The Young Guard: How This Generation's Elite Under 25 Are Reshaping the NFL's Power Structure

We are living through one of the most fascinating inflection points in modern NFL history, and I mean that with complete sincerity. Right now, at this very moment in the summer of 2024, we have a collection of players under the age of 25 who are not merely participating in the league's conversation about excellence. They are fundamentally altering it. They are redefining what we expect from young players in their first few seasons in professional football. They are challenging the old wisdom that you need five, six, seven years to truly understand how to dominate in this league. Some of these young men have not yet reached their 24th birthday and they are already having the kind of impact that takes most Hall of Famers years to accumulate.

Let me start with what we know about this cohort. These are players who came into the league between 2021 and 2023, mostly. They are the products of high school programs that had film available online in real time. They are the product of college football that was televised constantly, where analysts broke down every throw, every gap responsibility, every hand placement. They grew up watching the NFL in ways that previous generations simply did not. They watched film the way we watched film in the draft room. They understood concepts before they got to the professional level in ways that seemed almost impossible a decade ago. And yet, when you really sit down with scouts and coaches and break down what makes this generation different, it is not just information access. It is something deeper. It is a hunger. It is a sense that the window is narrow and the opportunities are not guaranteed, so you had better maximize every single moment you have.

When we talk about the elite players under 25 right now, we have to begin with the quarterback position because that is where the narrative starts and ends in the National Football League. You have Jalen Hurts in Philadelphia, and I want to be very careful here because Hurts is one of the most divisive players in football right now. But the reality is that Hurts has done something that very few young quarterbacks have ever accomplished. He has taken a franchise that was, frankly, struggling in the latter years of the Carson Wentz era, and he has turned it into the most consistent machine in the NFC East. His arm talent is elite. His athleticism is something that you simply do not see from the quarterback position. He ran a 4.59 40-yard dash at the Combine, and for a man who weighs 223 pounds and throws the football the way he does, that is a number that changes how you evaluate him as a prospect and as a player. He has played in every game for Philadelphia. That durability matters enormously. But there is a refinement that still needs to happen in his game, a understanding of when to take what is there versus when to force the issue. That is coming, and when it does, the conversation about him is going to change.

You also have to mention Will Levis in Tennessee. Levis has all the physical tools that you look for in a franchise quarterback. The man is 6'4", 221 pounds, and he throws the football with genuine velocity. His arm angles are diverse. He can make throws from different platforms. But his first season in the NFL was, if we are being honest, a learning experience. He turned the football over in ways that cannot happen at this level. He is on a better trajectory now, and the Titans are giving him the stability and the weapons to grow. That matters. The weapons matter enormously. When you have receivers who can separate and create and make plays after the catch, it changes what a young quarterback can accomplish.

But then you have Anthony Richardson, and here is where the conversation becomes almost ethereal. Richardson has not played enough football yet to truly evaluate where he sits among the elite under 25, but the tools are so overwhelming that you have to include him in any serious conversation. He is a generational athlete at the quarterback position. He is 6'7", 245 pounds, and he moves like a guard. His arm strength is off the charts. When you turn on his tape, when you see the velocity with which the football comes out of his hand, when you see how he can fit balls into windows that other quarterbacks cannot access, you understand why some people in the scouting community believe he could be the greatest quarterback that ever played this game. That is not hyperbole. That is the actual conversation happening in front offices. He is injured now, and injuries matter, and you have to respect that reality. But the ceiling on Richardson is genuinely unlike anything we have seen in recent quarterback history.

When we shift to the skill positions, the conversation becomes even more interesting because you have a depth of talent that is truly exceptional. You have Ja'Marr Chase in Cincinnati, who is now entering his fourth year in the league and is already having the kind of impact that we associate with all-time greats. Chase has elite speed. He ran a 4.34 40-yard dash at the Combine, which is exceptional for a receiver of his size and build. He has exceptional body control. He can adjust to balls in ways that seem almost impossible. His hands are as reliable as they come. And perhaps most importantly, he plays with a confidence and a swagger that is infectious. When he gets the football, something happens. Defenses tighten. Safety help adjusts. He creates his own gravity on the field.

Then you have Jaylen Waddle, who is absolutely electric when he is healthy. Waddle has unique body control and flexibility for a man his size. He had some durability concerns coming into the league, but when he is on the field, he impacts the game in massive ways. His ability to win contested catches is elite. His ability to separate after the catch is something that you see from running backs, not from receivers of his frame and build. He is a game changer. The Alabama pipeline to NFL excellence continues to be something we should all marvel at, and Waddle represents the best of what that program has produced in recent years.

When we talk about the running back position, we have to acknowledge that this is a position that has been largely devalued in modern NFL football, and yet the young running backs in this league are still creating impact. You have Tony Pollard in Dallas, who is an absolute spark plug. Pollard has the kind of elusiveness and lateral agility that makes defenders miss in space. He is 5'10", 205 pounds, which is not a traditional running back size, and yet he runs with a power and an urgency that is exceptional. He moves like water through contact. He does not run into people. He runs around them. He also has legitimate receiving skills. He can line him up in the slot. He can be a pass catcher. He is a versatile weapon that changes what an offense can do.

You also have Breece Hall in New York, who has all the tools to be a premier running back in this league for a long time. Hall has power. He has speed. He has receiving skills. He had a torn ACL that cost him nearly all of the 2023 season, but he is in the process of getting healthy and getting back to form. When he returns to full strength, he is going to be a major factor in what the Jets try to do on offense.

Now, when we talk about the elite offenses in the NFL right now, we have to start with Kansas City and Patrick Mahomes. Mahomes is not under 25, but his supporting cast increasingly is. You have Travis Kelce, who is older, but you have emerging weapons around him. What makes Kansas City special right now is not just Mahomes, though he is obviously a historically great player. What makes them special is their ability to adapt. They won the Super Bowl recently by being the most physical, the most resilient, and frankly the most disruptive team in football. They play defense with genuine intensity. They make the right plays in crucial moments. That is coaching. That is culture. Andy Reid has created something special in Kansas City, and young players want to go there because they know they can win.

San Francisco is another elite offense, and here again you have a concentration of young talent. You have Brandon Aiyuk, you have Deebo Samuel, you have a receiving corps that can stretch the field vertically and also create problems underneath. The system that Kyle Shanahan has created is one where young receivers can thrive because the system puts them in position to be successful. The run game is excellent. The play action is crisp. The execution is at the highest level. When you put young, talented receivers into that system, magic happens.

Philadelphia, as mentioned earlier, has an elite offense built around Jalen Hurts. The Eagles can score in multiple ways. They can run the football. They can beat you vertically. They can create explosive plays. A.J. Brown is one of the greatest receivers in the league, and when you pair him with Dallas Goedert and some of the young weapons they have, you create problems for every defense.

Now, there is one more conversation that we need to have, and it is about Harry Kane and the possibility of him playing in the NFL. I want to be direct about this because there is a lot of noise and a lot of fantasy here.