Five NFL Storylines That Could Blossom In 2024
Every Season, Every Team In Every League Reports On Players Arriving For Preseason Work In The Best Shape Of Their Careers. Quotes Circulate About Free Agents Signings, Draft Picks, And Call Ups That Are Going To Terrorize Opponents. It Rarely Happens. NFL Players And Teams Are Facing The End Of Training Camp Spotlights, Where Some Will Shine And Many Will Fade.
As The 2024 Regular Season Starts For The NFL, Where Are The Surprises And Storylines The Most Interesting? Here Are Five Items Few People Are Talking About Now, But Are Likely To Be Big Stories As The Season Plays Out.
The rumors begin as soon as the first whiffs of training camp begin floating in the air. A certain player is ready to explode and will arrive for the preseason in the best shape of their career. Taken in the first round, the celebrated draft pick is set to deliver headaches for coaches in the division and throughout the league.
Often, these stories don’t play out exactly as reported initially. Seasons are long, competition is fierce, and the work is filled with unexpected details, twists, and turns.
The biggest notes are easy to see. Pittsburgh and the quarterback situation have been given plenty of attention and now need to play out. In Chicago, Caleb Williams has already been set on his perch, from which he’ll either deliver or fall.
The real threats are the underlying issues that few are covering as the journey begins. These five are worth watching, as they will be bigger conversations in the near future.
Kyler Murray (and the Arizona Cardinals)
Murray enters his sixth NFL season still looking to establish himself with 2024 a make-or-break season.
Here’s a scary set of stats: Murray is 27 and entering his sixth NFL season. Quarterbacks drafted in the same year, or just a year before or after, have already solidified reputations. Murray remains a bit of an unknown.
After playing in sixteen games in 2019 and 2020, his durability hasn’t been strong. Fourteen games in 2021 were followed by eleven in 2022 and last season he played in only eight. This isn’t a true knock on Murray, who has been able to put up some decent numbers on the field. He also hasn’t shown himself to be chronically injury-prone.
Instead, it’s meant to point out a simple truth: He hasn’t been the same player since the disastrous playoff game against the Los Angeles Rams in January of 2022. His highest quarterback rating, along with his best seasons for yardage, completion percentage, and touchdowns, all came in 2021 or earlier.
And the Cardinals? After reaching the postseason in 2021, they enter the 2024 season coming off of a pair of 4-13 campaigns.
The training camp news surrounded Marvin Harrison Jr.'s arrival. There have been predictions he will give defenses fits. In contrast to the claim, Tampa Bay had years where they struggled with Mike Evans and Chris Godwin on the field, showing that talented wide receivers do not automatically deliver victories.
In a division where San Franciso is loaded and ready to roll, Murray isn’t the top story in the NFC West. Once the games begin, however, his ability and the talent around him need to rise or the calls for a complete overhaul will get louder. The response to those calls will be interesting, as Seattle and Los Angeles already seem to have quietly rebuilt on the fly. A record of 4-13 with potential might be the high point of the next few years if this season doesn’t work out.
Baker Mayfield
Mayfield will attempt to make this year his first true back-to-back success.
Inconsistent is the best word Mayfield can hope to have applied to his career.
In 2023, he set benchmarks for his performance, playing in seventeen games and passing for more than 4,000 yards. His efforts led the Buccaneers to a winning record, the NFC South title, and the playoffs. In the postseason, Mayfield threw for three touchdowns and 337 yards to defeat the Philadelphia Eagles.
Mayfield and Tampa Bay enter the 2024 season coming off of a season of positives. In addition, the move to add Kirk Cousins is just one reason many people are expecting big things from the Atlanta Falcons and lowering the pressure on the Buccaneers.
A second season of quality leadership and results from Mayfield could be enough to solidify his place as an NFL starter with a home rather than a journeyman project. His career to date hints that those may not be realized once the games are played.
J-E-T-S, Jets Jets Jets
Will 2024 be successful for Rodgers and the Jets? Or did they miss out by falling during the win-now of 2023?
Yes, the Jets lost their signature franchise-altering addition in the first game of the 2023 season when Aaron Rodgers was hurt. After such a devastating loss, finishing the season at 7-10 might seem to be a decent accomplishment. It isn’t.
During one stretch of the 2023 season, the Jets lost five straight contests while averaging just 9-points per game in those matches. A solid win over the Houston Texans was followed the next week by a humiliating shutout loss against the Miami Dolphins.
The AFC East is filled with questions in 2024. Can Josh Allen continue as an elite quarterback in the league with changes throughout the Buffalo roster? Is Miami a contender or a good pretender? The New England Patriots have some enthusiasm thanks to a new head coach and a season without tremendous expectations.
It isn’t a "win now" for the Jets, it was a "win last year." The schedule is offering prime-time showcases of games for the 2024 season. Time will tell if the forecasts of quality are on target, or merely shadows of what might have been.
Baltimore Ravens
With two MVP awards and a brilliant career line during the regular season, Jackson has been a stud on the field. In the playoffs, however, the results have been more of a dud.
Things are not perfect in Baltimore. Even with two Most Valuable Player awards and a track record of quality play, Lamar Jackson faces criticism. This is especially true with his career results in the playoffs.
Year after year, the NFC North may be the most unforgiving division in the NFL. The Cincinnati Bengals are two years removed from their run to an AFC title and Super Bowl appearance, and appear to have a healthy Joe Burrow leading the team in 2024. Pittsburgh is talented enough to win the division if the quarterback dilemmas are settled. Cleveland is a great unknown for the season, with a dominating defense returning. The division winner may not be decided until the final games of the year are played.
The Ravens have a brutal schedule. They start with home games against Philadelphia and Atlanta before hitting the road to play Green Bay and Kansas City. Once divisional questions about the Pittsburgh starter and Joe Burrow’s health are addressed, expect people to be talking about how the Ravens look out of the gate.
Trevor Lawrence
Lawrence led the Jaguars to legendary playoff moments in the 2022 season. He needs to do more if he wants to join the elite level of quarterbacks in the game.
Here’s a question: Is Trevor Lawrence an elite quarterback? Following the 2022 season, he seemed well on his way to a position in the upper echelon of the position. In the playoffs that year, he engineered what someday may be viewed as a career-defining comeback to defeat San Diego, and lost to the eventual champions in Kansas City.
Then came 2023. The team cleared the mark for a winning record, finishing at 9-8. But in a season where they were expected to improve upon their 2022 declaration of arrival and statement postseason, they faltered and lost the division to the Houston Texans, with a first-year head coach and a rookie quarterback.
Lawrence has been consistent overall. He’s been available to play, improved since his 2021 rookie efforts, and shown promise along with decent leadership skills. What he hasn’t been is dominant. He hasn’t been elite. With the AFC South depth and performance remaining a bit cloudy, this next year is going to be a telling one for the heights Lawrence might reach.
A special bonus thought…
The New England Patriots Offensive Line
Maye is supposed to be the future, but this year's New England offensive line may ruin the enjoyment before the party begins.
New England cut Bailey Zappe in the final moves to set their roster for the 2024 season. They kept three quarterbacks: Jacoby Brissett, Drake Maye, and Joe Milton. It’s telling, and somewhat sad, that a bit of a joke for some fans was that the team should keep Zappe just so they didn’t risk injury to Brissett, Maye, or Milton.
The preseason play of the offensive line did little to take away the impact of the joke’s punchline. Penalty flags were numerous. Health and depth remain issues in all positions along the line.
In a season where the team was hoping to bring a bit of fun back to the field, the offensive line could be steamrolled into a year-long bout of depression.
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