Sportsnaut
We’re four games into the 2025 NFL season, and some teams, like the Indianapolis Colts, have blown past expectations. Meanwhile, others have been gigantic disappointments.
In some cases, we’ve seen entire teams fall well short of expectations. Yet, some players with star potential have also completely missed the mark. Below, we highlight the five biggest disappointments of the NFL season thus far.
Heading into his third season, and his second under Dave Canales, there was hope that Bryce Young could carry over some of the momentum he found at the end of last year. Young had completed 64.8% of his passes for 612 yards, 7 TD, 0 INT through Carolina’s final three games, producing two wins in the process.
Yet, Young’s back up to his old tricks, completing 60.4% of his passes for 753 yards, 5 TD, 3 INT through four games, producing one win. While he has nearly cut his sack rate in half from 7% down to 4%, Young has yet to become a consistently productive passer. While the former No. 1 overall pick is still just 24 years old, he’s done nothing to turn the Panthers into a winner.
Those concerned that the Miami Dolphins were a sinking ship were right, or at least it looks that way so far. While they get some credit for finally getting in the win column last week, losing Tyreek Hill makes it even tougher for the Dolphins to climb out of a 1-3 hole. Yet, their issues aren’t just on offense; they also rank in the bottom five in stopping the run and the pass. Overall, this entire team is a mess; even matching last season’s win total (eight) seems unlikely.
Any time you’re the No. 1 overall pick, expectations will be high. The hype gets even louder as a quarterback. Unfortunately, Cam Ward hasn’t done anything to live up to his draft slot yet. He’s completing an NFL-worst 51.2% of his passes for 614 yards, 2 TD, 2 INT, and he’s been sacked an NFL-high 17 times. There were always growing pains expected for the 23-year-old, especially arriving on a team that had the NFL’s worst record a season ago, but the Titans had to hope they’d see more progress early on.
Related: Week 5 NFL QB Rankings: The Real Patrick Mahomes Emerges
Heading into the season, not only was Lamar Jackson a top MVP candidate, the Baltimore Ravens were viewed as potential Super Bowl contenders. While either could still come true, they’d need a lot of work to get there after a 1-3 start. Unfortunately, the NFL’s worst defense likely won’t take a giant leap forward any time soon, considering they’ll be without Nnamdi Madubuike for the rest of the season in addition to Roquan Smith’s absence for at least a few weeks.
The Jacksonville Jaguars traded up for Travis Hunter, giving up a future first-round pick in the process. They envisioned Hunter...
