- The Rams offense stays one of many NFL’s most steady models, however their defensive resurgence could also be greater than only a late-season sizzling streak: Publish-bye structural modifications — together with elevated snaps for rookie Jared Verse — coincided with dramatic enhancements in go protection metrics, suggesting sustainable development from a younger, evolving unit.
- Kyler Murray and Sam Darnold face pivotal seasons in unstable environments: Murray should reconnect together with his deep ball via Marvin Harrison Jr., whereas Darnold steps into a troublesome state of affairs in Seattle.
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Estimated Studying Time: 11 minutes
Now that the draft is behind us and rosters are largely set, it’s a good time to shift focus to futures markets looking for betting worth. Previously, tying up cash for months got here with a chance value. However with the rise of recent platforms, together with these providing curiosity, betting early on futures is usually a extra worthwhile funding than ever.
We’ll go division by division, highlighting the bets we discover Most worthy. Whereas not each crew will get a full breakdown, we’ll contact on every one as we work via the board.
To set the inspiration for our evaluation, we’ll have a look at crew fundamentals from final season, utilizing PFF’s personal Timo Riske’s chart on crew efficiency as a baseline.
San Francisco 49ers
Central Query: Will the 49ers’ Scheme Return to Kind?
The 49ers’ 2024 season fell in need of expectations, undone by a mixture of accidents, inconsistent particular groups play and missed alternatives. Most notably, the once-dominant talent place group that had outlined Kyle Shanahan’s offense regressed. Brandon Aiyuk missed many of the season, Deebo Samuel by no means regarded like himself and rookie first-rounder Ricky Pearsall, who spent a lot of the yr working his approach again after being wounded in an offseason capturing, solely started to search out his footing within the remaining weeks.
That diminished supporting solid had a transparent influence on Brock Purdy and the offense total. The 49ers’ signature scheme, lengthy identified for turning mismatches and movement into explosive performs, by no means fairly discovered its rhythm. The large query heading into 2025 is whether or not a wholesome group of weapons and a retooled supporting solid can reignite one of many NFL’s most artistic offensive methods.
Whereas Brock Purdy’s PFF grade remained constant together with his earlier seasons, the underlying numbers counsel the 49ers’ offense wasn’t working on the identical stage in 2024. His anticipated factors added (EPA) per play dropped to a profession low, pointing to a broader decline in offensive effectivity, even when his particular person efficiency inside the system held regular.
In areas the place we will quantify the affect of the scheme, the numbers reveal some erosion. The speed of good protection confronted by the 49ers declined for a 3rd straight yr — nonetheless among the many greatest within the NFL, however trending within the fallacious route — and Purdy confronted extra disrupting occasions than in seasons previous. Extra troubling, he was considerably much less efficient in opposition to good protection than in earlier years.
Maybe most indicative of the offensive step again: the 49ers averaged almost 0.7 fewer yards after the catch than in prior seasons, a core characteristic of the Shanahan system. That drop in effectivity underscores how a lot the supporting solid and schematic rhythm had been out of sync in 2024.
On the opposite aspect of the ball, the protection carries much more uncertainty. 4 starters are gone, and the crew spent almost all of its draft capital on that aspect of the ball. For a unit that when set the usual league-wide, the 2025 model of the 49ers protection seems to be extra like a bottom-half group.
Nonetheless, the important thing to projecting this crew’s end result lies extra with the offense than the protection. Has the league began to meet up with Shanahan? Has the personnel taken a step again? Or will a wholesome season from Brandon Aiyuk and Ricky Pearsall assist restore the offensive identification?
With Shanahan’s monitor report of adapting and a possible return to well being throughout the roster, I’m optimistic. The market is down on San Francisco — roughly two wins under their 2024 complete and one under 2023 — however this seems to be like a traditional bounce-back spot. I am greater on the 49ers than the consensus.
