5 NFL Players Who Could Make or Break the 2025 Season | Couch Potato Diary

Who holds the fate of the 2025 NFL season in their hands? In this episode, we break down the five key players—plus a bonus group—who don’t just shine individually, but have the power to decide championship paths, shake up playoff races, or even destabilize dominant teams.

From the Texans’ fragile O-line making or breaking CJ Stroud’s trajectory, to rookie JJ McCarthy tipping the Vikings either toward glory or collapse, we cover smart, compelling stories without the noise.

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#NFL2025 #NFLPlayers #JJMcCarthy #CJStroud #BoNix #DrakeMaye #JustinFields #NFLFate #SeasonPrediction #SportsTalk #CouchPotatoDiary

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Transcript

00:00Which players hold the fate of the 2025 NFL season in their hands?

00:11These are the five guys.

00:13There's technically more than five.

00:15We'll get to that in a second.

00:16But these are the five that I think really do hold the fate.

00:19Like I said, have the chance to decide the NFL season.

00:23At number five, the reason why I said it's more than five dudes,

00:26because this one's five humans.

00:28It's the Texans offensive line.

00:32You may be thinking, what, really?

00:34Yes, really, for one.

00:36For two, you look back a couple of years ago at C.J. Stroud

00:41and what he was able to do.

00:43Rookie coming in, absolutely incredible.

00:46Fantasy star, this, that, and the other thing.

00:48Last year was a pretty obvious step back.

00:52They still won the division because the division sucks.

00:54If this Texans team can get back to that level of a couple of years ago,

01:00all of a sudden, things get real topsy-turvy in the AFC.

01:04Because we're all talking Kansas City.

01:05We're all talking Buffalo.

01:07We're all talking Baltimore.

01:08The Houston Texans, I think, have the best chance, if any,

01:11of getting into that conversation and maybe passing a couple on their way in there.

01:16I love the coach in D'Amico Ryans and the way that they have coached up that defense.

01:20I think C.J. Stroud is genuinely a very high-level talent.

01:24And the fact that he is going where he is in fantasy drafts

01:26and not coming up in best quarterback conversations,

01:29I think is a failure of this offense.

01:31And I think it is because the offensive line is a little shaky.

01:35They traded their best offensive lineman in the offseason.

01:38I don't think they replaced him with a whole lot.

01:41The reason I have these guys only at five is,

01:44even if this offensive line is mid,

01:46Stroud and this offense is enough that it's probably going to win the division anyway.

01:49But with a solid offensive line,

01:51I think that this team could win the Super Bowl.

01:54I think that highly of the talent that they have around C.J. Stroud.

01:58I think that highly of C.J. Stroud as a quarterback and a leader.

02:01And I think that highly of the coaching staff that has been assembled there.

02:04I really think this team could be a genuine contender

02:07if that offensive line can hold up.

02:09So they, I think, have the opportunity to really swing this NFL season.

02:14At number four, it's Drake May.

02:17We're now into the quarterback portion of this.

02:19I would love to not have it just be quarterback, quarterback, quarterback, quarterback, quarterback.

02:22But I, it is.

02:23It is.

02:24So, at number four, it is Drake May.

02:26If he has taken the step that Mac Jones couldn't,

02:30and if the offensive line is improved,

02:32and the weapons around him are improved,

02:34then this all of a sudden becomes a really intriguing team

02:38in the AFC playoff race.

02:40I don't think they compete for a division championship this year,

02:43but I do think that they compete for a playoff spot if Drake May has taken that step forward.

02:50And because of that now, a good team probably has to get bumped out.

02:54It makes it much more competitive and difficult for the Buffalo Bills,

02:58who are going to be competing for the first overall seed in the AFC.

03:01It makes it very difficult, I think, for the Jets and Dolphins,

03:04both of whom probably have some aspirations of improving.

03:07Makes it very difficult for them to do that.

03:09And when you look at how competitive we think the AFC West is going to be,

03:14where potentially three playoff teams could come out of that.

03:16You look at the North, potentially three playoff teams could come out of that.

03:22I'm not of that belief, but three playoff teams could come out of that.

03:25If Drake May, like, we've already reached too many playoff teams,

03:29and we still have multiple division winners to go.

03:32If Drake May can knock one of those teams out,

03:34then all of a sudden we are talking about some high-level football teams

03:38that are going to have massively, massively disappointing seasons.

03:42So that's why I think he is a player that can decide the NFL season.

03:45At three, it's Bo Nix.

03:48This is a great roster that Denver has accumulated.

03:50If you haven't seen the video we did on it yet,

03:52I have the Broncos as having the fifth most talented roster

03:55in the National Football League for this upcoming year.

03:58Bo Nix was very good last year.

04:00I kind of think that's where he stays.

04:02I don't think there is this massive progression for him

04:05in year two or on down the line.

04:06I think because of the time he had in college,

04:08this is a bit more of a finished product,

04:10which is fine because that product was good.

04:12That product got them to the playoffs.

04:14If there is even a small amount of growth in him

04:19with what they have,

04:20with Sean Payton, who I will begrudgingly admit is a good coach,

04:23and the weapons they have on that offense

04:25and the immense amount of talent they have on the defense,

04:29this team could win this division.

04:31And now we are talking about Patrick Mahomes

04:33not having home field advantage throughout the AFC.

04:37We are talking about Patrick Mahomes, Andy Reid,

04:39and the Kansas City Chiefs having to play in the wildcard game

04:42and at some point having to hit the road probably

04:44for a trip back to the Super Bowl.

04:47And I think it really changes the math

04:49on a lot of different situations in the AFC

04:53if the Denver Broncos can be a real, genuine, legitimate challenge

04:57to the Kansas City Chiefs this season.

05:00At number two, I have Justin Fields.

05:02Kind of the same.

05:03It's a mix of the last two guys that we talked about

05:05because if Justin Fields can be the Justin Fields

05:09that a lot of people thought he could be

05:11coming out of Ohio State,

05:13then I think with this Jets roster,

05:15that's a playoff team.

05:17Yeah.

05:18Now, that is asking for 100% of Justin Fields

05:21and 100% of something we haven't seen from him so far.

05:23But if he can just be better than Aaron Rodgers,

05:27which I think he can be,

05:28and if he can be 75% of what we thought this guy could be,

05:32I still think this is a team that is threatening for a playoff spot.

05:35And so again, it's kind of like the Drake-May conversation

05:37where all of a sudden,

05:39Buffalo's path to the number one seed in that first round bye

05:42becomes a lot more difficult.

05:44And again, we are talking about multiple teams in the AFC

05:48who feel like they should be at least playoff or bust.

05:52And if the Jets are in that conversation,

05:55then again, a very good team is out of it.

05:57So maybe Fields is a little bit too high,

05:59but a lot of it too is I am putting a lot of faith in them

06:02on a few of these projections.

06:04And so I just,

06:04I think that the Jets have a lot of variance in what they could be.

06:08And I think both sides of it really do change how this season goes.

06:12But at number one, it's J.J. McCarthy.

06:15Because if he is great,

06:18I will even say if he is good,

06:21the Vikings could win a Super Bowl.

06:23So like with a couple of these other ones,

06:25with Knicks, it's,

06:26well, they could maybe win the division

06:27and maybe challenge Patrick Mahomes.

06:28And now all of a sudden he's on the road and da, da, da, da, da.

06:30And Drake May and Justin Fields,

06:32well, they can make life more difficult on Josh Allen.

06:35And so you kind of get the,

06:37it's always sunny in Philadelphia with the strings

06:38and everything attached to how will this decide this,

06:40that, and the other thing.

06:41With J.J. McCarthy, it is simple.

06:44If he is good,

06:45straight line,

06:46trip to the Super Bowl.

06:47That is how good the rest of this roster is.

06:50If he can be something reasonable at quarterback,

06:55then this is a championship level roster.

06:59If he is just a rookie disaster,

07:01and I get he's not technically a rookie,

07:02but if he is basically a rookie disaster,

07:04then this division is too good

07:07and it will eat them up very, very quickly.

07:10And it provides a much easier path

07:13for the Detroit Lions,

07:15for the Green Bay Packers,

07:16a team that we said had a lot of pressure on them

07:19in the Chicago Bears.

07:19Like, it makes life so much easier

07:22and a bit more wild in that NFC North

07:26if the Vikings just have a bad quarterback.

07:28But if he is good,

07:29I think this is a fantastic football team

07:31that could win a Super Bowl.

07:32So that's why I think

07:33that the player that could swing the NFL the most this season

07:37is J.J. McCarthy.

07:39He is my number one player

07:40who could decide the NFL for 2025.

5 NFL Players Who Could Make or Break the 2025 Season | Couch Potato Diary

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