye. While they are very unlikely to be a serious contender, Vrabel’s team should take a significant step in the right direction so long as Maye builds on the positives from his rookie season.
Justin Fields will make the Jets think about keeping him long term
The huge leaps forward by Sam Darnold, Geno Smith and Baker Mayfield in the last few seasons should make us think twice about writing off any talented quarterback who was dropped into a terrible situation at the beginning of their career. While Fields’ fatal flaws were still on display in Pittsburgh last year, he showed signs of improvement from the sack-riddled start to his career in Chicago.
The Jets are going into 2025 with expectations that they will be horrendous but the supporting cast around Fields isn’t as bad as you would think for a team that only won five games last season. They have been building the O-line and have a No. 1 receiver in Garrett Wilson. If they can put together a gameplan that works towards Fields’ strengths, it’s possible he could take enough of a step forward to make the front office consider sticking with him the same way the Bucs stayed with Mayfield.
The Pittsburgh Steelers will have their first losing season under Tomlin
Do the Steelers have a better roster than the Jets did in 2024? Even with the acquisition of DK Metcalf, they do not have an impressive supporting cast to put around Aaron Rodgers and play caller Arthur Smith hasn’t been the same since he couldn’t hand off to Derrick Henry every play.
The desperation swing with Rodgers is pretty telling about the Steelers’ desperation to escape the first-round-out purgatory that they have been living in for years. Their failure to find a successor for Ben Roethlisberger has put them in a position where they have to hope and dream that a 41-year-old quarterback who hasn’t been good since 2021 can suddenly find some magic again. That doesn’t sound like a great bet, particularly since Rodgers left a Jets team that was thought to be stacked in shambles. It wouldn’t be surprising if he gets another coach fired.
Shedeur Sanders will start by Week 8, Kevin Stefanski will be fired by Week 15
The quarterback competition between veterans Joe Flacco, Kenny Pickett and third-round and fifth-round picks isn’t exactly inspiring. Neither is their wide receiving corps. Cleveland’s No. 2 receiver Diontae Johnson was traded by the Panthers and let go by the Ravens last season. Their No. 3 receiver had 29 catches last year. The only thing the Browns have going for them is that Myles Garrett ended his short-lived trade request to return, keeping a pretty nasty defense in tact. But unless they are the ‘85 Bears, it’s really hard to see them making any noise in the NFC North. A bumbling start to the season would leave them no choice but to give fans what they want in Sanders and it would be shocking if Stefanski could survive another terrible season.
Trevor Lawrence will set career highs in yards, touchdowns and the Jags will win the AFC South
The former No. 1 overall pick has not yet lived up to his hype but he also hasn’t been a total flop either. With a new head coach entering the mix who pushed Baker Mayfield to 41 touchdowns and 4,500 yards, this appears to be the best chance Lawrence has ever had to become some semblance of what he was expected to be.
The supporting cast doesn’t exactly match up with the best of the best in the NFL but Brian Thomas Jr. showed that he has true No. 1 WR capabilities and the Jags added Travis Hunter in the draft and speedster Dyami Brown. That should give them enough juice to compete in the worst division in football.
Travis Hunter will catch 40 passes and play 300 defensive snaps
Make no mistake, Hunter is a special talent. He has the potential to be a perennial Pro Bowl type player and it isn’t crazy to think that he could impact both sides of the ball right away. But going from Colorado to the NFL and playing offense and defense as a rookie is going to be very, very hard. It will probably take time for him to be the game-changer that he’s expected to be.
Cam Ward will lead the NFL in interceptions
It’s unfortunate that the league decided to keep Cam Ward from ever being seen on national television this year (they have zero night games) because Ward has the potential to be Jameis Winston-level entertaining in his debut season. In college Ward was a gunslinger with a crazy-strong arm and the confidence to use it in lots of crazy ways. He is going to test tight windows, toss deep balls, throw wild touchdowns, terrible interceptions, take sacks, scramble. The Titans will likely be horrendous but at least their fans (if there are any left) will have a good time… at noon… with CBS’s No. 4 broadcast team.
The Colts will win just enough to miss on the top quarterbacks in 2026
Indianapolis’ win total for 2025 is 7.5 games. That feels exactly right. Even with the Daniel Jones/Anthony Richardson combo at quarterback, they have just enough talent and play in a division bad enough to win seven or eight games and keep themselves from drafting Arch Manning (or whatever other QB emerges as the top pick). The Colts have no other choice but to give Richardson another shot but his struggles to stay healthy make it difficult to believe that he is going to make enough progress throwing the football to compete consistently. And if Daniel Jones plays, well, we have already seen that movie before with Gardner Minshew in 2023 (he went 7-6 as a starter). Indy should be very afraid of getting stuck in the middle.
The Los Angeles Chargers will win the AFC West
Giving this one a gold star for boldness because Kansas City is still the most likely team to win the West but it’s worth wondering if the Chiefs will have a regression season after winning so many games at the last minute in 2024. While the Chiefs still have a pretty good team, great QB, great coach and great defensive coordinator, they are no as strong roster wise as they have been in years past and the Chargers added offensive talent around Justin Herbert to go along with the top defense in the league last year. It’s plausible that the Chargers could take another step forward under Jim Harbaugh and win 12 or 13 games, just enough to nudge out KC from the top slot.
Geno Smith will make the Raiders fun again but not good
A decade from now we are going to remember Pete Carroll’s Las Vegas Raiders, for better or worse. They have a flawed roster and a quarterback who has way more admirers in the NFL analysis world than he does convincing seasons that he’s a top-10 quarterback. The forever reckless Smith does, however, have a top-10 arm and one of the most impressive highlight reels you will see. He has some decent weapons around him like Brock Bowers and Ashton Jeanty that should give the Raiders a chance to put up points against anyone but not enough in terms of receiving talent to push Smith to the top. They have “Third-Place Finish” written all over them.
Bo Nix will not be a top-15 QB by rating or PFF grade
Down the stretch last season, Nix looked like he might be Denver’s long-awaited franchise quarterback. He finished the season with a 105.7 QB rating in the final 10 games of the season with 24 touchdowns and just seven INTs. While those numbers are good under any circumstances, they have some asterisks involved. He went 26-for-29 with four TDs against the Chiefs in the final week of the season when KC wasn’t playing its starters and Nix mixed in strong showings against Carolina, Atlanta, and Cincinnati — some of the worst defenses in the NFL.
If the Broncos had gone into the free agent or trade market and found Nix some new weapons, it might have been enough to take him to the next level but their receiving corps is far from impressive outside Courtland Sutton. It might be more reasonable to expect the same year from Nix than a big step forward.
Sam Darnold and Michael Penix Jr. will both throw for 4,500 yards for 9-win teams
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