Most of the preseason is noise. Starters sit. Teams don’t game plan. Coaches roll out bland schemes, evaluating their own roster rather than attacking the opposition. But there are always some threads that have a real, actual bearing on the regular season. Here are five storylines that look like they will matter in 2025.
Jaxson Dart
The Giants entered the year with a well reasoned quarterback plan. They would use 36-year-old Russell Wilson as a bridge starter until first-round pick Jaxson Dart was ready, probably somewhere around mid-season. Well, it appears that Dart is ready now. The rookie completed 14-of-16 passes for 137 yards with a passing touchdown and rushing score against the Jets in his second preseason game, building on a solid performance in his debut.
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Brian Daboll has done what good coaches should do: he has met Dart halfway. Rather than drowning his rookie in a complex system, Daboll has ported over big chunks of Dart’s college playbook. It’s Ole Miss concepts with pro gloss, designed to get Dart comfortable.
The early returns have been promising. Dart does look comfortable in the pocket. He has been fine with the speed of the game. For a rookie starter, those are the first two boxes to check off. By making his offense as Dart-friendly as possible, Daboll has given the quarterback a platform to flash his arm talent. In his second outing, Dart didn’t make as many “wow” throws, but he showed a stronger grasp of the Giants’ offense.
Wilson, meanwhile, has been fine. Good in spurts. But he’s the same old Russ we saw in Pittsburgh: capable of hitting beautiful strikes down the field, but limited in attacking the shorter and intermediate parts.
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With Dart in the lineup, the Giants can threaten every area of the field. He is a fearless deep-ball thrower and a genuine rushing threat, even if he’s sometimes a danger to himself. The offense has also taken on a different rhythm with the rookie in the lineup. With Wilson under center, the Giants have looked mechanical and laborious. When Dart has taken over, the operation has been slicker, with Daboll ratcheting up the tempo. Running such a slim, up-tempo system won’t be enough to navigate a full season, but it’s enough of a starting point to chuck the rookie in until he can come to terms with a broader playbook.
Daboll insists there is no competition. “Russ is our starter. We’re going to keep developing Jaxson,” Daboll said this week. That’s understandable; Daboll wants to keep pressure off a first-year player and has a ready-made vet who could squeeze out a couple of wins until Dart can run a more sophisticated scheme. But Dart has shown enough in preseason that he should be chucked into the deep end for Week 1. The only reason to mess around with Wilson is to try to eke out a couple of wins so that the coaching staff and front office can keep their jobs.
The Patriots’ rookie class
No, your eyes are not deceiving you. Yes, the Patriots have another shifty slot receiver.
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Efton Chism III has been a preseason darling. The undrafted rookie out of Eastern Washington is almost a meme of a New England slot: tough, undersized, a fidget spinner in and out of breaks, always open.
With Josh McDaniels back running the offense, Chism is a lock to make the Patriots roster. And New England is sneakily deep at receiver: Stefon Diggs, Mack Hollins and Kayshon Boutte bring a nice blend of veteran knowhow, toughness, and explosivity. Third-round pick Kyle Williams will be an immediate downfield threat, while Chism does damage underneath. It’s a solid, varied collection of talent.
Chism will probably make the team ahead of Ja’Lynn Polk (second round) and Javon Baker (fourth round), two draftees from a year ago. Baker is a possible trade candidate, while the Patriots are expected to stash Polk on injured reserve after a nightmare first year in the league.
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The injection of weapons is good news for Drake Maye, who was forced to throw to the weakest crop of receivers in the league as a rookie.
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It’s not just the receiving corps, either. If we’re handing out preseason MVP awards, rookie running back TreVeyon Henderson would be near the top of the standings. Henderson was initially tabbed as a third-down specialist. He was a prolific receiver at Ohio State and the best pass-protecting running back in the rookie class. But Henderson has been given a full run with the offense in preseason, showing he can anchor the early-down run game, return kicks and add some juice to the passing attack.
The Patriots needed their draft class to hit after last season’s debacle, in which they ended the season 4-13. So far, so good this time around.
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Bills defense
Buffalo spent the offseason fortifying their defensive line. But the preseason has exposed issues on the back end of the defense. The Bears roasted the Bills’ backups in the second week of preseason, with three quarterbacks throwing for a combined 357 yards and two touchdowns. Being lit up by Caleb Williams and Ben Johnson is one thing; being shredded by Tyson Bagent and Austin Reed should set off a five-alarm fire.
All over the league, teams look short at corner. The Eagles, Chiefs and other top contenders are scratching around for starters or backups in their secondary. But the Bills have three worries: who will start opposite Christian Benford at cornerback? What’s the ideal safety tandem? Do they have enough depth?
Sean McDermott is one of the league’s best coaches when it comes to working with the secondary. He can find no-names and turn them into impactful starters. When McDermott starts grousing about a group, you know you’re in trouble. And the coach has taken sporadic shots at his safety room throughout the preseason. That includes 2024 second-round pick Cole Bishop, who was slated to be a starter this season. “Cole has missed quite a bit of time … It remains to be seen what he is truly able to do for us,” McDermott said after the Bears’ trouncing. “We’re getting short on time.”
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There are concerns at cornerback, too. Rookie first-round pick Maxwell Hairston is dealing with an injury, pushing the returning Tre’Davious White into the starting lineup. Behind White, it’s slim pickings. And at the safety spots, the Bills are relying on Bishop or Damar Hamlin to become consistent starters.
For most teams, a secondary shortage would be a concern. For the Bills, it’s borderline existential.
Depth matters. The Bills played the fewest snaps in base defense last season (three linebackers) and led in their use of dime defense (six defensive backs). That’s McDermott’s vision for the defense. To hit those rates, the Bills need seven or eight reliable players in the secondary, given the potential for injuries and suspensions. Right now, they have one: Benford.
Few teams are operating with as much urgency as Buffalo. Every year with Josh Allen in his prime is Super Bowl or bust. Last season, they were undone by a misfiring pass rush. They tried to address that in the offseason, but now look woefully short in the secondary.
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Isaac TeSlaa’s breakout
Lions general manager Brad Holmes has done it again. The Lions traded up to grab Arkansas wide receiver Isaac TeSlaa in the third round of the draft, taking him 98 spots before the consensus big board – a reliable indicator of draft value.
Holmes and the Lions do things their own way, routinely selecting players a round or two before the consensus board has them slotted. On many of those picks, Holmes has been proven correct. But there was a twinge of being high on his own supply in the most recent draft, giving up two future third-round picks to move up 32 spots to select TeSlaa.
It’s just preseason, but the early signals suggest Holmes was right again.
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It’s hard not to get caught up in the TeSlaa hype. The long, rangy receiver is a splash play waiting to happen. There is almost a languid feel to how he cuts across the field. But when he explodes, he’s gone. TeSlaa offers a big target to Jared Goff, and he can play above the rim, leaping and plucking balls out of the clouds. TeSlaa’s traits have translated into preseason production. He has grabbed 8 of his 11 targets, scoring two touchdowns and averaging 13.1 yards a catch.
In college, TeSlaa was not a go-to target. He is still raw and inconsistent. But the Lions don’t need him to be a volume player. With Amon-Ra St Brown, Jameson Williams, Jahmyr Gibbs and Sam LaPorta, Detroit have plenty of dependable weapons. TeSlaa will add extra pop to an already explosive unit. At this point, it’s almost unfair.
Indy’s quarterback competition
Nothing can sap the energy out of a fanbase like a quarterback competition featuring Daniel Jones. The only thing less inspiring may be Jones winning one.
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Jones has been named the Colts’ starter over Anthony Richardson despite a blah preseason showing. The Colts opened the preseason with a plan to give the two QBs an equal number of drives and reps to decide who would be the team’s starter. The plan was for Richardson to take the bulk of snaps in the first week, with Jones getting the majority in the second week. That idea dissolved when Richardson went down with a hand injury on the first drive of the preseason and Jones entered the lineup.
Shane Steichen reset in Week 2, flipping his approach and giving Richardson the game time he was intended to receive in the opening week. But it was telling that Jones, who took fewer snaps, still received more reps with the Colts’ starting offense.
Snap by snap, there was little to split the two. Richardson remains all upside and volatility, while Jones was steadier. Does anything scream Daniel Jones louder than an 11-play, 77-yard drive that ends in a field goal? Does anything say Anthony Richardson like producing the throw of the preseason (called back for a flag) after butchering a snap and blowing two pre-snap protection checks?
It’s funny, in a sense, that Jones is the quarterback painted as the stabilizing force. He finished with 42 interceptions and 50 fumbles in 69 starts with the Giants, producing one of the highest turnover rates in the league. Like Richardson, Jones is a volatile quarterback, albeit one in dink-and-dunk clothing. Picking between the two came down to trust.
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“It’s everything,” Steichen said about choosing a starter. “It’s the operation, the communication in the huddle, the checks, the consistency.”
Richardson’s inability to coordinate the game pre-snap and stick to the rhythm of the system continues to ding his progress – and his agent said on Tuesday that he is unsure of his client’s long-term future with the team. For all the sizzle he can provide an offense, Richardson – who the Colts took with the No 4 overall pick just two years ago – still struggles with the basic mechanics of operating and processing a pro offense, and he has yet to prove he can stay healthy. There wasn’t a right call for Steichen to make; both quarterbacks will probably see playing time this season. In a few drives with the Colts, Jones still looked like a liability, but the offense was more polished with him under center. For that alone, he’s been given the first crack.
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