- The Rams offense remains one of the NFL’s most stable units, but their defensive resurgence may be more than just a late-season hot streak: Post-bye structural changes — including increased snaps for rookie Jared Verse — coincided with dramatic improvements in pass defense metrics, suggesting sustainable growth from a young, evolving unit.
- Kyler Murray and Sam Darnold face pivotal seasons in unstable environments: Murray must reconnect with his deep ball through Marvin Harrison Jr., while Darnold steps into a tough situation in Seattle.
- Subscribe to PFF+: Get access to player grades, PFF Premium Stats, fantasy football rankings, all of the PFF fantasy draft research tools and more!
Estimated Reading Time: 11 minutes
Now that the draft is behind us and rosters are mostly set, it’s a great time to shift focus to futures markets in search of betting value. In the past, tying up money for months came with an opportunity cost. But with the rise of new platforms, including those offering interest, betting early on futures can be a more worthwhile investment than ever.
We’ll go division by division, highlighting the bets we find most valuable. While not every team will get a full breakdown, we’ll touch on each one as we work through the board.
To set the foundation for our analysis, we’ll look at team fundamentals from last season, using PFF’s own Timo Riske’s chart on team performance as a baseline.
San Francisco 49ers
Central Question: Will the 49ers’ Scheme Return to Form?
The 49ers’ 2024 season fell short of expectations, undone by a mix of injuries, inconsistent special teams play and missed opportunities. Most notably, the once-dominant skill position group that had defined Kyle Shanahan’s offense regressed. Brandon Aiyuk missed most of the season, Deebo Samuel never looked like himself and rookie first-rounder Ricky Pearsall, who spent much of the year working his way back after being wounded in an offseason shooting, only began to find his footing in the final weeks.
That diminished supporting cast had a clear impact on Brock Purdy and the offense overall. The 49ers’ signature scheme, long known for turning mismatches and motion into explosive plays, never quite found its rhythm. The big question heading into 2025 is whether a healthy group of weapons and a retooled supporting cast can reignite one of the NFL’s most creative offensive systems.
While Brock Purdy’s PFF grade remained consistent with his previous seasons, the underlying numbers suggest the 49ers’ offense wasn’t operating at the same level in 2024. His expected points added (EPA) per play dropped to a career low, pointing to a broader decline in offensive efficiency, even if his individual performance within the system held steady.
In areas where we can quantify the influence of the scheme, the numbers reveal some erosion. The rate of perfect coverage faced by the 49ers declined for a third straight year — still among the best in the NFL, but trending in the wrong direction — and Purdy faced more disrupting events than in seasons past. More troubling, he was significantly less effective against perfect coverage than in previous years.
Perhaps most indicative of the offensive step back: the 49ers averaged nearly 0.7 fewer yards after the catch than in prior seasons, a core feature of the Shanahan system. That drop in efficiency underscores how much the supporting cast and schematic rhythm were out of sync in 2024.
On the other side of the ball, the defense carries even more uncertainty. Four starters are gone, and the team spent nearly all of its draft capital on that side of the ball. For a unit that once set the standard league-wide, the 2025 version of the 49ers defense looks more like a bottom-half group.
Still, the key to projecting this team’s outcome lies more with the offense than the defense. Has the league started to catch up with Shanahan? Has the personnel taken a step back? Or will a healthy season from Brandon Aiyuk and Ricky Pearsall help restore the offensive identity?
With Shanahan’s track record of adapting and a likely return to health across the roster, I’m optimistic. The market is down on San Francisco — roughly two wins below their 2024 total and one below 2023 — but this looks like a classic bounce-back spot. I’m higher on the 49ers than the consensus.
Los Angeles Rams
Central question: Will the defense continue on its upward trajectory?
This news was originally published on this post .
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