Pre-Season Trends That Could Define the 2025 NFL Season

Considering that all teams have to do this each year, it would appear that this is the easiest thing in the world to do. Yet, many teams fail, as they do not distribute the funds equally across the positions. It is not an easy thing to do considering the albatross contracts QBs and DEs are getting these days. 

As the game is centred around the most important position in sports it matters when you have a high end QB who is satisfied with this earnings. If you don't have one, you ought to have a solid O-line and WRs to complement your mid of the line quarterback, and that costs money too. If neither is where your bread basket is, there are no excuses not to have a top of the league defence. There is no formula that wins the Super Bowl each year, so most of the teams take a different approach to their roster building, all depending on whether they have the right piece under center. 

An approach that worked one year, translates to the next year, and GMs and head coaches love to tweak it around a bit to get to that winning formula. This is what creates trends in the NFL, some that stick around for an offseason, and others that remain forever. Here are the top trends that will shape up the upcoming NFL season. Knowing them will be of much help to learn how to bet on NFL Pre-season, which is almost upon us. 

Defence Wins Championships 

A tale as old as time. The best part is, that this trend disappears at moments, and then comes back through the main gate. Remember the last Super Bowl? We sure you do. The Philadelphia Eagles demolished the Kansas City Chiefs through their defensive performance. Philly is one of the strongest teams in trenches in the league, and we're not only talking about defense. In this paragraph we will stick to the D-line, as there are plenty more things to be mentioned about the trends set by the Philadelphia Eagles. Josh Sweat, Nolan Smith, Jordan Davis, and Jalen Carter wrecked the Chiefs' O-line, and made life difficult for Mahomes. The trend of having rock solid D to win the big trophy has been around since forever. Teams such as the Eagles last season, Bill Belichick's Patriots in their last win, or the Broncos when they demolished the Panthers in the SB. All are examples of a trend that is always present in the NFL defense wins championships. 

Build Through Trenches 

While having a superb QB under the centre matters a lot in the NFL, the Philadelphia Eagles have shown us that there are other ways to create a dominant team. What Philly did better than any other team, and they've been doing it for years, is creating dominance in both the O-line and the D-line. Players such as Lane Johnson, Jordan Mailata, Jason Kelce, Jason Peters, Jalen Carter, Jordan Davis, Milton Williams, Brandon Graham, and Moro Ojomo have been mainstays throughout the years. As you can see these players come from different generations, showing that Philly has been doing its thing for years. Other teams have taken notice so in 2025 NFL draft teams have picked many players across the lines such as Abdul Carter, Will Campbell, Mason Graham, Armand Membou, Kelvin Banks Jr, Mykel Williams, and Tyler Booker. All of these players are either playing O-line or D-line, and we're talking only about the first 12 picks. Notice the trend? 

Pay Your WRs and Hope for The Best 

For years, the best paid positions in the NFL have belonged to defensive ends, quarterbacks, and game wrecking DTs. The era of RBs is long gone, but the age of wide receivers is coming in full strength. Teams across the league are looking to make their quarterbacks happy and there's no better way of doing this than supplying them with high end receivers. From the moment a QB and a WR make a connection, you ought to pay them both. Teams across the league have paid and overpaid for their star receivers. The position is becoming one of the most vital ones for running an offense, and in addition to O-line, WRs are getting paid. The highest paid one is Ja'Marr Chase who signed a contract of total value of $161,000,000 which translates to $40,250,000 a year. It comes with $73,900,000 guaranteed. This was not only paying the best WR in the league, but also a token of gratitude to Joe Burrow. The Bengals are all all-offense and no-defense team, and we will see how that approach is going to pay off in the coming season. 

Right behind Chase is Justin Jefferson, who is earning $35,000,000 a year, with slightly more guarantees in $88,743,000. He is the superstar in Minnesota and a player whose presence is going to be needed for Vikings second year QB J.J. McCarthy. Cowboys opened the check book for CeeDee Lamb who is Dak Prescott's favourite target. For him to remain in Dallas Jerry Jones had to part with $35,000,000 a year. Both the Bengals and the Cowboys have the majority of their cap tied to these two positions. While both the QB and a WR are important, the Bengals are already unable to re-sign Trey Hendrickson while Cowboys are facing the same issue with Micah Parsons. Yet, the trend of overpaying WRs persists, and other examples of this are D.K. Metcalf, A.J. Brown, Tyreek Hill, Amon-Ra St. Brown, and Brandon Aiyuk. Don't get us wrong, all these boys are contributors, it's just that it's no way to build a decent team with most of your money tied to a WR. 

Use a QB on the Rookie Contract to Build a Contender

The stats said that since 2011 when rookie scale contracts were introduced to the CBA, 9 of the 28 QBs to make the Super Bowl were on a rookie contract. Their names are Colin Kaepernick, Russell Wilson, Jared Goff, Patrick Mahomes, Patrick Mahomes, Joe Burrow, Jalen Hurts, and Brock Purdy. Yes, among this list, only Mahomes, and Russell have won a Lombardi, yet, reaching the coveted games in your first four seasons in the league is a success in itself. That's why teams are rushing to use this window while their QB is on a rookie contract. This formula only works if your QB is good enough. From the moment you pay your QB you either enter purgatory, or he needs to play well to succeed. The Dallas Cowboys are the best example of this. They paid Dak Prescott, but from the moment his rookie contract expired and the team around him got worse, he was not able to elevate his team enough to be in contention despite playing well during the regular season under Mike McCarthy. 

Right now, the best QBs who are still on their rookie contracts, and have shown the ability to compete with the best in this league are Jayden Daniels, C.J. Stroud, Michael Penix Jr., Bryce Young, Caleb Williams, Bo Nix, Anthony Richardson, J.J. McCarthy, and Drake Maye. If you've been paying attention to draft, free agency, and trades that transpired, you've noticed that the teams that have these players have been doing everything in their might to either make their O-line solid, add WR power, or invest in defense if the offense is running well. Rookie wage scale and salary cap added worth to rookie QBs who know how to throw, and trend using their window is going nowhere. Whether you will try and wager on your favourite NFL Sportsbook on a QB on a rookie contract to win it all is all up to you, but some of the boys on this list are in an ideal position to do it. 

Fourth Down Aggression

The teams no longer value a steady approach to game managing. You either move the chains or you lose the games tend to be the norm. The two head coaches that do not compromise when it comes to short yardage on fourth down are Nick Sirianni and Dan Campbell. The former even has a secret weapon better known as Tush Push, which has proven to be almost unstoppable for defences. It only works when you have the best O-line in football and a QB who can deadlift 620-pounds in Jalen Hurts. Having Saquon Barkley doesn't hurt either. Campbell on the other hand, does more with what he has in terms of imaginative play calls, which might change now that Ben Johnson is no longer on the team. While these two do it the best, others are not falling back. McDermott with the Buffalo Bills and Josh Allen is aggressive on fourth down and so is Jonathan Gannon with Kyler Murray in Arizona. You can expect more teams to follow suit next season, as this is not a trend that is easily going away considering that some of the most established coaches in the league are applying. 

Pass Rush Depth

This is another trend brought forth by the Philadelphia Eagles. Their defensive dominance is entering the NFL textbooks. The best part is that their pass rush is not reliant on one superstar like the case is in Dallas with Micah Parsons or in Pittsburgh with T.J. Watt. Instead, the Eagles use heavy rotation. They have plenty of solid defenders who all fill a role on their team. With enough rest, even your average DE can make Patrick Mahomes run for his life all game long. It was interesting that both fans and pundits weren't able to seclude one player who was the best on the D during the SB. Jalen Carter, Oren Burks, Zack Baun, Cooper DeJean, Josh Sweat, C.J. Gardner Johnson, and Nolan Smith all had a role to play. In Philly, the pass rush can come from any direction. CB rush, DE rush, and even the DT rush are all on the menu. The Eagles are changing the way defence is being played, and we might witness a shift in the way DEs are perceived and how their value is seen.

Running Backs Committee

Running backs are no longer valued as they once were. Their value is high on the field but they no longer command the top money. King Henry and Saquon Barkley are the only RBs who are holding an entire offense on their own; the rest of the league is already tuned to running backs committees. It is a trend that has started with Bill Belichick and his New England Patriots teams that never had a superstar RB during his two decade long reign. Bettors still go to Stake.com and wager that RB is going to win an MVP, but when Christian McCaffrey failed to do so, we don’t see it happening anytime soon. Across the league most teams have this approach and teams such as Detroit Lions have two in Jahmyr Gibbs and Montgomery who were there last year, Mixon and Chubb in Houston, Jeanty and Harris in Las Vegas, and Conner and Benson in Arizona. While the likes of Henry, Saquon, Jacobs, Bijan Robinson, and Taylor can take over any game, when the QB, DE, and WR taxes come into play most teams turn to running backs as a committee as an answer. 

The trends in the NFL come and go, stay and disappear, or enter the textbooks. The ones we've listed will be here before the 2025 NFL season starts. The way the NFL is positioned at the moment, we can see it persist in years to come. Of course, football can't be predicted too far into the future considering how it has evolved throughout the years. What's evident is that QBs and WRS are going to get paid. O-line and D-line matter more than ever, and high picks in the draft will continue to be allocated to trenches. Eagles are on the verge of having a dynasty based on how a franchise needs to be run, with more than a decade of continued success and two SBs to boast. At the moment, they're the biggest trendsetters.