2025 NFL season: One player to root for from each AFC team

I’m with Lamar Jackson on this one. Almost half a year has passed since Andrews’ Divisional Round meltdown, and his two-time MVP teammate is still going to bat for him. Jackson clearly knows how much the tight end has meant to the franchise for close to a decade. Andrews’ fumble and dropped two-point conversion against the Bills are not going to fade from fans’ memories any time soon, but it would be a shame if that cold night in Buffalo ended up being the defining chapter of his Ravens career. I’d like to see the three-time Pro Bowler bounce back in a contract year and prove that his worst day at the office did indeed only make him stronger.

We have run into the well-worn narrative of a running back wanting to get paid and a team being unwilling to budge. It’s hard to argue with Cook’s results, though. He averages 4.9 yards per carry in his career, which leads all players since 2022 (min. 500 carries), and he tied for the league lead with 16 rushing touchdowns in 2024. Playing in an offense led by Josh Allen and bolstered by a strong offensive line undoubtedly helps, but so does Cook’s playmaking ability out of the backfield. Given the position he plays, Cook’s unlikely to see many bites at the contractual apple, so I’m rooting for him to stay healthy and get the lucrative new deal he’s earned.

Knight’s long and winding road to the NFL -- including three different colleges in six years and a stint as a food delivery driver for DoorDash to support his family -- was well documented leading up to this year’s draft, when Cincinnati selected Knight with the 49th overall pick in Round 2. Just watch the video of him getting the call from the Bengals on draft day and try not to get all the feels. What’s more, he’s apparently been an immediate hit with his new team, with players already viewing the linebacker as a future leader on defense, according to The Athletic. Knight is an easy fit for this list.

If this is Bitonio's final NFL season, can the Browns send the franchise stalwart out on a high note? A Pro Bowl selectee for seven straight years, the left guard recently said he considered retirement after the 2024 campaign but didn’t want to leave with the taste of a 3-14 season in his mouth.

“I questioned why I was playing this game,” Bitonio told Dawgs By Nature. “What am I doing here? The fact that we had a terrible season was not what I was expecting.”

I feel for the guy. Despite spending his entire 11-year career with an organization known for its missteps and turmoil, Bitonio has offered the kind of consistency and individual success that every team covets. I’m rooting for him to find peace before he leaves the game.

I know Sutton expressed optimism about his contract talks with the Broncos back in April, but here we are three months later and there’s nary a peep about a new deal getting done. This saga has played out for more than a year, with Sutton skipping voluntary OTAs in 2024 before reporting to mandatory practice and agreeing to a restructured pact that raised his salary last season. He did not skip any sessions this time around, which is why no one has been sounding the alarm. Sutton will turn 30 in October and is in the final year of his contract, so there has to be some sense of urgency on his end. I’d like to see him rewarded for leading Denver in receptions, receiving yards and receiving touchdowns in each of the last two seasons. After all, he’s the go-to guy for second-year QB Bo Nix, and there are not any other well-established wide receivers on the roster.

Something that's still seared into my memory from last season: The image of Texans QB C.J. Stroud in tears after Dell suffered a severe knee injury on a touchdown catch against the Chiefs in Week 16. The last update from head coach DeMeco Ryans indicated that the third-year receiver was “in a really good spot” in his rehab from the torn ACL/MCL and dislocated kneecap, but unsurprisingly, the team hasn’t shared any firm timetable for when Dell might be able to get back on the field. There can’t be many (any?) players more deserving of a break from injury woes. While Dell's NFL career got off to a very promising start in 2023, over the past 19 months, the wideout has suffered a broken fibula, a gunshot wound to the leg and wrist/ribs, chest, back and knee injuries. It hurt just writing that sentence. I’m pulling for a triumphant return for Dell, whenever he is ready to play again.

Richardson’s inclusion here isn’t meant as a slight to his competition for the starting job in Indianapolis, Daniel Jones. I wish Jones well, too. (In fact, he made my "root for" list last year.) It’s just that Dimes’ upside never came close to what Richardson can be if he finds a way to put it all together, and as a football fan, I’d like a chance to see exciting quarterback play! Laugh if you want, but I’ll never forget the electricity in Lucas Oil Stadium when Richardson put on a show at the 2023 NFL Scouting Combine. Sadly, he hasn’t come close to recreating that feeling for any extended period in the two seasons since GM Chris Ballard drafted him fourth overall. The outlook seems as bleak as ever right now, with Richardson experiencing a nagging shoulder issue that sidelined him for minicamp this offseason. I’d like to see a better ending to his story in Indy than losing a battle to Jones and being relegated to the bench with a 50 percent completion rate and more career interceptions than touchdown passes.

We are in uncharted territory, and I am a fan of the exploration. It certainly looks like the Jaguars are going to grant Hunter his wish, allowing him to be a modern-era unicorn and play on offense and defense in his rookie year. Future Hall of Famer Travis Kelce -- whose Chiefs will visit Jacksonville in Week 5 -- is already predicting teams will base their offensive strategy on wearing out Hunter when he’s playing cornerback. That’s a lot of power for a guy who has yet to play an NFL snap, but the 2024 Heisman Trophy winner is different. The two-way star has always expressed supreme confidence in his endurance. If he’s up to the challenge, we’ll witness some things we’ve never seen before. I’m here for it.

I want to see one of the NFL’s angriest runners get back to his pre-injury form. Pacheco made a habit of bulldozing through walls of defenders with aplomb in his first two years, but he suffered a fractured fibula in Week 2 of last season, which kept him out of nine games. When he returned in late November, he just wasn’t the same guy and finished the season with an average of 3.7 yards per carry, a full yard below his mark through the first two seasons. He has bulked up this offseason in an effort to bounce back, with Andy Reid saying he “looks tremendous.” Here’s hoping Pacheco can recapture his spark in a contract year. When he’s on, few running backs are a more enjoyable watch.

Pola-Mao might be the nephew of Pro Football Hall of Fame safety Troy Polamalu, but this is not a case of nepotism run amok. Pola-Mao considered giving up football after a disappointing senior season at USC. He was not invited to the NFL Scouting Combine and went undrafted in 2022. After battling his way onto the Raiders’ roster as a backup safety/special teamer during his first two NFL campaigns, injuries thrust Pola-Mao into the starting lineup early last season and he performed well enough to earn a two-year contract from the franchise’s new regime. For the first time, he’s getting a chance to enter the season as a starter, but it doesn’t sound like he’s taking anything for granted.

“I want to earn that starting role,” Pola-Mao told reporters last month. “Last year, I was kind of shoved into that role by default. ... I want to earn that trust with the guys, the coaches. This is a new defense, so it’s really, nothing last year matters. It’s a new start for me.”

That’s a clear-eyed, humble approach I can get behind.

It seemed like Colson entered the perfect situation to thrive in as a rookie. Unlike almost every other NFL newbie, who gets thrown into the fire while having to learn a whole new system with different terminology from what they knew in college, Colson was drafted by Jim Harbaugh and Jesse Minter, his head coach and defensive coordinator at Michigan. Unfortunately, health issues interrupted his transition to the pros. First, he missed the start of training camp while recovering from surgery to have his appendix removed. Then he dealt with hamstring and ankle injuries that limited him to 11 games, with only one start. Yes, it was a rough welcome to the pros. The good news is Harbaugh gave a glowing report last month on Colson’s progress this offseason. I’ll be cheering for a much smoother ride for a player who could become a force on the second level of the Chargers defense in Year 2.

The injury gods have been especially unkind to Phillips. After playing in all 34 games in his first two seasons, recording 15.5 sacks over that span, he’s been limited to 12 contests in the past two years. An Achilles injury ended his 2023 season in November, and a Week 4 ACL tear cost him the rest of the 2024 campaign. And let’s not forget Phillips briefly was medically retired from football during his college career. Injuries are a part of life in the NFL, but that’s a lot for anyone to withstand. Hopefully he gets a chance to remind everyone of what he’s capable of with a healthy season in a contract year. With the Dolphins trading away Jalen Ramsey, their remaining cornerbacks are largely unproven and stand to benefit greatly from a stout pass rush. Miami needs Phillips to provide one.

Let’s hope this year is far better for Barmore, who had his 2024 season upended. After signing a four-year extension worth up to $92 million in April 2024, Barmore was diagnosed with blood clots last July and missed the first 10 games of the campaign. He returned in November, only to experience "recurring symptoms" a month later, ending his season. It had to be a very scary situation for one of the league’s best young defensive linemen. Fortunately, he was cleared to resume football activity this offseason, and he sounds like a man on a mission to prove his time away from the field in 2024 didn’t diminish his game. I won’t be betting against him.

For any of you who thought I was above rooting for a player simply because of his nickname, well, sorry to disappoint you. I’m not going to pass on a chance to pull for a guy known as the “Thiccer Kicker.” At 5-foot-11, 243 pounds, Mevis signed with the Jets last month after impressing (20 of 21 on field goals) in his first season with the UFL’s Birmingham Stallions. This is a second NFL chance for Mevis, who was in camp with the Panthers a year ago as an undrafted rookie out of Missouri, where he was a first-team All-American in 2021. He’ll be battling for New York’s kicking job against undrafted rookie Caden Davis, who does not have a well-publicized nickname. That costs him here.

I’m already in awe of Harmon’s strength. His mother, Tiffany Saine, died shortly after the Steelers drafted him in Round 1 on the night of April 24. Saine, who had endured multiple brain surgeries and a stroke in recent years, was in the hospital on life support prior to her passing. It’s hard to imagine trying to balance such a range of emotions that Harmon must have felt -- and might continue to feel -- while embarking on a pro career in the wake of such a tremendous loss. It seems like he’s done a remarkable job of going about his business, though. Steelers defensive line coach Karl Dunbar has already referred to Harmon as a starter this summer. Keep in mind, these are the Pittsburgh Steelers we’re talking about. Starting jobs are not just handed out to rookies. Seven-time Pro Bowl DT Cam Heyward, a first-round pick back in 2011, was a backup for two full seasons before he got a chance to start. I’m not the only one who sees the makings of a special player in Harmon.

For much of this century, Tennessee’s quarterback play has fluctuated between passable and the stuff nightmares are made of. The Titans have had a bottom-six scoring offense for three years in a row, and the franchise has drafted four quarterbacks in the top 10 since 2005 (most in the NFL). The new hope is Ward, who went from a zero-star recruit to the first overall pick of this year’s draft. He had success at all three of his college stops, going from Incarnate Word to Washington State to Miami, and I want to see him finally bring some stability to the position. He has the tools to do it, if he can just limit the YOLO throws that come back to bite him. So, this selection is for you, Titans fans. Let’s go, Cam.