As I put finishing grades on prospects for the 2025 NFL Draft, I find myself wishing it were as strong of a class as the 2024 version. Based on the rookie film, last year’s draft class certainly hasn’t disappointed in the NFL. Here is a look at The Athletic’s All-Rookie team: Quarterback Jayden Daniels, Washington…
Jared Goff had an early screen pass intercepted deep in Detroit Lions territory, and a deep ball from his own end zone picked off later. Sam Darnold missed throw after throw for the Minnesota Vikings. The final, most pivotal game of the NFL regular season, the first between teams with 14-2 records, was not the…
Washington Commanders quarterback Jayden Daniels, Minnesota Vikings quarterback Sam Darnold and Las Vegas Raiders tight end Brock Bowers headline the list of first timers for the 2025 Pro Bowl Games, which the league announced Thursday. The Baltimore Ravens lead all teams with nine Pro Bowl selections, while the Detroit Lions (seven players), Minnesota Vikings (six),…
Offensive linemen have the most thankless job in the NFL. Go stand in that guy’s way, and if you do a good job, we’ll never talk about it. Screw up and, best case, we’ll publicly shame you. Or we’ll blame you for a loss or injury. The big lugs need a hug, and that’s why…
ALLEN PARK, Mich. — First came the beating, another desultory setback in the rapidly degenerating professional life of Jared Goff, the face of a flailing franchise’s enduring futility. That was torture enough. What Goff truly dreaded, however, was The Meeting. Summoned to Detroit Lions coach Dan Campbell’s office on a late-October Tuesday in 2022, Goff…
There aren’t many ideal times to be desperate for a franchise quarterback, but the upcoming offseason is shaping up to be trickier than most in that regard. The 2025 NFL Draft class is spotty, with a couple of team executives recently telling The Athletic there isn’t a quarterback coming out who’d be ranked ahead of…
Houston Texans sensation C.J. Stroud had a chance to solidify himself this season among the NFL’s elite class of quarterbacks. The No. 2 pick in the 2023 draft was an easy choice for Offensive Rookie of the Year. During training camp, The Athletic asked coaches and executives which three quarterbacks they’d take to start a…
It looks like Josh Allen is going to run away with the NFL MVP award (which might be unfair to two-time MVP Lamar Jackson, who is playing so well that he also deserves consideration), but that doesn’t mean there aren’t more players who deserve a little attention as the season comes to a close. The…
NORTHVILLE, Mich. — Fahad Yousif is two days removed from receiving something called a Certificate of Completion from the National Football League. It is dated Dec. 12. It is signed by Ari Novick, Ph.D., a licensed psychotherapist with a private practice in Laguna Beach, Calif. It is numbered “Cert #216932,” meaning 216,931 others presumably have received…
There’s a long history of Buffalo and Detroit sharing their inspirational figures. Joyce Carol Oates and Rick James, Bob Lanier and Pat LaFontaine. They’ve easily crisscrossed the path around Lake Erie, whether by Interstate 90 or Ontario’s Highway 401, to find a familiar setting on the other end — another vibrant Rust Belt city that’s…