25 in 2025: Trends shaping the NFL

https://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/article/25-in-2025-trends-shaping-the-nfl-130048391.html

The NFL’s popularity has been buoyed by the passing game boom, and the drama from week to week, matchup to matchup. It’s something we can’t take our eyes off.

The sport itself is innovating rapidly across coaches and talent evaluators, scheme and strategy, and even how we present and consume the game.

So what trends are shaping the NFL itself, from the past 25 years to the present to the future?

[Join or create a Yahoo Fantasy Football league for the 2025 NFL season]

Yahoo Sports NFL writers Nate Tice and Charles McDonald have identified 25 of them, poring over film, talking to sources and studying the sport from different angles. They considered: What elements shape how the game is played, consumed and presented the most in 2025?

Their list includes: rule changes that led to a passing boom; a pair of dynasties that sprung up right next to each other; several high-impact strategy shifts; the signature coaching tree of this century; a pair of defenses that defined both their eras and today; and so much more.

Here are Tice and McDonald’s 25 trends shaping the NFL in 2025:

Jump to a trend on the links below:

Player safety enforcement/penalties

Hits on receivers have been one of the key points of rule enforcement in the NFL this century. (Photo by Jim Davis/The Boston Globe via Getty Images)

(Boston Globe via Getty Images)

Head injuries and the long-term ramifications of playing such a violent sport became mainstream subjects this century, as studies poured in and the world became more educated about head trauma, chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) and other effects of football. Were the rewards worth the cost? How young was too young to start playing the game? Should young people, even high schoolers, be playing at all?

It’s impossible to ever get injuries to zero or even a truly acceptable number. But there have been rapid changes in the rules that changes how football is played today. Lower levels like the NCAA enforced rule changes on targeting that delivered harsher penalties, including ejecting players for hits to the head. Big hits over the middle were no longer celebrated. They are instead seen as unnecessary parts of the game. It takes time to adjust but now there’s a whole generation of players that have learned more safe ways to tackle.

Other changes have affected other parts of the game. There have been changes to the way players can cut block, and low hits on quarterbacks are now penalties. Blindside hits are now gone. Helmet technology improved dramatically, from their overall structure to wearing shells in practice. Even kickoffs, a holy institution in football, have changed — for the better, I might add — with one of the main selling points for the changes being safety.

Other rule changes that disincentivized aggressive play (more on that in another section), along with a general uptick in league-wide passing skills, changed how the game is played.

Football is always going to be a violent game. But the rule changes that started in the early aughts and continued turned the game into a faster one that isn’t still safe by any means, but definitely safer. — Nate Tice

Bye, bye AstroTurf

Synthetic turf, like at Caesars Superdome in New Orleans, has replaced AstroTurf. But questions remain if NFL playing surfaces should be grass. (Photo by Derick E. Hingle/Getty Images)

(Derick E. Hingle via Getty Images)

Have you ever watched an old NFL game and it looked like they were playing on a green floor? Something closer to a tennis court than a field? That’s because they were up until the early 2000s.

“AstroTurf” is now a generic name for any synthetic grass, but at one point it specifically meant a thin style of synthetic grass that didn’t actually provide much by way of shock absorption or safety. That brand of surface was essentially scrubbed from the league by 2004, with the Colts and Rams being the final two teams to get rid of the original form of AstroTurf.

The latest debate has been whether or not all fields should be grass, with the NFLPA presenting data that grass fields are safer for players. However, turf is cheaper to take care of than true grass, which, along with the costs of replacing it, has been the holdup for NFL team owners to fully institute them in their stadiums — even though they will briefly replace it when European soccer teams come over for exhibitions.

Now, most teams are using FieldTurf or Hellas Matrix Turf, with a few clubs either using a different brand or using natural grass. With playing surfaces impacting everything from player safety to franchise owners’ pockets, expect this to be a talking point for years to come. — Charles McDonald

In-game technology

The NFL has evolved technologically, including with this season's virtual measurements. (AP Photo/Gregory Payan) — The NFL has evolved technologically, including with this season’s virtual measurements. (AP Photo/Gregory Payan)

(ASSOCIATED PRESS)

As followers of the sport know, the NFL has seen a ton of technical upgrades in recent years. There are some things that were a part of the game at the turn of the century that have been made obsolete.

One funny example is the discontinued use of the “Ump Cam.” The “Ump Cam” was what it sounds like: a camera attached to the umpire who stands in the middle of the field, which broadcasts would cut to after a play as an extra angle for instant replay.

While it sounded cool in theory, it ended up looking more like a toddler had a GoPro on during an NFL game. Announcers talking over an indecipherable mass of bodies moving around was a common occurrence, which makes for good laughs when looking at how far these broadcasts have come. However, there were also moments where the camera caught some incredible footage, like this interception from Broncos linebacker Al Wilson from Week 1 of the 2000 NFL season.

Now, 25 years later, the NFL is debuting a virtual measurement assistant to help referees be more accurate on gameday when it comes to spotting the ball. Not only has there been technology improving the gameday processes, but there’s also been an influx of new data in recent years with the emergence of Next Gen Stats and the data the league can collect in real time about players as they move across the field. Tech innovation has been a feature of this era of football and its role should continue to grow. — Charles McDonald

The NFL has embraced betting and fantasy football this century. (Photo by Aaron M. Sprecher/Getty Images)

(Aaron M. Sprecher via Getty Images)

We have come a long way from long-tenured announcers saying coded messages about friends in the desert and Jimmy The Greek being a general thing. Point spreads and props, along with the references to them, are front and center every time you turn on a football game. A league that once fined coaches for referencing the spread, and once upon a time threatened to fine or suspend players for participating at a Tony Romo-backed fantasy football convention because it took place at a casino with a sportsbook (this was in 2015, too, just 10 years ago), has now purchased 10% of an entity that also has a stake in a sportsbook with an associated sports betting app.

Funny how quickly the tunes change when an estimated $35 billion was wagered on the NFL in just 2024, according to the American Gaming Association.

Fantasy football, also once shunned by the league, has been fully embraced and is one of the driving factors of interest in the sport. (Hell, look at the website you’re reading.) From family leagues to work leagues to cutthroat high-stakes leagues, fantasy provides entertainment to millions of fans and seems to keep growing every single year and provides another avenue for the superfan and hyper competitive player to consume the game.

Fantasy and all of its formats can scratch the itch for the casual, or supplement the love and interest in the NFL for the die-hard fans, or grab the attention of every person from your grandma to former “Harry Potter” actor Daniel Radcliffe. — Nate Tice

NFL RedZone

In 2009, fans asking to see the high-leverage plays and action from all their fantasy players during the day were finally given an answer: the almighty NFL RedZone Channel. Every touchdown and every big play from every game as they happen. No commercials, all action. Truly an incredible way to watch games if someone has an interest in the whole league or is out of market for the team they’re originally a fan of.

It really was an example of people who interact with the league dictating what shape the league takes.

As the NFL evolved technologically and access grew, fantasy football became a regular part of its daily consumption. Media companies (like Yahoo) started to make their own fantasy football leagues for people to use, and the appetite for it has continued to only increase with fans of the league being able to have a broader interaction with the NFL that expands beyond the team they grew up rooting for.

With the ease of live access to highlights and games on Sunday paired with fantasy (and betting) intrigue, RedZone became one of the most popular ways to enjoy an NFL Sunday. Scott Hanson has become one of the most notable broadcasters in the sport almost solely from his work on RedZone, which should speak volumes about the impact that it’s had on the fan base. — Charles McDonald

Patriots dynasty

NFL fans saw Tom Brady and Bill Belichick raise the Lombardi Trophy. A lot. (Photo by Barry Chin/The Boston Globe via Getty Images)

(Boston Globe via Getty Images)

The “Patriot Way” felt like the only way in the NFL for a good portion of the past 25 years. Bill Belichick and Tom Brady were together almost twice as long as the Beatles, and the team went through as many style changes as the Fab Four over that time.

Tom Brady broke from the “game manager” label early in his career to become the consensus GOAT at his position. A traditional, run-heavy offense paired with a physical, rule-altering defense stacked up division title after division title and Super Bowl appearance after Super Bowl appearance. The offense evolved into a spread-it-out, pass-heavy attack that has featured speedy outsider receivers, slot dynamos, and multi-tight end looks over the years, before cycling back to a ground-and-pound attack in the later part of the two decades of dominance (or terror, depending on your fan base).

In 24 seasons with Belichick at the head of the organization, the Patriots won 17 division titles and appeared in 13 AFC championship games on top of the six Super Bowl titles. In a league full of parity, it was a run that’s still hard to grasp. Those victories led to Patriots assistants and executives being hired by other teams to install their own version of the Patriot Way, but it was never duplicated. In fact the hopeful hiring of mini-Bills turned into a nearly annual tradition of failure elsewhere.

Memorable wins and losses involving the Patriots’ rise and run at the top are entrenched parts of the NFL lore. The Tuck Rule game, Vinatieri’s kick against the Rams and Panthers, the Helmet Catch, 28-3, the Malcolm Butler interception. Even if Brady won right away in Tampa Bay, and Belichick’s run in New England ended amid turmoil, infighting and uninspiring play and football decisions, their run together in New England is cemented as the greatest in history and it will echo leaguewide for years to come.

Or at the very least in a Fox broadcast booth and Chapel Hill this year. — Nate Tice

2004 rule changes set stage for passing explosion

Peyton Manning and the Colts (and other NFL teams) were not happy with how the Patriots played defense in the early to mid 2000s. What happened next helped set the stage for the passing boom. (Photo by Michael Seamans/MediaNews Group/Boston Herald via Getty Images)

(MediaNews Group/Boston Herald via Getty Images via Getty Images)

The infamous tight and physical defense/assault by the Patriots defense on the Indianapolis Colts offense in the 2003 AFC championship game soon led to rules changes, or “points of emphasis,” on the NFL’s rules on illegal contact, defensive holding, and defensive pass interference. This, along with a golden era of modern quarterback play and more expansive and hybridized passing attacks, ushered in new levels of passing production that we are still seeing evolve today. (Although recent offensive and defensive trends are looking very 2004ish.)

The Peyton Manning-led offenses of the aughts were the standard bearer for NFL offenses in the new millennium: a no-huddle attack that was the first offense to be in the shotgun for a true majority of their snaps. Manning and the Colts offense operated with a precision and a strict sense of timing; if Manning expected a player to be at a spot, they better be at that spot.

Bill Belichick, not only the greatest head coach ever but also one of the greatest defensive game planners in NFL history, had the Patriots defensive backs put the BUMP back in “bump and run” coverage. Patriots defenders were physical and essentially mauling Colts receivers, throwing them off their timing and making a mess of the proper spacing that Manning yearned for.

The Patriots won the game 24-14, intercepted four of Manning’s passes, and went on to win the second Super Bowl of their long dynasty run. After heavy complaints from the Colts and others league-wide, the NFL responded by changing, or re-emphasizing, the rules regarding defensive coverage penalties like illegal contact (with the five-yard limit that the Patriots took advantage of being more harshly enforced), holding, and pass interference.

With an influx of talented passers, more wide-open passing games that looked at all levels, and an emphasis on player safety (which meant fewer big hits over the middle, opening up areas to exploit), NFL passing games exploded. And while defenses have struck back recently, the new era of the NFL felt like it truly started with these rule changes. Just another impact of Bill Belichick, I suppose. — Nate Tice

The 2011 CBA

NEW YORK - APRIL 22: Quarterback Sam Bradford of the Oklahoma Sooners holds up a St. Louis Rams jersey as he stands with NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell after Bradford was picked numer 1 overall by the Rams during the 2010 NFL Draft at Radio City Music Hall on April 22, 2010 in New York City. (Photo by Jeff Zelevansky/Getty Images) — Sam Bradford was the last No. 1 overall pick to sign a huge contract before the rookie wage scale was implemented as part of the 2011 CBA. (Photo by Jeff Zelevansky/Getty Images)

(Jeff Zelevansky via Getty Images)

One of the most pivotal moments in this era of football was the Collective Bargaining Agreement reached between the NFLPA and the NFL owners in 2011. Following an increase in top draft pick money in the previous years, the NFLPA and NFL agreed to a deal that instituted a rookie wage scale for the NFL Draft.

The contrast was immediately clear when first overall pick Cam Newton signed his rookie deal with the Carolina Panthers that offseason. Newton signed a four-year, $22 million fully guaranteed contract, but the year before that 2010 first overall pick Sam Bradford signed a six-year, $78 million contract with $50 million guaranteed.

While incoming rookies were rocked, the crop of veteran players benefitted from the CBA. In exchange for kneecapping the earning potential of first-round picks, the players received wins on fewer two-a-day practice days, less contact in practices and retroactive pay on their pensions. More money was also reallocated to veterans in tandem with the drop in rookie wages.

Eventually, veteran players did start to see bigger deals in free agency and on contract extensions as rookie wages stifled and the salary cap grew, but they did make rookie first-round picks more expendable at the end of the day. Lower salaries (with a team option!) just gave the owners more control over the early portions of a player’s career, ultimately leading to more CBA wins for the owners in the future, including a 17th game and increased holdout fines which were introduced in 2020. — Charles McDonald

Wage scale speeds up clock for rookie quarterbacks

The rookie wage scale meant that expensive first-round picks like Johnny Manziel had less time to show what they could do in the NFL before teams could sensibly move on. (Photo by James Allison/Icon Sportswire)

(Icon Sports Wire via Getty Images)

After the 2011 CBA, first-round rookies became much cheaper than they were prior to the rookie wage scale being put in place. With the financial obligations being cleaved in an era where the salary cap exploded, the idea of taking a franchise quarterback at the top of the draft became much less scary. No longer were rookie quarterbacks getting paid like top-tier, elite starters, so the implications of taking a bad one were much less severe.

When Blaine Gabbert, Jake Locker and Christian Ponder turned out to be busts for their respective teams, it didn’t cause cap catastrophes that set the franchises back. Instead, they just picked up a new one. The Jaguars ended up replacing Gabbert with Blake Bortles in the 2014 draft, Marcus Mariota took over for Locker in Tennessee, and the Vikings drafted Teddy Bridgewater in 2014 after the short Ponder era ended in disappointment.

A more recent example is what the Cardinals did with Kyler Murray and Josh Rosen during the 2019 draft. Just one year after spending a top-10 pick on Rosen, the Cardinals draft Murray with the first overall pick and traded Rosen to the Dolphins. This ended up being the objectively correct move for the Cardinals, but it did greatly highlight just how easy it was to move on from a quarterback that didn’t appear to be the franchise savior.

Paxton Lynch, Johnny Manziel, and the 2021 quarterback class sans Trevor Lawrence are also examples of how teams have been a little more cutthroat in terms of moving on quickly from young quarterbacks. — Charles McDonald

Megastadiums, from Jerry World onward

The Dallas Cowboys' AT&T Stadium is one of the modern cathedrals to NFL opulence and fan experience. (Photo by Catherine Ivill - AMA/Getty Images) — The Dallas Cowboys’ AT&T Stadium is one of the modern cathedrals to NFL opulence and fan experience. (Photo by Catherine Ivill – AMA/Getty Images)

(Catherine Ivill – AMA via Getty Images)

As cities and franchises across sports moved away from multipurpose stadiums that host multiple professional teams simultaneously, NFL teams assembled megastadiums that were still multipurpose.

But multipurpose in hosting events — championship games, wrestling PPVs, final fours, neutral site openers, concerts for the ultrafamous — on top of the maybe 10 days a year the stadium trots out their primary tenants in the NFL. As long as you paid for that sweet, sweet personal seat license.

It started with Jerry World in 2009 (officially called AT&T Stadium since 2013), and continued through U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis, SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles and Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas. These structures are built to host big events, with the big price tags attached to them, throughout the year.

Nashville, Cleveland and Buffalo (which still won’t be domed) are planning new megastadiums of their own, and these structures are every part of architectural wonder, technical marvel, and gaudy extravagance for a league that is always pushing for bigger (and bigger and bigger) and better. — Nate Tice

International games

NFL games in Europe have become a fixture of the regular season calendar. (Photo by Danielle Parhizkaran/The Boston Globe via Getty Images)

(Boston Globe via Getty Images)

In 2006, the Arizona Cardinals beat the San Francisco 49ers in Mexico City at Estadio Azteca in the NFL’s first regular season game played outside the United States. Since then, NFL games have been played in England, Canada, Germany and Brazil, with plans to play in Spain and Ireland in 2025 and Australia in 2026.

With the shuttering of NFL Europe (aka NFL Europa) in 2007, the NFL changed its game plan of how to grow the international market. The league went from preseason tilts and a minor league football operation primarily operating out of just Germany to staging a game, with real impact on the standings, in a international city with a hungry market for the NFL. And what started as a game in Mexico City in front of over 100,000 fans turned into multiple yearly games in London with a kaleidoscope of NFL jerseys to an opening Friday night bout in Brazil. (That’s also available on YouTube. Imagine telling someone THAT in 2007.)

With the NFL barreling toward 18 games, it opens up even more opportunities for overseas matchups — and for the NFL to keep rights holders frothing at even more football to throw money at. Early Sunday morning can now be its own “thing,” with an island game every week now that there’s a weekly slot tied in (with a bidding war for fun).

The NFL International Series has been a smashing success for the league and the international fans seem to also enjoy it when the circus comes to town. With more games on the menu and more markets to tap into, it’s only just starting. Potential weekly showcases and a London Super Bowl might happen sooner rather than later. — Nate Tice

NFL coaches incorporating college strategies

Chip Kelly was a major figure in bringing college coaching strategies to the NFL this century. (Photo by Hunter Martin/Philadelphia Eagles/Getty Images)

(Hunter Martin via Getty Images)

Football coaches have long looked at all levels of the game for inspiration to find new ways to gain a yard. While there’s always been cross-pollination between the NFL and what was in vogue with the college game (and high school, for that matter), each level still has distinct flavors (mostly because of tighter hashes and different rules), but there are college concepts and overall philosophies that have trickled upward and impacted the game over the past decade-plus.

The Air Raid, run-pass options (RPOs), and even the tempo that teams played with worked their way upward over the past decade. There had been no-huddle attacks before, but Chip Kelly and Kliff Kingsbury, both helming offenses in 2025, brought offenses operating at a warp speed compared to what was seen in the past.

Even if entire playbooks haven’t been taken from the lower level, effective plays get distilled down to what works against NFL defenses, or within NFL rule parameters. RPOs, which have been around in the NFL in some form since at least the 1990s, found a huge uptick in use when teams expanded their minds on the possibilities of what can be drawn up. Flavors of the month a decade ago turn into staple menu items for play-callers in the 2020s. Even concepts from offenses like the Carson Wentz-helmed 2015 North Dakota State Bison were copied by NFL teams and then copied again by their opponents league-wide.

There’s more incentive than ever to play young quarterbacks early. RPOs have been one way to streamline plays and get easy completions for an inexperienced passer. And as quarterbacks became more athletic and NFL teams moved to primarily operating out the shotgun, there was a need to build run game plans that matched their personnel and new gun-heavy looks.

QB read plays out of the pistol and shotgun are now staples of essentially every NFL offense nowadays, but just 12 years ago we saw a flummoxed Packers defense struggle to comprehend, and contain, what they were going against when they played Collin Kaepernick and the 49ers in the divisional round. Kaepernick rolled for 181 rushing yards and two touchdowns, oftentimes running scotfree off the edge while another Packers defender chased the running back like he had blinders on. And when the Packers overplayed the quarterback, Frank Gore adding on 119 yards and a score himself.

Now, every modern NFL defender has been facing modern quarterback run games since at least high school football, if not earlier. — Nate Tice

Up-tempo offenses

Kliff Kingsbury and Jayden Daniels' partnership is just the latest example of NFL offenses going up-tempo. (Photo by Scott Taetsch/Getty Images) — Kliff Kingsbury and Jayden Daniels’ partnership is just the latest example of NFL offenses going up-tempo. (Photo by Scott Taetsch/Getty Images)

(Scott Taetsch via Getty Images)

As defenses became more complex and the disguises became more muddied, offenses at all levels, found that playing faster and eschewing huddling altogether can create an advantage of speed and surprise as opposed to pure brawn. It can limit the play call verbiage of the defense (keeping them away from more exotic play calls like blitzes) and limit the substitutions a defense can make (again limiting the potential defensive looks while also wearing down the stamina of defenders), creating bubbles that can pop at any second if the offenses presses on them enough.

Offenses have played up-tempo before, of course, at the end of halves to score quickly. But teams have operated for stretches out of no-huddle looks; Jim Kelly helmed the famous high-scoring “K-Gun” Bills of the late ’80s and early ’90s, but more teams lived in that world as time went along and teams realized the possibilities of living in a huddle-free world.

In the 2000s, Peyton Manning’s Colts refined and took a primarily no-huddle offense to a new level, running the same personnel on every play and running a package of plays perfectly out of similar formation looks. Manning would signal and code word the offense to the perfect play as defenses were stuck waiting for Manning to wind up his Bolo punch that can come at any minute.

The Colts torched defenses, winning on tight operation and a maestro at quarterback that now knew every answer to find against a more limited menu defenses could throw at him.

Chip Kelly brought his “Blur offense” from Oregon and cranked the dial up (and back at the same time), implementing signals and changing tempos to keep defenses off-balance and, again, simple for the offense to exploit. Kliff Kingsbury’s background is in the Air Raid family of offenses, but he, too, implemented a primarily no-huddle offense as the head coach of the Cardinals and in his first year as offensive coordinator with Washington. The drawback for running a no-huddle offense is that it, in theory, limits the offensive play call the unit can get to. And simplicity did seem to put a ceiling on Kingsbury’s Arizona offenses and at times Kelly’s offenses as defenses caught up.

Defenses are still getting more complex, and Kingsbury’s offense in Washington last year took the league by surprise, with no huddle again limiting the plays that defenses could throw at them. (Also, having Jayden Daniels helps.) The Commanders lapped other teams in terms of no-huddle usage in 2024, and it seemed to keep defenses oft-kilter. Now that Kelly’s back in the NFL and Kingsbury had success last year, I can see an uptick of no-huddle this year. What’s new is old is new again. — Nate Tice

Player versatility

Players like the Baltimore Ravens' Kyle Hamilton do just about everything for their unit. (Photo by Cooper Neill/Getty Images) — Players like the Baltimore Ravens’ Kyle Hamilton do just about everything for their unit. (Photo by Cooper Neill/Getty Images)

(Cooper Neill via Getty Images)

As passing games evolved, player skill improved, and defenses got lighter, faster and grew tired of being dictated by whatever personnel grouping the offense put on the field. There has been a hybridization of body types and tasks between offensive skill players and their defensive brethren.

Receiving ability and pass protection is a prerequisite to seeing playing time for running backs. There are more wide receivers on the field nowadays than ever, and they’re asked to run the ball and block inside the formation, even in pass protection, more than ever, too. Slot receivers have become bigger and better at blocking. Tight ends have become lighter and better at receiving. Quarterbacks are asked to run more than ever.

And on the defensive side, it’s the same. A merging of body types and player responsibilities that has made some position labeling archaic. Five defensive backs on the field has been the norm for at least a decade, but what used to be an undersized and quick slot defender has made way for larger and more versatile players, with safeties filling the role now more often than not. Outside linebackers are asked to drop into coverage on any given play. Inside linebackers are asked to rush the passer more than ever. Every defense has their version of a NASCAR package as front seven players are all asked to have pass rushing moxy, at least if they want to see the field consistently.

Past change-ups are now the fastballs for defensive coordinators because of the versatility of these players. There are twists like defensive backs inverting their responsibilities because of the increased versatility of the players. All in the name to confuse modern quarterbacks.

It’s led to a faster and, in my opinion, more intelligent sport. Coaches are finding ways to get their best 11 players on the field, regardless of the down and distance. And the players skill sets have risen so much this millennium that they’re meeting the asks. — Nate Tice

Ebbs and flows of tight end deployment

Travis Kelce is one of the big-name tight ends who illustrates how much the position has evolved this century. (Photo by Logan Bowles/Getty Images)

(Logan Bowles via Getty Images)

Tight ends have been a crucial part of NFL offenses as long as they’ve existed, but the past 25 years have really seen the way in which they’re used changed. Outside of a couple players like Tony Gonzalez and Shannon Sharpe, most teams just had a stereotypical big-as-a-horse tight end that did the dirty work in the run game and passing game without ever really being the top target for their offense. You’re here to block for a running back that’s touching the ball over 300 times.

Eventually, the position evolved to the point where tight ends being featured parts of the passing game became normal to see. Now these guys are do-it-all weapons that have to be precise in so many areas of the field given how much their teams count on them.

Rob Gronkowski, Travis Kelce, George Kittle, Antonio Gates, Jimmy Graham, Dallas Clark and Vernon Davis are just a handful of the talented tight ends that teams fed the ball to over the past 15-20 years. The player that really defines this stark contrast is current Raiders tight end Brock Bowers.

Bowers functions more as a giant slot receiver that’s a terror with the ball in his hands than a traditional in-line tight end. And Colts rookie Tyler Warren was a ballcarrier from wildcat formations at Penn State! It’s a totally different game than was being asked of their peers 25 years ago, but the same core tenet still resides: be really big, really smart and just fast enough. — Charles McDonald

Bellcow backs are almost a thing of the past

The epoch of bellcow backs in the NFL is over ... almost. (Photo credit should read JEFF HAYNES/AFP via Getty Images) — The epoch of bellcow backs in the NFL is over … almost. (Photo credit should read JEFF HAYNES/AFP via Getty Images)

(JEFF HAYNES via Getty Images)

One of the biggest changes in offensive philosophy over the past 25 years has been how often teams are running the ball — and who is responsible for those carries.

In 2000, 19 running backs had more than 250 carries with Titans legend Eddie George leading the league with a whopping 403 rushing attempts. Nine players had more than 300 rushing attempts and there were 23 thousand-yard rushers. It was a league that still featured the bellcow back, with the idea of one running back taking the vast bulk of the carries as a predominant offensive philosophy.

Last season, there were six players with more than 300 carries, but only 12 players with 250 carries or more. While those numbers are a stark difference from 25 years ago, it actually is a swing back toward that direction. In 2023, the NFL had no running backs with 300 carries and only seven with 250 or more.

This is why bellcow backs are almost a thing of the past. Many teams are still using a running back by committee approach or are airing it out more than teams in the past, but the success of Derrick Henry, Saquon Barkley, Josh Jacobs, Bijan Robinson and others shows that maybe the NFL is getting back toward being a heavier run league as defenses got lighter to defend the pass.

Time will tell if this is just a fad or the newest evolution of NFL offenses, but 2024 did give us a glimpse of what used to be. — Charles McDonald

Extinction of ‘Greatest Show on Turf’

The “Greatest Show on Turf” is one of the most famous offenses in NFL history — and an example of how fast the imprint of even the most memorable units can fizzle faster than you think. (Photo by SCOTT ROVAK/AFP via Getty Images)

(SCOTT ROVAK via Getty Images)

Kurt Warner and the “Greatest Show on Turf” were on fire with their aerial attack to open the century, notching Warner his second MVP award in 2001 where he led the NFL in passing yards, passer rating, completion percentage and touchdowns.

Warner, Marshall Faulk, Torry Holt, Isaac Bruce, Orlando Pace and plethora of other offensive playmakers helped build out head coach Mike Martz’s dream offense that went after big chunks in the passing game. What makes them such a fascinating study is that not very much of this particular offense still exists at all in the NFL. An offense that had its own nickname is schematically just a memory.

It’s not the passing concepts that are gone, but the way they were deployed absolutely is a thing of the past. As NFL teams became shotgun-heavy, the need for seven-step drops from under center were unnecessary. If you go back and watch the early 2000s, there are a bunch of teams running empty formations (quarterback in the backfield by himself with no running back) from under center. That has been completely erased from the game with the use of shotgun formations.

It makes sense — why would you take a seven-step drop when you can just catch the snap where the drop ends? Still, Martz’s offense is a fun time capsule to go back and watch, and it shows that today’s trends might be gone sooner than you think. — Charles McDonald

Incorporating Michael Vick

The Falcons and head coach Dan Reeves had a challenge that would come to define the best NFL teams of 2025: how best to deploy the incredible skill set of your quarterback — in this case, Michael Vick. (Photo by Sporting News via Getty Images via Getty Images)

(The Sporting News via Getty Images)

Listen. In 2001, the world changed forever. When the Falcons traded up from pick five to the top of the draft to select Virginia Tech quarterback Michael Vick, the actual course of the universe changed. A jolt of excitement hit the league as the city of Atlanta received a quarterback that perfectly represented its ethos: captivating, dramatic, a little rough around the edges and Black as all can be.

It was lightning in a bottle as Vick immediately became one of the faces of the league and was just different from all the other quarterbacks with his 4.3 speed and cannon arm that let him make top 1% plays when he was dialed in.

Vick’s athleticism had been known and fawned over the entire time he was at Virginia Tech, but harnessing that level of horsepower for the NFL quarterback position was a completely different animal. However, Vick, for a brief moment in time, was arguably the first modern example of a team embracing a truly rare skill set at quarterback from the second the draft card was turned in, and building the whole damn plane centered around a superhuman center of gravity.

Nowadays, most of the top contenders have turned loose their quarterback’s full package of skills, even if none of their athleticism quite matches Vick’s. Patrick Mahomes and Andy Reid’s Chiefs. Lamar Jackson and John Harbaugh’s Ravens. Josh Allen and Sean McDermott’s Bills. Jalen Hurts and Nick Sirianni’s Eagles.

Dan Reeves and Co. were first to do it. And it’s now part of how you craft the very best NFL teams. — Charles McDonald

Rise of Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs

After the Patriots' dynasty ended, we didn't have to wait long for the next one thanks to Patrick Mahomes, Andy Reid and the Chiefs. (Photo by Michael Owens/Getty Images) — After the Patriots’ dynasty ended, we didn’t have to wait long for the next one thanks to Patrick Mahomes, Andy Reid and the Chiefs. (Photo by Michael Owens/Getty Images)

(Michael Owens via Getty Images)

After Tom Brady took his talents to Tampa Bay and Bill Belichick’s mighty run in New England ended in a whimper, it felt like a power vacuum might hit the NFL. Instead, a gunslinging Texan was drafted by Andy Reid and ushered in a new Chiefs dynasty, and we’re still in the middle of it.

Patrick Mahomes already has three rings and five appearances in the big game and doesn’t turn 30 until next month. Andy Reid, who had put up high-performing offenses and won games and division titles for years before Mahomes, finally found his muse. Reid let Mahomes sit for a year behind Alex Smith, honing in on the operation and other parts of Mahomes’ game before unleashing the wild horse into his typically traditional west coast offense.

Mahomes took the league by storm and the Chiefs racked up oodles of points, stats, and wins. They didn’t make it to the Super Bowl in Mahomes’ first year starting, but followed it up with a championship just a year after against the 49ers. They later racked up back-to-back titles on top of seven straight AFC championship appearances.

Mahomes’ chemistry with tight end Travis Kelce has become legendary, even as the cast of characters around them have changed. He’s won multiple MVPs in the regular season and Super Bowl, all while evolving his play style to find the right balance of in-structure and freewheeling, and the entire team identity shifted as well. The offensive line has gone through multiple iterations of both being good and not-so-good. Steve Spagnuolo was brought in at defensive coordinator and the Chiefs finally had a knuckleball pitcher to complement their fastball-chucking quarterback. The Chiefs are continuing to cycle through pass catchers to pair with their all-time talent at quarterback, with mixed results (there’s some optimism about this year’s group).

A Patriots dynasty that seemed once-in-a-lifetime was soon followed by this current Mahomes/Reid Chiefs run. The league wants parity, but some forces are just too great for the “P” word, I suppose. — Nate Tice

Donovan McNabb and a premonition for QB development

It's rarer for teams now to try to fit their QB to the system they run, rather than fit the system to the QB they have. (Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images) — It’s rarer for teams now to try to fit their QB to the system they run, rather than fit the system to the QB they have. (Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images)

(Ezra Shaw via Getty Images)

Andy Reid and Donovan McNabb had an incredible run together in Philadelphia even though they weren’t able to get that elusive Lombardi Trophy. However, it didn’t start off too smoothly.

McNabb’s first season as a full-time starter was rocky, with some real low points as he tried to figure out Reid’s complex West Coast offense. McNabb struggled early on with his decision making, accuracy and timing when it came to getting the ball out at the end of his drops. It led to a lot of ugly plays, but there was always a reason to believe: his athleticism.

McNabb was a powerhouse athlete early in his career, but he wasn’t quite utilized in structure in a way that would make the best use of his gifts. Even though he was a square peg in a round hole for the early part of his career, his incredible scrambling ability still allowed him to finish second in MVP voting in 2000 despite being one of the least efficient passers in the league — McNabb had 629 yards and six touchdowns and averaged over seven yards per carry that season.

While he eventually did figure out the passing game to become one of the best quarterbacks in the NF:, his development curve was a bit different than what we see stressed for young quarterbacks today. McNabb had to conform to a system, while the conversation today is more geared toward aligning an offensive scheme in conjunction with the quarterback’s talents. McNabb was also a win for the physical talent junkies who just want to roll the best athletes out there and let them figure it out on the fly.

There might not be a specific right or wrong way to approach quarterback development, but it certainly can’t be a bad thing to try and make life easier for a young quarterback, even if they have the talent to overcome it. McNabb walked so 2019 Lamar Jackson could fly. Such is the circle of life. — Charles McDonald

Legion of Boom influence

Richard Sherman (25), Earl Thomas and the Seahawks' Legion of Boom defense looked at the passing proliferation across the NFL and punched it in the mouth around the turn of the last decade. (Photo by Steve Dykes/Getty Images) — Richard Sherman (25), Earl Thomas and the Seahawks’ Legion of Boom defense looked at the passing proliferation across the NFL and punched it in the mouth around the turn of the last decade. (Photo by Steve Dykes/Getty Images)

(Steve Dykes via Getty Images)

It was a defensive system that was at the same time simple and complicated. The Seahawks didn’t run a wide variety of coverages. Defensive call sheets could essentially fit on a post-it note.

But most important they did what any all-time team or unit does: showed the opposing team what you are doing every single play and daring them to beat it. Over and over again. No gimmicks needed.

It was a system that did what any good system does: highlight its best players and let them play freely. And with a Seahawks defense that was littered with Hall of Fame-level talent like Richard Sherman, Earl Thomas, Kam Chancellor and Bobby Wagner, the results were league-altering.

Assistants were hired to emulate the success of the Pete Carroll-led teams, which was often imitated. But never duplicated. In an era where the passing game, well, boomed, Seattle had the ultimate answer. — Nate Tice

The Shanahan tree

The “Shanahan offense” has turned into a phrase that has entered the vernacular of NFL fans over the last decade. The disciples of the Shanahan Tree have long been associated with the outside zone run concept as their preferred offensive hub, with the bootleg, screen and play action spokes sprouting off of the core run concept that could, in theory, be run against any type of defensive front.

What we call the “Shanahan offense” was a merger of west coast passing principles and an Alex Gibbs-coached outside zone scheme that was introduced in Denver by Mike Shanahan in the ’90s and early 2000s, and polished by Klint Kubiak in Houston a few years later. When Shanahan went to coach Washington, the young staff that he assembled ended up being full of future NFL head coaches.

The names on that staff — Kyle Shanahan, Sean McVay, Matt LaFleur, and Mike McDaniel — are still currently head coaches and have been in the football cultural zeitgeist long enough that their staff photos in Washington are at a meme level by this point.

The growth of the Shanahan offense, and the names involved, has been discussed and dissected ad nauseam. But as the branches continue to sprout from this coaching tree, it’s interesting to see how some have evolved into new ways to survive as the NFL ecosystem adapted to attack back. Others, like former Texans offensive coordinator Bobby Slowik, withered away as they were stuck in a system that felt barren compared to the operation that others had added so many layers too.

The Shanahan offense is still going strong. The branches and twigs and leaves of this coaching tree keep reaching to new places. Even if it looks different than when it started to proliferate throughout the NFL. But in a league that never stays static, the users of this offensive philosophy change along with it. — Nate Tice

Rex Ryan’s defensive influence

The way Rex Ryan schemed up defense in Baltimore and later with the New York Jets was not new, but its fingerprints are all over NFL defense to this day. (Photo by George Gojkovich/Getty Images)

(George Gojkovich via Getty Images)

When the Jets hired Ravens defensive coordinator Rex Ryan to be the face of their organization in 2009, they were able to build a unit that stamped its place in NFL history by doing the one thing every fan wishes their defense could do: beat the absolute crap out of every opposing offense.

Ryan did not invent this style of defense in New York. Or Baltimore. Or any of his previous stops prior to being the head coach of the Jets. The violence and speed that the Jets played with was passed down from his father Buddy Ryan, who toted the famous 46 defense that culminated in the 1985 Bears pulverizing their opposition en route to an 18-1 record and Super Bowl title in a season where they allowed just 12.4 points per game.

Ryan’s Jets defenses were littered with Pro Bowl and Hall of Fame caliber players, but the singular unflappable force of Darrelle Revis turned this style of defense into a cultural footprint that is necessary when explaining the ebbs and flows of defensive schemes in the NFL.

Because they had a guaranteed winner in man coverage where they decided to deploy Revis, they were able to get funky with their pre-snap looks into a new blitz picture post snap. Like this sack against the Chargers from the 2009 season. The Jets lined up seven players on the line of scrimmage before the snap, but they dropped one of the linebackers and sent safety Kerry Rhodes screaming off the edge unblocked for a sack.

Not only was it a great call to get Rhodes free for a big strip sack on Philip Rivers, but they pushed Rivers toward Revis with the blitz. Just complete a pass against the best cornerback in the history of the game with an unblocked safety crashing on your head. An elite run defense just kept putting opposing offenses in situations where they had to play to the pace and tempo that the Jets wanted and it was completely overwhelming.

The personnel is what makes this scheme possible, but the willingness to play with their hair on fire consistently is what made this unit so legendary. This style of defense was able to become a legitimate cultural moment for the NFL and it continues to evolve today while never straying from the original message: Bring. The. Pain. — Charles McDonald

What broadcasters say and don't say about the NFL's touchier subjects has changed this century. (Photo by Lee Coleman/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) — What broadcasters say and don’t say about the NFL’s touchier subjects has changed this century. (Photo by Lee Coleman/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

(Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

It’s not necessarily the biggest surprise as the league continues to build relationships with their media partners, but the NFL doesn’t exactly love outlets that are tied to them also being critical of them.

An easy example of that is broadcasters aren’t allowed to call the integrity of the game in question via insults of the referee crew or being overly critical of their performance. A positive broadcast creates a better environment for people to watch the games and keeps fans from getting antagonistic toward the league. If you want to broadcast NFL games, which every TV company in the world does, you have to play by their rules. That’s part of the game.

That philosophy has even extended to their video game relationship with EA Sports and the Madden NFL series. Following the release of Madden NFL 2001 in 2000, the league asked that virtual ambulance rides off of the field for severely injured players to stop. Of course, everyone does know that these horrific injuries do happen from time to time, but the NFL decided that they didn’t want Madden players to be reminded of that (which honestly might be fair, considering Madden is rated “E” for everyone). Following Madden NFL 2005, the NFL requested an end to players getting their helmets knocked off after big hits, and by Madden NFL 25 last year, concussions were completely removed from the game. However, that never stopped EA from being able to put up monster sales year after year after year. Football is king in America.

There is no hard rule that broadcasters have to speak overtly positive of the league and its players on television, but there has been a tone shift in terms of what the broadcast is willing to discuss. The NFL, as everyone who has heard of the league knows, has had its fair share of problems with players and coaches and executives getting into trouble in their free time. It doesn’t seem as if the current broadcast partners are willing to give viewers a peak at the dark underbelly of NFL life quite like 20 or more years ago.

Just watch this clip of Al Michaels discussing some allegedly heinous behavior by Bill Romanowski, who was in the middle of playing the game that was being broadcasted. That’s a shocking level of honesty about performance enhancing drugs and credible accusations of racism, two topics the NFL finds taboo nowadays. Going from a brief, detailed moment like that national broadcast to today, where there’s a more positive presentation of the league on television, is a stark difference.

The NFL has made a more concerted effort to avoid negative coverage from the people who partner with them or license their products. And at the end of the day, money talks and the ritual of the 1 p.m. ET kickoffs cure a lot of bad feelings. — Charles McDonald

Texans’ introduction

When the Texans began play in 2002, the NFL reformatted to the divisions it has today. (Ronald Martinez/Getty Images)

(Ronald Martinez via Getty Images)

2002 featured something that has only happened one time in this quarter-century of football: an expansion draft. With the creation of the Houston Texans, the NFL redistributed divisions, with eight made up of four teams each. Those haven’t changed since, and with teams moving cities rather than being created, it might be a long time before it happens again.

The expansion draft for the Texans was fun, too. The rest of the league had to participate so that the Texans were able to start their franchise with some semblance of NFL talent on their roster. It almost worked like a Madden fantasy draft, but without the actual overwhelming talented players.

The other 31 NFL teams each listed five players that the Texans could potentially claim off of their roster. While most of the players available weren’t too notable, a few teams did dangle quality players out there because the Texans would automatically take on the entire salary — this is how currents Jets head coach Aaron Glenn and current Jaguars executive Tony Boselli ended up as members of the Texans, with Glenn coming off of a Pro Bowl selection the year before.

In total, the Texans ended up taking 19 players, which satisfied their requirement of grabbing enough contracts to total at least 38% of the salary cap (the salary cap was $71 million in 2002).

There hasn’t been an expansion draft since the Texans went through their process over 20 years ago. They went on to have a dismal inaugural season in the league with former No. 1 overall pick David Carr getting beat up behind a bad offensive line, but they’ve been one of the more competent franchises in the league over the past 15 or so years. And their introduction set the foundation for the divisional layout we’ve known for over two decades now. — Charles McDonald

https://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/article/25-in-2025-trends-shaping-the-nfl-130048391.html