Young NFL players in line for bigger role in 2025: Falcons’ Michael Penix Jr., 49ers’ Ricky Pearsall stand out

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We spend a lot of time during the NFL offseason talking about change. New coaches, new executives, free agent signings, drafted players and more suck up a lot of the attention. And it makes sense, because change is exciting.

But change doesn’t only come in the form of outside additions. Sometimes, change is about players who are already on the roster stepping into new roles. They may get those roles due to free agent departures or retirements or just because they’re ready to take more on their plate, but for whatever reason, they become a more important part of the team one year than they were the last.

We’re here to talk about who some of those players might be in 2025. And we’re going to highlight one player from each division, mostly to make things interesting, but also to limit ourselves from talking about 20 different players whose roles could increase varying amounts.

We’re already cheating here by using two players from one team. But Ojomo and Hunt are definitely going to take on increased importance for the Eagles up front after the departures of Milton Williams, Josh Sweat and Bryce Huff, among others. 

Ojomo played 37% of the defensive snaps last season and totaled 20 tackles and five quarterback hits, but he had a strong playoff run with seven tackles, two tackles for loss and a sack. 

Hunt only played 25% of the snaps and had 22 tackles, one tackle for loss and 1.5 sacks during the regular season, then picked up 10 tackles, one tackle for loss and 1.5 sacks (including half a sack in the Super Bowl) in four playoff games. 

They should get up closer to half the defensive snaps or more this season, assuming they’re able to handle the increase in responsibility. Knowing how the Eagles develop players up front, they should be up for the challenge.

Mahogany is part of what is looking like a significant shakeup for what has been arguably the NFL’s best offensive line over the last few years. 

After Kevin Zeitler’s departure in free agency and Frank Ragnow’s retirement, the Lions will have at least two new starters on the interior — and it could technically be three if they move Graham Glasgow from guard back to center. 

Either way, Mahogany played just 75 total snaps in seven games last season, and he’s going to be counted on as a starter for a team that depends heavily on its offensive line to drive the success of its offense.

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Penix entered last season as the backup to Kirk Cousins, but he appeared in five games and started the final three. He completed only 58.1% of his passes and threw three touchdowns against three interceptions, but he did average 7.4 yards per attempt and he limited pressures and sacks by getting the ball out quickly. Penix throws a really pretty deep ball, and he completed an impressive 7 of 16 passes thrown 20-plus yards downfield as a rookie, totaling 198 yards and a touchdown. 

He’ll enter 2025 as the unquestioned starter and be counted on to generate more explosive plays for the Falcons than they were able to muster last season. He’s got a solid corps of weapons at his disposal and a creative play-caller in Zac Robinson, so he’s well set up for success.

Pearsall had the misfortune of having his rookie season stopped in its tracks after he was shot during an attempted robbery last offseason. He missed the first six games of the year before returning for the final 11 contests. 

Due to San Francisco’s various injury issues, he played a decent helping of snaps and ended the year with 31 catches for 400 yards and three touchdowns. In the team’s final two games, he had nearly half that production, with 14 grabs for 210 yards and two scores. 

With Deebo Samuel in Washington and Brandon Aiyuk still working his way back from injury, Pearsall should be counted on as one of Brock Purdy’s top targets from the jump in 2025. 

Paul started three games for Miami last season and played double-digit snaps in four others. He played most of his time on the left side as a rookie while filling in for Terron Armstead, and that’ll be his full-time role in Year 2. 

It’s not the blind side like it is for most other left tackles because Tua Tagovailoa is a lefty, but he’ll still be trusted to take over as a key piece of what has been a reliably weak unit for the last several years. He needs to help the Dolphins level up along the offensive front.

Fisher, like Paul, played sparingly as a rookie. He made five starts, including in each of the last four regular season games, and he played double-digit snaps in two others. He was drafted to eventually take over at one of the tackle spots, and he’ll likely hold down the right side of the line for Houston this season. 

The Texans were an absolute mess up front in 2024, so he’ll be part of what is an extensive makeover for this season. He struggled during his time on the field, so he’ll also have to take a step forward in terms of his actual performance. If he can’t, then at least the Texans signed Trent Brown, who can be a reliable stop-gap option.

Wilson surprisingly stayed healthy for the entire season last year, but he did so while playing 45% of the defensive snaps. He excelled in that part-time role, racking up 78 tackles, three tackles for loss, two passes defended, an interception, a forced fumble and two fumble recoveries. 

With Elandon Roberts moving on in free agency, Wilson might have to step into a full-time role. But can he stay healthy if the Steelers ask him to do so? That’s a major question for a defense that needs him out there.

Hicks spent most of his time in 2024 working as the third safety behind Justin Reid and Bryan Cook. He played 31% of Kansas City’s defensive snaps overall but took over an increasingly larger role as the year went along, which should have prepared him to be the full-time starter. 

He didn’t even play double-digit defensive snaps until Week 10, but he did so every week after that and eventually worked up his way to where he played more than half the snaps in each of the final four regular-season games and all three playoff contests. He’ll be an important cog for Steve Spagnuolo’s unit in 2025. 

This news was originally published on this post .

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