Nfl Records That Could Fall In 2025: A Booming Kicker, Burrow’s 500 Club And Bad News For Rodgers

The container agency kicker

The convention has a caller Legatron. Jacksonville kicker Cam Little has a chance to crush nan grounds for nan longest successful section goal. He drilled a 70-yarder against nan Falcons during preseason and comfortably clears 72 yards during warmups.

The NFL insists preseason stats don’t count towards nan archive. Fine. But if there’s 1 number that should make nan charismatic ledger, it’s Little’s effort against nan Falcons. It’s not arsenic though he was booting it done second-string uprights.

The 22-year-old should get a chance to move his asterisk title into nan existent woody during nan regular season. Justin Tucker holds nan existent grounds astatine 66 yards, which seems for illustration ray activity for Little. Whether caller Jags caput coach Liam Coen will beryllium comfortable calling for a 70-yarder during a existent crippled remains to beryllium seen.

Coen whitethorn only trust connected Little’s region erstwhile it’s needed for a go-ahead score. Even if Coen is conservative, Little’s scope still gives nan Jaguars’ discourtesy different unorthodox weapon. With nan new touchback rule, Jacksonville are only 1 conversion distant from being successful imaginable field-goal range. That warps nan mathematics for opposing defenses, who already person to interest astir Brian Thomas Jr, Travis Hunter, and Dyami Brown ripping nan lid disconnected their coverage. Defenses set their attack erstwhile an discourtesy approaches field-goal range. What is that statement of demarcation against Little? Second-and-five from nan 40?

Little hitting from 70 yards this play is plausible. And he could convert from moreover further. Mark 21 December connected your calendars. The Jags are heading to Denver, wherever nan precocious altitude has helped aggregate kickers break records. Given a chance, Little could shatter Tucker’s mark.

Patrick Mahomes watch

Every season, Mahomes breaks a caller group of records. Up next: Aaron Rodgers’s people arsenic nan fastest backmost to 250 profession passing touchdowns (121 games).

Mahomes sits astatine 245 aft 112 regular-season games. That leaves him pinch 5 touchdowns to tie, six to ain nan grounds outright. He should person it wrapped up by September. In 23 profession September games, Mahomes has thrown 62 touchdowns, averaging an absurd 2.7 per game. Based connected that average, he would beryllium connected people to break nan grounds by Week 2, erstwhile nan Chiefs big nan Eagles.

There has been immoderate consternation astir nan Chiefs’ offense. Last season’s portion was nan weakest of Mahomes’s career. Despite different travel to nan Super Bowl, KC’s discourtesy was a slog. An undermanned violative statement capsized nan team’s vertical passing game, forcing Mahomes to move nan shot successful five-yard increments. The Chiefs vanished past successful nan convention successful explosive play complaint past season, contempt adding speedster Xavier Worthy successful nan draft.

Those aforesaid questions linger this year. The new-look violative statement whitethorn return clip to gel, and Rashee Rice has been suspended for six games.

Rookie near tackle Josh Simmons will beryllium crucial. If he tin connection league-average play, nan Chiefs should beryllium capable to compression much retired of nan passing game. If he struggles, they will beryllium forced to return to nan stilted discourtesy that crushed done past season.

With Mahomes and Andy Reid connected board, it’s champion to stake connected nan former. Outside nan violative line, nan Chiefs person focused connected adding much velocity to their offense, adding erstwhile Patriots flameout Tyquan Thornton to their receiving corps. Worthy and Thornton clocked nan 2 fastest times successful nan preseason, according to NFL Next Gen Stats. Fifth-round prime Brashard Smith, a erstwhile wide receiver turned moving back, has brought immoderate other sizzle to nan offense. The big-picture outlook is clear: put burners connected nan perimeter and fto Travis Kelce activity underneath arsenic Mahomes’ comfortableness blanket.

Regardless of immoderate teething problems on nan violative line, putting explosive receivers astir Mahomes is arsenic bully a scheme arsenic immoderate successful nan sport. The Rodgers grounds will beryllium nan first to fall, but Mahomes is besides chasing a fourth-straight Super Bowl appearance, a feat matched only by Jim Kelly and nan Bills.

The 500 club

Twenty-two quarterbacks have crossed nan 500-yard passing threshold successful a azygous game. Despite each nan norm changes to assistance nan passing game, nary has topped Norm Van Brocklin’s 554 yards from 1951. Could this beryllium nan year?

It’s tough. The alteration to nan touchback norm will alteration nan number of drives wherever an discourtesy has to thrust nan magnitude of nan field. The look required to break nan grounds involves a team’s defense being cooked (quickly) and past abandoning its tally game. It’s possible, but Van Brocklin’s grounds is astir apt safe.

More achievable is nan people for nan most 500-yard games. Ben Roethlisberger owns nan grounds pinch three. And dissimilar astir quarterbacks who’ve sniffed 500, Roethlisberger’s performances weren’t garbage-time sweetener highs. Which brings america to Joe Burrow.

Burrow already has 2 500-yard games to his name. If nan Bengals are to contend for nan AFC North, he will astir apt request different couple. Sure, they person kept Trey Hendrickson, but nan Bengals’ defense remains a sieve connected paper. There are holes each complete nan secondary and mobility marks crossed nan front. Unless new DC Al Golden tin spot together a serviceable unit, nan Bengals will only spell arsenic acold arsenic Burrow’s limb (and nan hands of Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins) tin return them.

Chasing Thomas

Speaking of nan Bengals’ receivers. Michael Thomas’s 149 receptions successful 2019 still tops nan grounds books. Cooper Kupp came adjacent pinch 145 successful 2021.

Chase is adjacent successful line. If nan Cincinnati defense is arsenic porous arsenic projected, nan Bengals will trust connected their passing onslaught to support them successful games. That’s bad news for nan win-loss column, but bully news for Chase and his co-star Tee Higgins. The duo mixed for 200 receptions and 2,619 yards past season, nan highest full of immoderate tandem successful nan league.

The Bengals will request a repeat. Only 4 duos successful NFL history person crossed 3,000 yards combined. Burrow has capable auxiliary weapons to stock nan love, but Chase and Higgins will still person nan highest dose of targets. Higgins averages 75 catches a year, while Chase posted a career-high 127 past season. Breaking Herman Moore and Brett Perriman’s 3,174 yards mixed from 1995 will beryllium a stretch, but hitting 3,000 yards is possible. And if nan discourtesy is forced into pass-heavy scripts, Chase could person a changeable astatine breaking Thomas’s mark.

There are different contenders. The Vikings will commencement nan play pinch a depleted receiving corps, which will (somehow) bump up Justin Jefferson’s league-leading target share. Don’t slumber connected Amon-Ra St Brown, either. The Detroit receiver vanished past twelvemonth pinch 115 receptions. With a caller violative coordinator and improved extent astatine receiver, St Brown whitethorn not spot nan aforesaid measurement this season. But nan Lions’ faltering violative statement could unit them to beryllium much of a pass-first portion than they person been antecedently nether Dan Campbell.

Russell Wilson could beryllium rewriting history soon. Photograph: Pamela Smith/AP

The unwanted sack record

Of each nan disappointing moments of Aaron Rodgers’ Jets career, this 1 will person stung: he passed Tom Brady for nan astir profession sacks taken. Rodgers enters his 18th play pinch 571 sacks.

Rodgers leads nan way, but Russell Wilson is closing in. Wilson lurks conscionable 11 sacks down Rodgers, contempt being drafted 7 years later and starting 49 less games. It’s a nosy subplot to nan 2 aging vets trying to crank retired 1 much season. Can Rodgers support his sack full debased enough to person Wilson surpass him before the Giants yank Wilson for Jaxson Dart?

Go for it, Keisean

The NFL’s revised kickoff rule has been 1 of nan astir underdiscussed aspects of nan preseason. As noted, a touchback will now beryllium spotted astatine nan 35-yard line. The dream is that it will rejuvenate nan return game. The fixed commencement remains, pinch nan convention looking to limit full-throttle collisions.

Last season, nan first pinch a fixed start, location were only 7 return touchdowns. Teams were happy to concede a touchback alternatively than put nan shot successful play. But pinch nan touchback moving 5 yards up nan field, nan risk-reward calculus has changed. Already, teams, astir notably the Panthers, person dabbled pinch imaginative strategies to neuter footwear returns. But nan anticipation is that location will beryllium much action.

As nan convention grapples pinch strategies astir nan norm change, we should spot an early detonation successful nan return game. Devin Hester still holds nan single-season grounds pinch six non-offensive touchdowns, each coming connected returns. No returner successful nan convention is Hester. And contempt nan changes, nan existent rules still stifle returns compared pinch Hester’s era. But nan norm alteration has accrued nan likelihood of a returner threatening Hester’s number.

If 1 subordinate tin do it, it’s Green Bay’s Keisean Nixon.

Nixon is simply a returner and a starting corner, playing successful a disguise-laden defense designed to unit takeaways. Although he has conscionable 3 profession interceptions, nan Packers’ strategy gives corners a chance to punish quarterbacks’ mistakes. To moreover sniff Hester’s record, a subordinate needs to commencement connected defense and be an electrical returner. Nixon checks some boxes.

For his part, Nixon nary longer wants to return kicks. “I’m benignant of complete it; I don’t really want to do it nary more,” Nixon told ESPN successful January. “CB1 is not returning kicks”. That’s understandable. But returning kicks is valuable again. History beckons, Keisean!

Unlike pick-sixes, turning returns into scores is simply a discrete skill. Interception totals typically lucifer nan accomplishment of a defender, but turning those interceptions into touchdowns is much astir luck, timing and nan different 10 guys connected defense – unless you’re Deion Sanders. DaRon Bland holds nan grounds for pick-sixes successful a play (five), successful a twelvemonth successful which he was roasted successful sum snap-to-snap.

Nixon won’t person a Bland-level season. But if he tin snag a pick-six aliases two, he would person nan champion changeable astatine Hester’s crown – truthful agelong arsenic nan Packers tin person him to return kicks.