TDT Media 2025 NFL Survey: 40-Plus Questions Regarding The Upcoming Season

Every year, before the start of each NBA season, the league's official website releases a preseason survey that includes polling on offseason happenings, predictions for the upcoming season, awards, and other related topics from basketball operations departments around the league. An exercise I personally wish every league did. With that in mind, I did one myself last year with the NFL, and we're back with another one this year with a team of 10 people. 40-plus questions regarding some of the most important league matters dating back to the kickoff of free agency in the spring, with a diverse array of opinions from fans of different squads. Without any further delay, here are the results from that survey, with the first Sunday of the season a day out.

Survey Participants (With Team Bias):

TDTMedia Contributors: Jack Gaffney (Patriots), Henry Souza (Dolphins), Chris Gallagher (Packers/Bills), Coach Kenny (Bears), Coach Bruce (Bears), Connor Gioffreda (Ravens)

"Friends of the Program": Jacob (Steelers), Scott (Cardinals), Joshua (Bills [Bandwagon])

"Sage": Brady Podloski (Jaguars)

Important Note: These ballots were first handed out prior to Micah Parsons being traded from Dallas to Green Bay, which did impact some of this, but not all.

Part 1: Conference Best

*- Voters were asked to name their five best teams in each conference. Instead of basing the results for this section on voting percentage, we opted for point totals this year. A first-place vote is worth 10 points, a second-place vote is worth 7 points, and then -2 points for each additional spot.

Who are the five best AFC teams entering the 2025 NFL season?

1st - Buffalo Bills (80 Points, four first-place votes)

2nd - Baltimore Ravens (76 Points, four first-place votes)

3rd - Kansas City Chiefs (60 Points, two first-place votes)

4th - Denver Broncos (14 Points)

5th - Houston Texans (13 Points)

*- also receiving votes: Cincinnati Bengals (12 Points), Los Angeles Chargers (5 Points)

Who are the five best NFC teams entering the 2025 NFL season?

1st - Philadelphia Eagles (87 Points, seven first-place votes)

2nd - Detroit Lions (59 Points, one first-place vote)

3rd - Green Bay Packers (33 Points, one first-place vote)

4th - Washington Commanders (32 Points, one first-place vote)

5th - Los Angeles Rams (20 Points)

*- also receiving votes: San Francisco 49ers (9 Points), Minnesota Vikings (8 Points), Atlanta Falcons and Tampa Bay Buccaneers (6 Points)

Part 2: The Big-Three Awards and Foundational Pieces

Who wins the 2025 NFL MVP Award?

1st - Joe Burrow (40%)

t-2nd - Josh Allen and Lamar Jackson (30%)

Who wins 2025 NFL Defensive Player of the Year?

1st - Micah Parsons (20%)

t-2nd - Will Anderson, Trey Hendrickson, Travis Hunter, Abdul Carter, Dexter Lawrence, Aidan Hutchinson, Derek Stingley, T.J. Watt (10%)

Who wins 2025 NFL Offensive Player of the Year?

1st - Ja'Marr Chase (40%)

t-2nd - CeeDee Lamb, Puka Nacua, Bijan Robinson, Jahmyr Gibbs, Travis Hunter, Ashton Jeanty (10%)

What non-quarterback would you start a franchise with right now, with the exclusion of Travis Hunter?

t-1st - Ja'Marr Chase and Abdul Carter (20%)

t-3rd - Tristan Wirfs, Myles Garrett, Marvin Harrison Jr., Brian Thomas Jr., Micah Parsons, and Aidan Hutchinson (10%)

Who is the biggest game wrecker on either side of the ball?

1st - Myles Garrett (40%)

2nd - Ja'Marr Chase (20%)

t-3rd - Jalen Carter, Aidan Hutchinson, Micah Parsons, and Saquon Barkley (10%)

Part 3: Best Player by Position

Who is the best Quarterback in the NFL? (Patrick Mahomes included this year, mainly to get a temperature check after last year's Super Bowl loss)

1st - Patrick Mahomes (40%)

2nd - Josh Allen (30%)

3rd - Joe Burrow (20%)

4th - Lamar Jackson (10%)

Who is the best outright offensive lineman in the NFL?

1st - Tristan Wirfs (40%)

2nd - Penei Sewell (20%)

t-3rd - Trent Williams, Quinn Meinerz, Landon Dickerson, and Trey Smith (10%)

Who is the best wide receiver in the NFL?

1st - Ja'Marr Chase (70%)

2nd - Justin Jefferson (30%)

Who is the best tight end in the NFL?

1st - Brock Bowers (60%)

2nd - George Kittle (30%)

3rd - Sam LaPorta (10%)

Who is the best running back in the NFL?

1st - Saquon Barkley (90%)

2nd - Bijan Robinson (10%)

*- Not excluding Saquon was, quite frankly, a significant oversight on my behalf. We will do better in the future.

Who is the best interior defender in the NFL?

1st - Dexter Lawrence (70%)

2nd - Chris Jones (20%)

3rd - Jalen Carter (10%)

Who is the best edge rusher in the NFL?

1st - Myles Garrett (40%)

2nd - T.J. Watt (20%)

t-3rd - Aidan Hutchinson, Will Anderson, Micah Parsons, and Trey Hendrickson (10%)

Who is the best (off-ball) linebacker in the NFL, excluding Fred Warner?

1st - Roquan Smith (90%)

2nd - Dre Greenlaw (10%)

Who is the best outright defensive back in the NFL?

1st- Patrick Surtain (90%)

2nd - Sauce Gardner (10%)

Part 4: The Offseason

What team had the best overall offseason?

t-1st - Chicago Bears and New England Patriots (30%)

t-3rd - New York Giants, Baltimore Ravens, Denver Broncos, and Jacksonville Jaguars (10%)

What team had the worst overall offseason?

1st - New Orleans Saints (50%)

2nd - Dallas Cowboys (20%)

T-3rd - Miami Dolphins, Pittsburgh Steelers, San Francisco 49ers (10%)

What was the most impactful offseason move?

1st - Micah Parsons to Green Bay (40%)

2nd - Jacksonville Trading Up from 5 to 2 to Draft Travis Hunter (20%)

t-3rd - Milton Williams to New England, Joey Bosa to Buffalo, Ben Johnson to Chicago, and Laremy Tunsil to Washington (10%)

What was the most underrated offseason move?

1st - Davante Adams to Los Angeles [Rams] (20%)

T-2nd - Cam Bynum to Indianapolis, Trey Smith's Extension in Kansas City, Arizona Drafting Will Johnson, Stefon Diggs to New England, Drew Dalman to Chicago, Justin Fields to New York [Jets], Laremy Tunsil to Washington, and New York [Giants] Drafting Jaxson Dart (10%)

Part 5: Coaching

Excluding Andy Reid, who's the best head coach in the NFL?

1st - Sean McVay (40%)

t-2nd - Dan Campbell and Kevin O'Connell (20%)

t-4th - Mike Tomlin and Dan Quinn (10%)

Who's the best NFL assistant coach/coordinator?

1st - Brian Flores (30%)

t-2nd - Vic Fangio and Todd Monken (20%)

t-4th - Joe Brady, Steve Spagnoulo, and Robert Saleh (10%)

Who is the Most Overrated Current NFL Head Coach?

1st - Mike Tomlin (40%)

2nd - Mike McDaniel (30%)

t-3rd - Todd Bowles, Sean McDermott, and Zac Taylor (10%)

If You Were Starting a New Franchise With a Current Assistant/Coordinator as Head Coach, who would it be?

1st - Joe Brady (40%)

2nd - Brian Flores (20%)

t-3rd - Vic Fangio, Todd Monken, Matt Nagy, and Brian Hartline [Ohio State's OC] (10%)

Which New or Retread Head Coach Will Have the Most Successful Tenure with Their New Team?

1st - Mike Vrabel (50%)

t-2nd - Ben Johnson and Liam Coen (20%)

4th - Pete Carroll (10%)

Part 6: Team and Player Superlatives/Misc.

If the Denver Broncos have the NFL's best defense, who has the second-best?

1st - Baltimore Ravens (60%)

2nd - Philadelphia Eagles (20%)

T-3rd - Houston Texans and Pittsburgh Steelers (10%)

Suppose you were the GM of a team lacking a true No. 1 EDGE, and could've acquired Micah Parsons for the Khalil Mack-to-Chicago package (the trade, executed in the fall of 2018, was Mack, a ’20 2nd, and a conditional ’20 5th to Chicago, for 1st’s in ‘19 and ’20, a ’20 3rd, and a ’19 6th going back to Oakland). Would you have pulled the trigger on that deal?

Yes (70%)

No (30%)

Where would you play Travis Hunter if you had to hard commit to him playing only one position?

CB (70%)

WR (30%)

Given the vote to potentially ban it earlier this year, would you have voted to ban the Tush Push?

No (80%)

Yes (20%)

Which team will be the biggest disappointment of the 2025 season?

1st - Dallas Cowboys (30%)

T-2nd - Chicago Bears and Washington Commanders (20%)

T-3rd - Philadelphia Eagles, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and Minnesota Vikings (10%)

Which team will be the biggest surprise of the 2025 season?

1st - New England Patriots (20%)

T-2nd - Carolina Panthers, Atlanta Falcons, Denver Broncos, Los Angeles Rams, Minnesota Vikings, Tennessee Titans, New York Giants, and Seattle Seahawks (10%)

Who'll be the best rookie from the 2025 draft class by year five?

1st- Abdul Carter (40%)

2nd - Travis Hunter (20%)

T-3rd - Will Campbell, Cam Ward, Mason Graham, and Jahdae Baron (10%)

Who'll be considered the biggest steal of the 2025 draft class by year five?

1st- TreVeyon Henderson (20%)

T-2nd - Deone Walker, Will Johnson, Cam Skattabo, Emeka Egbuka, Mike Green, Luther Burden, Jaxson Dart, Will Howard (10%)

Who is currently the most overrated player in the NFL?

1st- Justin Herbert (20%)

T-2nd - TJ Watt, Josh Allen, Aaron Rodgers, Trevor Lawrence, Sauce Gardner, Jalen Hurts, J.J. McCarthy, Jayden Daniels (10%)

Part 7: Finality

Who's the best player who'll likely be in the 2026 NFL Draft?

1st- Caleb Downs, SAF [Ohio State] (60%)

2nd - LaNorris Sellers, QB [South Carolina] (30%)

3rd - Spencer Fano, OT [Utah] (10%)

If Aaron Rodgers retires after the season, with no further major accolades (Super Bowl, All-Pro, Pro Bowl, etc.), is he a Top 5 quarterback in NFL History?

No (70%)

Yes (30%)

What will be the most desirable head coaching destination in the 2026 hiring cycle?

T-1st - Indianapolis and New York [Giants] (30%)

T-3rd - Cincinnati, Las Vegas, Miami, and Tampa Bay (10%)

Who finishes with the NFL's worst record?

1st - New Orleans Saints (70%)

T-2nd - Chicago Bears, Tennessee Titans, and New York Giants (10%)

Who'll win the AFC?

1st - Buffalo Bills (70%)

T-2nd - Kansas City Chiefs, Cincinnati Bengals, and Buffalo Bills (10%)

Who'll win the NFC?

1st - Philadelphia Eagles (40%)

T-2nd - Detroit Lions and Los Angeles Rams (20%)

T-4th - Green Bay Packers and Washington Commanders (10%)

Who'll win Super Bowl LX?

1st - Buffalo Bills (60%)

2nd - Philadelphia Eagles (20%)

T3rd - Baltimore Ravens and Cincinnati Bengals (10%)

*- These last three questions were asked as a singular, outright Super Bowl prediction. Of the six Buffalo picks, two were against Los Angeles, and two more against Philadelphia. There was also an exact rematch of last year's Super Bowl between the Philadelphia Eagles and the Kansas City Chiefs, with the same outcome.

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