Offensive players, excluding quarterbacks, and defensive players to keep an eye on were previously covered. Now, the focus turns to passers. 

Every season, a different set of players face a crossroads or have something to prove for a variety of reasons. The most common reasons are related to age, contract or salary cap concerns, injury, performance or off-the-field issues. Seven such quarterbacks to watch during the 2025 season are below. 

A dismal start led to Bryce Young, 2023's first overall pick, getting benched for Andy Dalton after two games last season. Dalton's thumb injury in a car wreck got Young back in the lineup six games later. Young remained at quarterback after Dalton was healthy. 

Young finished the 2024 season on a high note. Over the last three games in which the Panthers went 2-1, Young completed 64.8% of his passes for 607 yards while throwing seven touchdowns without any interceptions for a 111.3 passer rating. He also added 100 yards and three touchdowns on the ground. Young playing more like he did at the end of last season than in the beginning will likely lead to the Panthers picking up his fully guaranteed fifth-year option for 2027, which could be in the $28 million range, next offseason.

Caleb Williams, 2024's first overall pick, wasn't put in a situation last season that was conducive to success. There was coaching instability. Offensive coordinator Shane Waldron was fired after nine games. Coach Matt Eberflus was let go in the midst of six-game losing streak with a 4-8 record. 

The offensive line was inconsistent. Williams was sacked a league-high 68 times, third-most in NFL history. Some of the sacks weren't the offensive line's fault. Williams held on to the football too long at times, which he acknowledged. His struggles were magnified with Jayden Daniels, the player taken right after him in the 2024 NFL Draft by the Washington Commanders, having arguably the best rookie season ever for an NFL quarterback. 

Williams got his wish with the Bears hiring Detroit Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson, who was the architect of the league's highest-scoring offense last season, as coach. Upgrading the offensive line was a top offseason priority. Offensive guards Jonah Jackson and Joe Thuney were acquired from the Los Angeles Rams and Kansas City Chiefs, respectively. Center Drew Dalman was signed in free agency. The Bears provided Williams with weapons in the 2025 NFL Draft by selecting tight end Colston Loveland in first round and wide receiver Luther Burden III in the second round. Williams should be in a much better position to succeed with all of the offensive changes. 

Trevor Lawrence hasn't consistently lived up to the potential that made him 2021's first overall pick. He has job security thanks to the five-year, $275 million contract extension, averaging $55 million per year with $200 million of guarantees ($142 million fully guaranteed), signed in June 2024.

Lawrence had an injury plagued 2024 season (ankle, knee, shoulder and concussion) that limited him to 10 games. He only completed 60.6% of his passes to rank 35th in the NFL with 11 touchdowns and seven interceptions. Lawrence had an 85.2 passer rating, which was 28th in league. The Jaguars were 2-8 in those 10 games.

Liam Coen is Lawrence's third coach in five NFL seasons. There's optimism that Lawrence will bounce back because of Coen's work with Baker Mayfield last season as the Tampa Bay Buccaneers' offensive coordinator. Mayfield had career highs in passing yards (4,500), completion percentage (71.4%), touchdown passes (41) and passer rating (106.8).

Sam Darnold easily played the best football of his seven-year NFL career in 2024 taking advantage of 2024 10th overall pick J.J. McCarthy being lost for the year with a right knee injury during the preseason. He unexpectedly had the Vikings playing for the NFC North title with the conference's No. 1 seed and a wild card bye on the line in Week 18s regular-season finale against the Lions. Darnold connected on 66.2% of his passes for 4,319 yards with 35 touchdowns and 12 interceptions to post a 102.5 passer rating. He ranked fifth in the NFL in both passing yards and touchdown passes in addition to having the league's sixth-best passer rating. Darnold also secured his first Pro Bowl berth.

Unfortunately, Darnold played his worst football of the season when the stakes were highest. He was awful in the Week 18 31-9 loss to the Lions and the season-ending 27-9 wild card playoff game setback to the Rams. Darnold's completion percentage dropped to 53.1% while throwing for 411 yards with one touchdown and one interception for a 66.4 passer rating. He took 11 sacks in the two games, including a playoff-record-tying nine sacks versus the Rams.

The Seahawks signed Darnold to a team-friendly three-year, $100.5 million contract, averaging $33.5 million per year worth a maximum of $115.5 million through incentives. The structure of Darnold's contract and the selection of Jalen Milroe in the third round of this year's NFL Draft suggests Seattle isn't entirely sold on Darnold. 

There's a small window for the Seahawks to get out the deal after the season if Darnold doesn't play well. Out of the $27.5 million Darnold is scheduled to make in 2026, the $17.5 million that's guaranteed for injury becomes fully guaranteed five days after Super Bowl LX on Feb. 13. 

Should the Seahawks go this route, Darnold will have gotten $37.5 million for one year in Seattle. The Seahawks will have $25.6 million in dead money, a salary cap charge for a player no longer on a team's roster.

The Pittsburgh Steelers went 4-2 during Justin Fields' six starts at the beginning of the 2024 season because of Russell Wilson's calf injury. Fields threw for 1,106 yards with five touchdowns and one interception while completing 66.3% of his passes (106 of 160 attempts) for a 93.9 passer rating. He also used his legs by gaining 231 yards on the ground in 55 carries and scoring five times. It wasn't enough to supplant Wilson at quarterback.

There was interest from the Steelers in Fields returning. He took a two-year, $40 million deal with $30 million fully guaranteed from the Jets instead. If Fields doesn't impress, the Jets could find his replacement in a quarterback-heavy 2026 NFL Draft.

The Colts hedged their bet on 2023 fourth overall pick Anthony Richardson by signing Daniel Jones to a one-year, $14 million contract worth up to $17 million through incentives in March. Going with Jones at quarterback is more of an indictment of Richardson than anything else. Coach Shane Steichen insists that Jones won't be on a short leash. 

Jones flamed out after a 2022 season in which when he was one of the NFL's best dual-threat quarterbacks leading the New York Giants to a playoff berth and wild card game win over the Vikings. He leveraged his 2022 success into a four-year, $160 million deal (worth up to $195 million thanks to incentives and salary escalators) with $104 million of guarantees where $81 million was fully guaranteed at signing the following March to remain in New York.

Benching an ineffective Jones 10 games into last season eliminated the risk of a $23 million injury guarantee of his 2025 salary coming into play. After the Giants accommodated Jones' request to be released, he spent the rest of the season on the Vikings' practice squad.

Jones' 2022 season has been an outlier in his six-year NFL career. He'll have to demonstrate that it wasn't an anomaly to be best positioned for a starting job with the Colts or someone else in 2026 and beyond.

J.J. McCarthy

The Vikings let Kirk Cousins walk in 2024 free agency because of the intention to select a quarterback in the first round of the 2024 NFL Draft, which was McCarthy with the 10th overall pick. The plan was McCarthy would replace Darnold, who was signed as a bridge quarterback, at some point during the 2024 season. That was before McCarthy's season ended with a torn meniscus in his right knee during the preseason opener. The Vikings were comfortable with Darnold also leaving via free agency despite a Pro Bowl season. Expectations are high in Minnesota. McCarthy, who only had 12 snaps this preseason, takes over a Vikings team that tied with the Super Bowl LIX champion Philadelphia Eagles for the NFC's second-best record at 14-3 in 2024.