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01/07 14:27 CST Why 2025 is the year of the first-round quarterback in the NFL
Why 2025 is the year of the first-round quarterback in the NFL
By JOSH DUBOW
AP Pro Football Writer
The 2025 NFL season was dominated by first-round quarterbacks with old veterans
like Matthew Stafford and a new generation featuring Drake Maye and Caleb
Williams taking center stage.
The playoffs should be no different with a record-tying 12 of the 14 teams that
qualified for the postseason set to use a first-round pick as their starting
quarterback. The only year in the Super Bowl era with two or fewer
non-first-round QBs starting a playoff game came in 2024 when Jalen Hurts and
Russell Wilson did it.
The NFL set a record this season with 219 of the 272 games won by a quarterback
who was drafted in round one, besting the mark of 204 set the previous year.
And the record isn't about a longer season or more teams as the 80.5% of games
won by a first-round quarterback was easily the highest since the start of the
common draft in 1967. The only other season with more than 70% of games won by
a first-round QB came in 2024 when the rate was 75%.
The rate was less than half of games as recently as 2008 and down at 23% in
2001, when Tom Brady first became a starter in New England a year after being a
sixth-round pick.
The only outlier will be the wild-card game on Sunday in Philadelphia when San
Francisco's former seventh-round pick Brock Purdy takes on former
second-rounder Hurts and the Eagles.
Those teams have shown there is an alternate path to success as Hurts and Purdy
have represented the NFC in the last three Super Bowls. But unless the winner
of that game also wins the divisional round, this season will join the 2010
season as the only ones in the Super Bowl era with all four starting QBs in the
conference title game being first-rounders.
This postseason will feature four quarterbacks picked first overall with
Stafford and Carolina's Bryce Young facing off in the 13th playoff matchup of
No. 1 pick quarterbacks in the Super Bowl era. Williams and Jacksonville's
Trevor Lawrence are the other two top picks.
There were five others picked in the top 10, including 2024 No. 3 pick Maye and
2018 No. 7 pick Josh Allen of Buffalo. Houston's C.J. Stroud went second in
2023, while Sam Darnold was picked third by the Jets in 2018 and Justin Herbert
went sixth to the Chargers in 2020.
Three others went later in the first with Denver's Bo Nix going 12th in 2024
and two QBs picked by Green Bay: Aaron Rodgers at No. 24 in 2005 and Jordan
Love at No. 26 in 2020.
Then there's Hurts at No. 53 in 2020 and Purdy, who was Mr. Irrelevant as the
262nd and final pick of the 2022 draft.
League leaders Myles Garrett set the single-season sack record with 23, while several other league leaders also had some noteworthy performances. Stafford led the NFL with 46 touchdown passes and 4,707 yards passing, while throwing only eight interceptions for the Los Angeles Rams. Stafford joined Brady in his record-setting 2007 season as the only players to lead the league in TD passes and yards while throwing eight or fewer interceptions. Maye, who is second in AP NFL MVP odds at BetMGM to Stafford, became the seventh player to throw for at least 4,000 yards and 30 TDs in a season before turning 24 and the first to do it with fewer than 10 interceptions. Maye also led the NFL by completing 72% of his passes and with a 113.5 passer rating. The only player to exceed both those marks in the same season was Drew Brees in 2018 and '19. Buffalo's James Cook edged out Baltimore's Derrick Henry for the rushing title with 1,621 yards to Henry's 1,595. Henry had his record-setting fourth season with at least 1,500 yards rushing and 15 TD runs, including back-to-back campaigns in his 30s. No other player has done that even once after turning 30. Jaxon Smith-Njigba set a Seattle record and led the NFL with 1,793 yards receiving. Arizona's Trey McBride finished with 126 catches, the most ever for a tight end and three shy of Puka Nacua's league-leading total this season. Houston's Ka'imi Fairbairn tied the record set by David Akers for San Francisco in 2011 when he made 44 field goals.
Impact of kickoff rule The tweaks to the kickoff rule this season had the desired effect when it came to the rate of returns. Moving the touchback spot from the 30 to the 35 led to significantly more returns as kicking teams opted against touchbacks. In all, 74.5% of kickoffs were returned this season, more than doubling the rate of 32.8% in 2024 in the first year of the so-called "dynamic kickoff." It was the highest rate of returns since 2010 when it was at 80.1%. The NFL changed the rules for kickoffs following a record-low 21.8% return rate in 2023, hoping to increase returns while limiting injuries. While there were only six return touchdowns this season, there were 87 returns of at least 40 yards for the most in any season since 2010 with 114. The average starting field position after kicks was 30.8 yards from the end zone, a slight increase from 2024 and more than 5 yards better than 2023. That helped contribute to the highest-scoring season in the NFL since 2020, when teams averaged 23 points per game, up from 21.8 in the last year before the rule change.
Winning and losing divisions The Detroit Lions went from NFC North champions last season to the basement this season. They still finished with a better record than any team in the NFC South. Those two divisions provided quite a dichotomy this season with all four teams in the North finishing with winning records and all four teams in the South having losing marks. Carolina won the division with an 8-9 record, becoming the fifth team to make the postseason with a losing record in a non-strike shortened season in NFL history. Two of those four previous teams won their postseason opener with Carolina (7-8-1) beating Arizona (11-5) in 2014 and Seattle (7-9) topping New Orleans (11-5) in 2010. The Lions went 9-8 but missed the playoffs as the NFC North joined the 2023 AFC North as the only divisions in the Super Bowl era with every team finishing with a winning mark. Detroit was the second last-place team to finish with a better record than a first-place team with Washington (8-8-1) doing it in 2022 when Tampa Bay (8-9) won the NFC South. The Bears won the NFC North with an 11-6 mark despite losing four of six division games. The only other teams since the merger to have a losing record in division games and still finish first were the 2010 Kansas City Chiefs and San Francisco in 1971. ___ Inside the Numbers dives into NFL statistics, streaks and trends each week. For more Inside the Numbers, head here. ___ AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/NFL
League leaders Myles Garrett set the single-season sack record with 23, while several other league leaders also had some noteworthy performances. Stafford led the NFL with 46 touchdown passes and 4,707 yards passing, while throwing only eight interceptions for the Los Angeles Rams. Stafford joined Brady in his record-setting 2007 season as the only players to lead the league in TD passes and yards while throwing eight or fewer interceptions. Maye, who is second in AP NFL MVP odds at BetMGM to Stafford, became the seventh player to throw for at least 4,000 yards and 30 TDs in a season before turning 24 and the first to do it with fewer than 10 interceptions. Maye also led the NFL by completing 72% of his passes and with a 113.5 passer rating. The only player to exceed both those marks in the same season was Drew Brees in 2018 and '19. Buffalo's James Cook edged out Baltimore's Derrick Henry for the rushing title with 1,621 yards to Henry's 1,595. Henry had his record-setting fourth season with at least 1,500 yards rushing and 15 TD runs, including back-to-back campaigns in his 30s. No other player has done that even once after turning 30. Jaxon Smith-Njigba set a Seattle record and led the NFL with 1,793 yards receiving. Arizona's Trey McBride finished with 126 catches, the most ever for a tight end and three shy of Puka Nacua's league-leading total this season. Houston's Ka'imi Fairbairn tied the record set by David Akers for San Francisco in 2011 when he made 44 field goals.
Impact of kickoff rule The tweaks to the kickoff rule this season had the desired effect when it came to the rate of returns. Moving the touchback spot from the 30 to the 35 led to significantly more returns as kicking teams opted against touchbacks. In all, 74.5% of kickoffs were returned this season, more than doubling the rate of 32.8% in 2024 in the first year of the so-called "dynamic kickoff." It was the highest rate of returns since 2010 when it was at 80.1%. The NFL changed the rules for kickoffs following a record-low 21.8% return rate in 2023, hoping to increase returns while limiting injuries. While there were only six return touchdowns this season, there were 87 returns of at least 40 yards for the most in any season since 2010 with 114. The average starting field position after kicks was 30.8 yards from the end zone, a slight increase from 2024 and more than 5 yards better than 2023. That helped contribute to the highest-scoring season in the NFL since 2020, when teams averaged 23 points per game, up from 21.8 in the last year before the rule change.
Winning and losing divisions The Detroit Lions went from NFC North champions last season to the basement this season. They still finished with a better record than any team in the NFC South. Those two divisions provided quite a dichotomy this season with all four teams in the North finishing with winning records and all four teams in the South having losing marks. Carolina won the division with an 8-9 record, becoming the fifth team to make the postseason with a losing record in a non-strike shortened season in NFL history. Two of those four previous teams won their postseason opener with Carolina (7-8-1) beating Arizona (11-5) in 2014 and Seattle (7-9) topping New Orleans (11-5) in 2010. The Lions went 9-8 but missed the playoffs as the NFC North joined the 2023 AFC North as the only divisions in the Super Bowl era with every team finishing with a winning mark. Detroit was the second last-place team to finish with a better record than a first-place team with Washington (8-8-1) doing it in 2022 when Tampa Bay (8-9) won the NFC South. The Bears won the NFC North with an 11-6 mark despite losing four of six division games. The only other teams since the merger to have a losing record in division games and still finish first were the 2010 Kansas City Chiefs and San Francisco in 1971. ___ Inside the Numbers dives into NFL statistics, streaks and trends each week. For more Inside the Numbers, head here. ___ AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/NFL
