Each NFL team tried to address roster weaknesses this offseason through free agency signings, trades and draft picks. But no matter how many additions were made, all 32 rosters exited the draft lacking in at least one position group.
I looked at the biggest hole on each roster now that the 2025 NFL draft is over. At this point in the offseason, a roster hole does not necessarily mean that the position group has no clear starters. Most teams have filled the top of their depth charts. But plenty of units have limited depth, even after all the wheeling and dealing.
Let’s pick out one unit with remaining questions for all 32 teams, going division by division. (Many of the advanced stats referenced below — including DVOA — are explained here.)
Jump to a team:
ARI | ATL | BAL | BUF | CAR | CHI | CIN
CLE | DAL | DEN | DET | GB | HOU | IND
JAX | KC | LAC | LAR | LV | MIA | MIN
NE | NO | NYG | NYJ | PHI | PIT | SF
SEA | TB | TEN | WSH
AFC EAST
Position of need: Outside wide receiver
Keon Coleman had a quietly efficient rookie season. Although he missed four games due to injury and had only 29 catches for 556 yards with four touchdowns, Coleman ended with an excellent receiving DVOA of 11.4% — ranked 30th out of 91 qualifying receivers. The Bills added Joshua Palmer in free agency; he’s a useful player with an average DVOA and back-to-back seasons of at least 580 receiving yards. But there’s no clear No. 1 option and very little depth behind Coleman and Palmer.
The next three receivers — Khalil Shakir, Curtis Samuel and Elijah Moore — are slot options. The third-best outside option is probably seventh-round pick Kaden Prather. The Bills should consider bringing Amari Cooper back, if just for depth purposes. General manager Brandon Beane might be OK with the wide receiver depth, but it’s not optimal.
Position of need: Slot receiver
Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle make an excellent top two, but who is the third option? Free agent arrival Nick Westbrook-Ikhine is an outside receiver. Veterans Erik Ezukanma and Dee Eskridge never really developed.
Right now, the top slot options are two low-round draft picks from 2024. Malik Washington had 26 catches for 223 yards with no touchdowns last season, while Tahj Washington missed last season with an undisclosed injury.
Position of need: Cornerback depth
The Patriots have three starting cornerbacks. Christian Gonzalez covered the opposition’s No. 1 option more often than any other corner in the league last season, according to FTN data charting. He’s joined by veteran Carlton Davis III on the outside and Marcus Jones in the slot. But there’s a problem if injuries hit.
Alex Austin started four games over the past few seasons but isn’t a strong option. There are a couple of late-round draft picks — Marcellas Dial Jr. from 2024 and seventh-rounder Kobee Minor this year. Fourth-round safety Craig Woodson might be able to play some slot, but there’s a significant drop-off from the top three.
Position of need: Quarterback
Just because a team thinks it has filled a hole doesn’t mean it’s filled. There is a possibility that free agent pickup Justin Fields will finally fulfill his NFL potential in his fifth season. But those odds are long.
Fields had his best season in 2024 with a 50.8 QBR, but it came in a six-game sample. And that QBR would have ranked 23rd in the NFL if he threw enough passes to qualify. That’s better than what the Jets got from Aaron Rodgers last season, but it still isn’t good, and there is no guarantee Fields can match or improve on it. Tyrod Taylor is a fine backup, but you don’t want him starting an entire season.
AFC NORTH
Position of need: Left guard
This is more of a mystery projection. Andrew Vorhees fell to the seventh round of the 2023 draft after being injured at the combine. He missed his rookie season, then started three games in 2024. He had a strong 97.6% pass block win rate, but the sample size was small. We don’t really know how good Vorhees is quite yet, and he’s penciled in to start. Veteran Ben Cleveland and seventh-round rookie Garrett Dellinger are his backups.
Position of need: Safety
Bengals fans expected an upgrade at safety during the draft, but no such luck. Vonn Bell is gone, leaving Geno Stone and Jordan Battle as the starters. Both are solid in coverage, but they’re not known as big playmakers. Stone has tackling issues, too, as his broken tackle rate of 24.2% was the third highest in the league for defenders with at least 40 solo tackles. There’s also very little depth in case of an injury. Daijahn Anthony played only 11 defensive snaps last season, while Tycen Anderson played only special teams.
1:13
Jeff Darlington: Bengals trying to get Trey Hendrickson deal back on track
Jeff Darlington and Marcus Spears weigh in on Trey Hendrickson’s ongoing contract situation with the Bengals.
Position of need: Wide receiver
Jerry Jeudy is great and just fine as a No. 1 receiver. It’s everything behind him that’s the issue. The No. 2 receiver is Cedric Tillman, who had only 339 receiving yards in 11 games last season. The No. 3 option is veteran Diontae Johnson, who had a strange 2024 where he played for three teams.
After that comes either veteran Michael Woods II, who had only seven receptions for 65 yards last season, or Jamari Thrash, who had three receptions for 22 yards as a rookie. Behind them are return man DeAndre Carter, fourth-year player David Bell and not much else.
Position of need: Quarterback
As of this writing, we still haven’t determined whether Aaron Rodgers will play in Pittsburgh this season. If he doesn’t, Mason Rudolph is the starter.
Rudolph was surprisingly reasonable for the Titans last season, and his 55.5 QBR would have ranked 20th in the league had he thrown enough passes to qualify. Still, nobody looks at Rudolph and thinks he’s a starter for a playoff contender. His current backup is sixth-round rookie Will Howard.
AFC SOUTH
Position of need: Guard
The Texans have plenty of guards, but are any of them good? The starting left guard will probably be Tytus Howard, a natural tackle who has been up-and-down when playing inside. Behind him is veteran Laken Tomlinson, who ranked 44th out of 64 ranked guards in pass block win rate (91.1%) last season in Seattle.
On the right side, there’s Juice Scruggs, who is more of a center but did have a 93.0% pass block win rate at guard last season. Veteran Ed Ingram, who ranked 54th among guards in pass block win rate (89.8%) last season in Minnesota, is next up. The Texans have thrown a lot of bodies at this position, but how much better will they be compared to last season’s debacle?
Position of need: Center
While linebacker was considered, the Colts’ current starting center is second-year man Tanor Bortolini. He started five games last season but had only a 91.3% pass block win rate as a center, far below the league average of 93.8%. His run block win rate was also below average. Backup Wesley French started three games in 2023 but didn’t play last season due to an ankle injury.
Position of need: Edge rusher depth
The Jaguars have a good starters in Josh Hines-Allen and Travon Walker. But there isn’t much behind them. The Jaguars recently added veteran Emmanuel Ogbah, but he’s 32 and had only five sacks as a full-time starter in Miami last season.
Myles Cole had no sacks as a rookie last season despite playing 11.3% of Jacksonville’s defensive snaps. Yasir Abdullah, an edge/off-ball linebacker hybrid, also had zero sacks last year. The Jaguars can manufacture some depth by occasionally moving veteran defensive tackle Arik Armstead outside.
Position of need: Inside linebacker
The Titans don’t really have credible inside linebackers on the roster besides veteran free agent addition Cody Barton. Otis Reese IV played only 8.4% of Tennessee’s defensive snaps last season. Second-year players James Williams and Cedric Gray played 10.5% and 4.5% of defensive snaps, respectively. One of the veteran LBs still on the market — Ja’Whaun Bentley, Kyzir White or Shaq Thompson — would fit here.
AFC WEST
Position of need: No. 2 receiver
This pick wasn’t easy, as the Broncos have a credible two-deep at every spot. The best I could come up with was the lack of a clear No. 2 receiver behind Courtland Sutton. The Broncos have a ton of players there, but nobody has really established himself as a strong WR2.
Marvin Mims Jr. had 39 catches for 503 yards last season, while Devaughn Vele had 41 catches for 475 yards. There’s also Pat Bryant, who might have trouble living up to his third-round selection, along with veteran Trent Sherfield Sr. and Troy Franklin, Bo Nix’s old college teammate.
Position of need: Left guard
The Chiefs have strong starters everywhere, as you’d expect from a team that has been to three consecutive Super Bowls. The biggest question is whether second-year man Kingsley Suamataia can be successful at left guard after struggling at left tackle last season. If Suamataia fails there, it falls to Mike Caliendo, who performed admirably during last season’s playoff run after Joe Thuney was moved to tackle.
Position of need: Outside linebacker
The Raiders’ top outside linebacker right now is Devin White, who couldn’t get on the field for the Eagles last season and eventually went to the Texans, where he started one game. He’s known for overrunning plays and questionable pass-coverage instincts.
Amari Burney is behind White and played only 9.1% of Las Vegas’ defensive snaps last season, slightly more than Tommy Eichenberg’s 7.2%.
Position of need: Center
Veteran center Bradley Bozeman ranked 29th out of 33 qualified centers with a 92.0% pass block win rate. The Chargers signed him to a two-year extension anyway, but they might have a better option behind him after signing free agent Andre James.
James has always had shockingly high pass block win rates. He was at 95.7% last year, fifth among centers, and at 96.5% in 2023, second behind the Chiefs’ Creed Humphrey.
NFC EAST
Position of need: Cornerback depth
The biggest hole was wide receiver, but that was solved with the George Pickens trade. So let’s pivot to cornerback. DaRon Bland and Trevon Diggs are strong starters, but there are questions about whether Diggs will be ready to start the season after surgery late last year to repair cartilage damage in his left knee. There are also health questions about the No. 3 corner, third-round rookie Shavon Revel Jr. He was thought to be a first-round talent but fell because of an ACL tear.
Depth is poor if Diggs or Revel aren’t ready for Week 1. Caelen Carson allowed a horrendous 98.4% coverage DVOA in limited time as a rookie, along with 10.9 yards per target. Kaiir Elam was a first-round pick but washed out in Buffalo. Safety Israel Mukuamu can line up in the slot but played only 18% of Dallas’ defensive snaps last season.
Position of need: Tight end
Theo Johnson had a solid season for a fourth-round rookie, catching 29 passes for 331 yards and one touchdown. But the Giants need more production than that, and Johnson isn’t known as a strong run blocker. New York needs depth as well, as backup Daniel Bellinger had only 14 catches for 125 yards.
Position of need: No. 3 wide receiver
A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith might be the best starting receiver duo in the NFL, but there’s a steep drop after them. The other receivers combined for only 365 receiving yards last season, led by Jahan Dotson’s 19 catches for 216 yards. The only newcomer is former Panthers receiver Terrace Marshall Jr., who had just three catches and 41 yards for the Raiders last season.
Position of need: Linebacker depth
It’s a good thing that the Commanders rarely play base defense (only 13% of the time last season), because their linebacker depth is terrible. There will be problems if Frankie Luvu or Bobby Wagner suffer an injury, as the backups are second-year players who were fifth-round picks: Dominique Hampton and Jordan Magee. Hampton didn’t play a defensive snap last season, while Magee played only 15. The Commanders also added Kain Medrano in the sixth round.
NFC NORTH
Position of need: Linebacker depth
The Bears don’t have a clear No. 3 linebacker. Their No. 3 ‘backer from last season (Jack Sanborn) is now in Dallas. That leaves very little behind veterans T.J. Edwards and Tremaine Edmunds.
Fourth-round rookie Ruben Hyppolite II might be counted on right away, a tough ask for a player drafted far ahead of where he was projected to go. Other options include Amen Ogbongbemiga, who played only 15 defensive snaps last season, and Noah Sewell, who played just five.
2:00
Why Marcus Spears likes Bears’ rebuild
Marcus Spears and Jason McCourty praise the Bears’ offseason and state that it’s time for Caleb Williams to step up to the plate.
Position of need: Edge rusher depth
After all the injuries they suffered last season, it was a surprise that the Lions didn’t draft an edge rusher until Ahmed Hassanein in the sixth round. Can the Lions keep an edge rusher rotation healthy behind Aidan Hutchinson — assuming Hutchinson himself can stay healthy?
Marcus Davenport has played only six games the past two seasons. Al-Quadin Muhammad is 30 years old, though he had three sacks in nine games in 2024. Josh Paschal has only five sacks in three seasons. The rest of the depth chart is made up of street free agents.
Position of need: Edge rusher
Rashan Gary was the only Packers edge rusher with at least five sacks last season. Lukas Van Ness, the team’s 2023 first-round pick, has been a disappointment — he’s penciled in as a starter despite having only seven sacks in his first two seasons.
Neither Kingsley Enagbare nor Brenton Cox Jr. has much upside, but they combined for 9.5 sacks last season. Fourth-round rookie Barryn Sorrell did not fare well in our SackSEER projections, with a projection of only eight sacks over five seasons.
Position of need: Cornerback
Byron Murphy Jr. is back after a fabulous season in which he ranked seventh in the league in my coverage DVOA metric. But you need three starting cornerbacks in the NFL, plus depth behind them. Right now, the other two starters would be Mekhi Blackmon and Isaiah Rodgers.
Blackmon missed last season with a torn ACL and had a below-average 9.8% coverage DVOA as a rookie in 2023. Rodgers was good with the Eagles last season but started only three games. Behind them are Jeff Okudah, a one-time high draft pick who played only 7% of Houston’s defensive snaps last season, and Tavierre Thomas, a 29-year-old slot corner who played only 4% of Tampa Bay’s defensive snaps in 2024.
NFC SOUTH
Position of need: Defensive line
Atlanta has three clear starters for its 3-4 scheme, but how much should the Falcons trust those players? Atlanta ranked 26th in run stop win rate last season.
Now, the Falcons are replacing Grady Jarrett with Morgan Fox, who turns 31 in September. David Onyemata wasn’t impressive last season and turns 33 in November. The team is counting on 2024 second-round pick Ruke Orhorhoro, the third starter, to step up at nose tackle, but he played only 13.3% of Atlanta’s defensive snaps as a rookie. And third-year player Zach Harrison — who should be a backup — hasn’t lived up to his potential yet. This group also struggles rushing the passer, as it combined for 7.5 sacks a year ago.
Position of need: Cornerback
Carolina has all sorts of corner questions. Jaycee Horn is no problem when healthy, but 2024 was the first time he played 14 or more games in a season. Veteran Michael Jackson struggled last season, ranking 79th out of 93 qualifying cornerbacks in coverage DVOA and 90th in yards allowed per target. Nickelback Chau Smith-Wade had good charting numbers as a rookie but in a very small sample size, as he played only 25% of defensive snaps.
The main depth consists of Akayleb Evans, who didn’t work out in Minnesota, and Shemar Bartholomew, who played only 17 defensive snaps last season.
Position of need: Edge rusher
The Saints ranked 30th in pass rush win rate last season and didn’t add much to their pass rush this offseason. Veterans Chase Young and Carl Granderson are still starters after getting 5.5 sacks each a year ago. Cameron Jordan is still here, too, but he is going to be 36 years old and had only 4.5 sacks in 2024.
Isaiah Foskey has never lived up to his second-round billing, with zero sacks in two seasons. The new players are Jonah Williams, who bounced between three rosters last season and had no sacks, and seventh-round rookie Fadil Diggs.
Position of need: Inside linebacker
Lavonte David is still really good, but he’s 35 years old. The bigger question is who will be playing next to him now that K.J. Britt is gone. The Bucs signed Anthony Walker Jr., but he was a bit of a disappointment last season for Miami. Another possibility is third-year man SirVocea Dennis, but he played only four games last season. Veteran Deion Jones appeared in two games for the Bucs, his fourth team in four seasons.
NFC WEST
Position of need: Inside linebacker
The departure of Kyzir White, who wore the green dot last season, underlines the Cardinals’ linebacker questions. Last season marked Mack Wilson Sr.’s first as a full-time starter since 2019. So there isn’t a long track record of success. Playing next to him will be Akeem Davis-Gaither, who started double-digit games for the first time last season but has had tackling issues in the past.
The backups are third-year man Owen Pappoe and fourth-round rookie Cody Simon, who led Ohio State in tackles in 2024.
Position of need: No. 3 wide receiver
Davante Adams was a huge addition, but the departures of Cooper Kupp and Demarcus Robinson produced a net loss of one starting wide receiver. Tutu Atwell is now the No. 3 option. He had a solid 2024 with 11.7% receiving DVOA to go with 42 catches for 562 yards, but he’s not regarded as a starting option around the league. And the depth behind him is poor.
Jordan Whittington had 22 catches for 293 yards as a sixth-round rookie in 2024, but Xavier Smith had only two catches for 6 yards. The Rams didn’t draft a receiver until selecting Konata Mumpfield in Round 7. Los Angeles might not need a No. 3 receiver that often, though, as drafting Terrance Ferguson in Round 2 indicates more two-TE personnel groupings.
Position of need: Outside linebacker
Fred Warner is a future Hall of Famer, but he needs help. Dee Winters earned mixed reviews while subbing for the injured Dre Greenlaw, and the third linebacker for base defense will probably be undersized third-round rookie Nick Martin.
The backup at all three positions is Luke Gifford, a six-year veteran who turns 30 before the season. He has only five career starts and played fewer than 20% of Tennessee’s defensive snaps last season.
Position of need: Center
The Seahawks drafted Grey Zabel in the first round to play left guard, but they still need more at center. Olu Oluwatimi is slated to start at center and was below average last season in both pass block win rate (92.4% vs. NFL center average of 93.8%) and especially run block win rate (64.5% vs. NFL center average of 72.8%). Unless last year’s third-round draft pick, Christian Haynes, can move to center, the backups are undrafted free agents Jalen Sundell and Federico Maranges.
Source link
