With one week to go in the 2025 NFL season, I’m ready to name my first- and second-team All-Pros. There are a few races that are particularly tight, and my pick at running back changed after what I saw in Week 17, but nobody’s going to fly up the charts from out of nowhere to be a first-team All-Pro in Week 18. All these players already established themselves as elite performers long before the final week of the season.

This is my own All-Pro team based on the tape I’ve watched and the numbers I’ve crunched this season, as opposed to a prediction of who will actually be on those teams when they’re announced later in January. Different organizations name the teams in their own ways, so I’m just going to lean into my own format. I’m naming 11 players on each side of the ball, with three wideouts and three cornerbacks. I’m picking two offensive tackles and two guards without regard for which side of the line they play. And I’m willing to choose two safeties who play primarily in the box, in part because I’ve seen one of those safeties excel as something close to a true free safety role in years past and feel very confident he could play at a high level there if needed. I also have three special teams players.

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One big difference for this team versus the Pro Bowl teams that were just announced is that I really care about player availability. As good as he is, there’s no universe where I’m ever considering Joe Alt for this team, given that he played just four full games and a handful of snaps in two others this season. This is a roster designed to represent the most productive and impactful players of 2025 as opposed to the best guys on any individual snap.

Missing one or even two games over the course of a full season isn’t too harmful, but once players start missing three or more, we’re talking about a significant gap in their value compared with similarly productive players who have been on the field for the entire campaign. As players miss more and more time, the bar they need to hit in terms of dominating their competition rises. Keep that in mind if your favorite player doesn’t land where you expect here. Let’s begin at quarterback.

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Quarterback

When I did my deep dive into the MVP race several weeks ago, I started with a clear mind and no strong feelings. I was surprised to find that so many of the factors I considered favored Maye, and I left that analysis with the Patriots starter as my favorite unless (or perhaps until) Matthew Stafford clearly knocked him from the top of the rankings.

Since then, Maye’s Patriots lost 35-31 to the Bills on a day on which he threw for only 155 yards, although he did run for two touchdowns to help keep things close. Stafford’s Rams lost to the Seahawks in a game where the offense scored 37 points and the veteran QB threw for 457 yards on 49 attempts. He did that without Davante Adams, which made me lean a little more toward Stafford, who unquestionably has a more talented receiving corps with everyone healthy than Maye does in New England.

But Maye responded by producing the greatest game of the QBR era. Facing the Jets on Sunday, Maye went 19-of-21 for 256 yards and five touchdown passes, no picks and one sack before spending much of the second half on ice. If you’re concerned about the quality of opposition Maye has faced, well, beating the Jets won’t do much for you. But Total QBR is opponent adjusted, and Maye’s 99.8 mark is the best performance any quarterback has posted in a start going back through 2007. Seems pretty good to me.

Two other things popped up since writing that column that push me toward Maye. One is catch rate over expectation (CROE), a receiver stat from NFL Next Gen Stats. Using a model to estimate the likelihood of a ball being caught given the locations of the receiver and nearby defenders and various other factors, it can be a good way to begin estimating how much a receiver is doing in an offense relative to what an average receiver would do in the same attack. Typically, the best receivers in football rank among the league leaders in CROE and its sister stat, receiving yards over expectation (RYOE).

There are six receivers who have run 300 or more routes this season with a CROE at least 10% better than average. Two of them are the obvious first-team All-Pros in Puka Nacua and Jaxon Smith-Njigba. Jake Ferguson is fifth, and George Pickens is just outside of that top six, a testament to what Dak Prescott can do for you at quarterback. The other three guys in the top six are all Patriots. Kayshon Boutte (plus-23.5% CROE), Stefon Diggs (plus-15.8%) and Mack Hollins (plus-10.2%) are all running what would comfortably be the highest catch rates over expectation of their respective careers. Three receivers in the top six is a Maye stat.

A reader also sent in a question and asked how the two quarterbacks have fared in games against common opponents. Both Maye and Stafford have gone up against the NFC South (Panthers, Saints, Buccaneers and Falcons), the Ravens and the Titans. Here’s how they’ve played in those games:

I stand roughly where I did three weeks ago — with everyone else beyond the top two ruled out of the race. This is Maye vs. Stafford. Last time I wrote about them, I had a very slight lean toward the Patriots standout. Right now, with one week of regular-season football to go, Maye seems like the clear choice as MVP.

Second team: Matthew Stafford, Los Angeles Rams

Running back

This isn’t an easy race to decide, either. Buffalo’s James Cook III leads the NFL in rushing, and it’s so much fun to watch his vision create running lanes other backs simply wouldn’t see at the second and third level. He has also fumbled six times, which erodes a lot of his impact. Derrick Henry just carried the Ravens to a critical victory, but he has fumbled four times, including critical fourth-quarter turnovers in losses to the Bills and Lions. Four is better than six, but the fumble against the Bills might cost the Ravens their playoff spot when things are said and done. Christian McCaffrey, meanwhile, leads all backs in yards from scrimmage, but the Niners’ lead back is averaging 3.9 yards per carry, and that’s a tough pill to swallow when so many of the league’s best RBs are up over 5 yards per attempt this season.

For most of the season, the easy pick was Jonathan Taylor, who was off to a historic start as the Colts dominated early in the season. As the year wore on, both Taylor and the Colts’ offense cooled off. Taylor leads all running backs in yards after first contact (2.6 per rush) and touchdowns (20), and he ranks among the league leaders in just about everything. But he hasn’t been efficient as a receiver, and his consistency as a runner has faded under heavy volume down the stretch. Taylor generated 194 rush yards over expectation (RYOE) during the first eight games of the season but just 26 RYOE since then, per Next Gen Stats.

In a close race between a handful of backs, though, Robinson’s performance on Monday night was just enough to vault him ahead of the pack. He was already a viable selection heading into the game against the Rams, but going for 195 yards on the ground and scoring twice against one of the league’s best defenses was a statement performance for Robinson. It also restored him to the league lead in yards from scrimmage, where he holds a 186-yard advantage on McCaffrey across 51 fewer touches.

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I’m not sure any RB has been more fun to watch with the ball in his hands this season. The explosiveness and big-play ability Robinson exhibited at Texas had been surprisingly difficult to access during his first two seasons in the NFL, but Robinson has been able to reel off big plays throughout 2025. He and Taylor are the only players in the league with 80-plus-yard touchdown runs this season, and they each have two.

Robinson has been incredibly efficient as a receiver, which helped decide this race. The third-year back is averaging a league-best 2.1 yards per route run this season. The only player with more receptions and receiving yards is McCaffrey, who hasn’t been as efficient as a runner. The vast majority of that performance has come out of the backfield, where it’s even more difficult to produce receiver-level efficiency rates, given how often running backs are running checkdown routes that aren’t really part of the progression. Robinson has turned nearly 24% of his targets out of the backfield into first downs, the highest rate for any back over the past three seasons.

There are hiccups. Robinson has fumbled four times, which hurts his value with EPA-derived statistics. He has been really disappointing as a pass blocker this season, a project for the 23-year-old to work on this offseason. And Taylor has had fewer negatives. But Robinson has just been so spectacular and fun to watch that I find it difficult to pick anybody else.

Second team: Jonathan Taylor, Indianapolis Colts

Wide receiver

If you’re sick of hearing me complain about how tough these races are, well, the top two spots at wide receiver were the easiest picks on the board. Smith-Njigba has been a one-man show for the Seahawks in the passing game this season, where the likes of Cooper Kupp and Rashid Shaheed haven’t been able to make consistent impacts. Smith-Njigba currently has more than 44% of the receiving yards produced by the Seattle offense this season, the highest percentage since Brandon Marshall racked up more than 45% of Chicago’s market share at receiver in 2012.

Everybody knows the ball’s going to JSN. Nobody has shown any consistent ability to stop him throughout a game this year, though.

A special season from a special player. Nacua is the most efficient receiver in football, averaging a league-best 3.9 yards per route run. He leads the NFL in receiving yards over expectation (434) and is second in yards after catch over expectation behind the next guy on this list, per Next Gen Stats. Targets thrown to Nacua have generated 105.9 EPA — 19 EPA ahead of any other receiver in the league.

The only player with more EPA in a single receiving season in the Next Gen Stats era, ironically enough, is Cooper Kupp from his 2021 campaign with these Rams. Nacua’s behind only by virtue of missing a game-plus with an ankle injury, and he still has Week 18 to catch up. And none of this covers what Nacua does as a blocker, where he has been essential for the Rams.

The top two spots were gimmes. The third wideout spot, though, is a real competition. Stefon Diggs has been incredibly efficient, but he has run only 22 routes per game in New England. Drake London has missed too much time with injuries. Amon-Ra St. Brown has had uncharacteristic problems with drops throughout the season. Ja’Marr Chase has plenty of targets, but owing perhaps to inconsistent quarterback play, he is averaging just 11.2 yards per catch. Plus, his success rate and big-play rate are both down considerably from where they were a year ago.

So I went instead with Pickens, who has been the perfect fit for what the Cowboys needed as an outside receiver next to CeeDee Lamb for Dak Prescott. Pickens had consistently run higher-than-expected catch rates in Pittsburgh, but playing with subpar quarterbacks in run-first offenses, it was unclear whether all of that would translate to Dallas.

It did. Pickens’ expected catch rate rose, but so did his actual catch rate. Among wide receivers with 300-plus routes run this season, Pickens ranks sixth in the league in catch rate over expectation, third in receiving yards over expectation (trailing only my two other first-team All-Pros) and first in yards after catch over expectation (199 YACOE), per NGS. Generating loads of YACOE as a downfield receiver isn’t easy, and it’s a testament to how good Pickens has been at both bringing in contested catches and creating once he has the ball in his hands.

The only receivers generating more EPA per route run this year than Pickens are Nacua, Smith-Njigba and Diggs. Pickens has benefited from playing with Prescott, of course, but he has also been such an obvious and significant upgrade on the various wideouts the Cowboys have run out at the X spot over the past few seasons. It has been easy to question many of Jerry Jones’ trades over the past couple of years, but landing Pickens for third- and fifth-round picks was a coup for the Cowboys.

Second team: Ja’Marr Chase, Cincinnati Bengals; Nico Collins, Houston Texans; Chris Olave, New Orleans Saints

Tight end

Another easy pick here. Would-be rivals such as Brock Bowers and George Kittle missed significant time with injuries, and McBride answered the bell week after week for the Cardinals. His 1,174 receiving yards place him more than 300 ahead of second-place Kyle Pitts Sr., and although that yardage figure obviously owes some sort of debt to a staggering 161 targets, McBride was able to get open enough to command that sort of target share and dropped just one ball all season.

The goal-line forcefield that seemed to pester McBride also disappeared after Kyler Murray‘s foot injury, as McBride’s 11 touchdowns are one away from doubling his prior career total of six, gathered across three seasons.

Second team: Tyler Warren, Indianapolis Colts

Offensive tackle

The offensive line awards this year are trickier than ever before. In the introduction, I mentioned that player availability matters, and how I’m going to really find it difficult to include players who have missed more than a couple of games when others have been on the field for the entire season. I’ve applied that standard in the past, and it has hurt players such as Lane Johnson, who might be the best offensive lineman on the planet when he’s on the field but also usually misses a handful of games each season along the way.

Well, in 2025, just about every single offensive tackle who has a real case for being among the elite players at the position missed action. Chargers star Rashawn Slater missed the entire season with a ruptured patellar tendon, and teammate Joe Alt will end up missing 11 full games and most of two others with ankle injuries. Running through a few of the league’s top tackles and their snap percentages (and what that translates to in terms of missed games over a full season), you can see just how difficult it has been to get the best linemen onto the field this season:

If this were simply identifying the best linemen on any individual snap this season, I’d probably go with Andrew Thomas at left tackle and Johnson at right tackle. But if we’re picking the most productive or impactful tackles in the league over the full season, I can’t include them.

Of all the players to stay healthy for the entire season! (Well, almost.) Williams routinely misses a couple of games each year and plays for a 49ers team that has been ransacked by injuries all season, but the future Hall of Famer had been on the field for every game before suffering a hamstring injury on the Brock Purdy pick-six against the Bears on Sunday night. It’s unclear whether he’ll be able to return for the Week 18 divisional decider against the Seahawks.

Williams’ steady presence has been one of the reasons the 49ers have been able to survive despite all the injuries on offense this season. The Niners have had to play multiple starters at left guard next to him, and Williams spends more time on an island than most NFL tackles, but the 37-year-old still has the quickness and footwork to handle just about anybody in the league one-on-one. There were only two moments when Williams looked a step slow this season, and they were courtesy of superstars on the other side of the ball, via a Danielle Hunter spin move against the Texans and a Myles Garrett teleportation to the interior for a sack against the Browns.

I’m not sure there’s a more underrated offensive lineman in the league. Once a liability for the Broncos at left tackle, Bolles has rounded into form and consistently rates as one of the most reliable and effective pass blockers in the league. According to NFL Next Gen Stats, Bolles has allowed just one sack all season. Just 6.2% of his one-on-one blocks have resulted in pressures, the second-lowest rate in the NFL. And Bolles is doing that playing in front of Bo Nix, who has a habit of extending plays and/or choosing to scramble to places no lineman can prepare to protect.

Bolles was 13th in the league in run block win rate among tackles who played the majority of their team’s snaps this season. The 33-year-old benefited from playing on one of the league’s best lines (and one of its healthiest before center Luke Wattenberg went down with a shoulder injury), but Bolles has been entirely capable of handling some of the best edge rushers in football this season. He has also missed a grand total of just seven snaps all season, and that’s a difference-maker.

Second team: Laremy Tunsil, Washington Commanders; Dion Dawkins, Buffalo Bills

Offensive guard

Nelson was an easy pick on the interior. As the focal point of Indy’s diverse rushing scheme, his ability to overwhelm opposing defensive linemen at the point of attack is valuable enough, but he also has been essential as a pulling guard to take out defenders at the second and even third levels of the defense at different points this season. The Colts didn’t have much trouble replacing Ryan Kelly and Will Fries when they signed with the Vikings this offseason; there’s no way Indy could have been as productive on the ground this season without Nelson.

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The most important and reliable part of Chicago’s resurgent run game this season, Thuney was every bit the player the Bears hoped to acquire when they sent a fourth-round pick to the Chiefs this offseason. He ranks fourth in the league in run block win rate and leads all guards in pass block win rate, all while continuing his habit of virtually never coming off the field. Thuney has missed just five snaps all season.

Thuney has the league’s lowest quick pressure rate and is one of two guards who played more than 400 pass-blocking snaps without allowing a single sack this season, per Next Gen Stats. The other one, of course, was Nelson.

Second team: Kevin Dotson, Los Angeles Rams; Tyler Smith, Dallas Cowboys

Center

Like Indianapolis’ offense with Nelson, the Dolphins’ rushing attack simply doesn’t work without Brewer’s ability to get on the edge for all of the pin/pull and other outside run concepts Miami wants to run. Watch Miami’s run game closely and you’ll see Brewer reaching defensive tackles on zone rushes with ease and blocking linebackers like Jamien Sherwood and Frankie Luvu for yards at a time. Here’s Brewer locking up Derwin James Jr. on a counter concept for a De’Von Achane 49-yard touchdown.

ACHANE IS GONE.

LACvsMIA on CBS/Paramount+https://t.co/HkKw7uXVnt pic.twitter.com/HIVmB5BtyH

— NFL (@NFL) October 12, 2025

With Tyreek Hill out and Tua Tagovailoa‘s effectiveness waning before being benched, the Dolphins needed to rely on their run game to survive for much of the season. That run game ran through Brewer.

Second team: Tyler Linderbaum, Baltimore Ravens

Edge rusher

The easiest pick on the entire roster. We’ll see if Garrett sets the single-season sack record against the Bengals next week, but even if he doesn’t get there, we’re witnessing one of the great seasons in NFL history by a defender at any position. Garrett’s going to lead the league in just about every meaningful pass rush category, especially after we adjust for the fact the Browns have faced the third-fewest pass attempts of any defense this season. He has thrown in 12 tackles for loss against the run, second most behind Maxx Crosby.

I’ll talk more about his season next week in my seasonlong awards column, but there isn’t much justification required here.

There’s a much bigger group of candidates for the second spot at edge rusher, even after Micah Parsons‘ torn ACL ended his chances of landing the first-team All-Pro nod. I kept finding reasons to lean toward Anderson, who has continued to improve across his three pro seasons. In 2025, his missed tackle rate improved past league-average, and he has set career highs in sacks (12) and knockdowns (23) with a game to go.

Anderson’s even better than those figures if we use the data from Next Gen Stats. He has turned 8.3% of his pass-rush snaps into quick pressures this season, trailing only Nik Bonitto and Abdul Carter. Anderson gets chipped or double-teamed more than either player, and I think he’s a little better against the run than Bonitto, who was Anderson’s closest competition here. According to the Next Gen Stats models, Anderson’s pressure rate is 6.5% better than what an average edge rusher would have accomplished in the same situations, which is the best mark in the league. He has also generated four turnovers with pressures this season, which is second behind Jared Verse.

Second team: Nik Bonitto, Denver Broncos; Aidan Hutchinson, Detroit Lions

Defensive tackle

Although Simmons missed two games and most of a third with a hamstring injury, he has been sufficiently dominant to qualify for All-Pro honors. He was a one-man pressure factory this season. Simmons leads all defensive tackles in pressure rate (13.5%), quick quarterback pressures (22), quick pressure rate (6.2%) and pressure rate against double-teams (11.2%) — all while playing on a team that didn’t have a significant second pass-rush threat to worry about elsewhere up front, especially after Dre’Mont Jones was traded to the Ravens at midseason. Simmons’ 16 tackles for loss lead all defensive tackles.

In terms of volume, though, nobody has been on quarterbacks more often this season than Allen. He leads all players with 45 quarterback knockdowns this season, seven hits ahead of Garrett. Even if that number’s a little inflated by some hits on quarterbacks as the ball’s on the way out, Allen leads all defensive tackles with 57 pressures, and his 14 quick pressures are third at the position behind Simmons and Chris Jones. (Yes, Jones is still great.)

Allen has a lot of help on what might be the league’s best defensive line, but if there’s one player up front the Broncos couldn’t afford to lose, it would be Allen. Bonitto and Jonathon Cooper are excellent at getting off quickly and going around the edge to squeeze opposing QBs, but Allen’s just completely unblockable at times on the interior, which helps funnel quarterbacks to those speedy edge rushers.

Second team: Kobie Turner, Los Angeles Rams; Leonard Williams, Seattle Seahawks

Linebacker

I’m not sure there are many 7-9 teams in league history with two first-team All-Pros, but Brewer and Brooks both deserve the recognition. No player has made a higher share of his team’s tackles this season than Brooks, who has 17.5% of Miami’s tackles. That’s the third-highest rate for any defender in any season since 2016, when Bobby Wagner made 19.5% of Seattle’s tackles.

Racking up tackles doesn’t mean much if you’re just on the field all the time for a bad defense and tackling guys 15 yards downfield, but Brooks has made 20 tackles short of the sticks on third and fourth down, the most of any player in the NFL. His 13 tackles for loss are second in the league among off-ball linebackers behind Eric Wilson, who is having the same sort of out-of-nowhere season we’ve seen from De’Vondre Campbell and Zack Baun in recent years and also deserved serious consideration. Brooks has produced stuffs for no gain or a loss on 5.6% of run plays, the highest rate in the league for any full-season linebacker. And Brooks has chipped in with 3.5 sacks as a blitzer.

Dumped by the Rams and traded away after six weeks by the Titans a year ago, Jones has been a perfect fit in Seattle under Mike Macdonald. He has picked off five passes this season, tying him with Devin Lloyd (who was just a hair behind Jones on my ballot) for the league lead among linebackers. Jones has allowed a 53.7 passer rating in coverage this season, the third-best mark in the league at any position. He has also made 16 tackles stopping players short of a third- or fourth-down conversion — tied for fourth in the NFL.

Second team: Devin Lloyd, Jacksonville Jaguars; Jack Campbell, Detroit Lions

Cornerback

This was another position where injuries had a real impact. For my money, the three best cornerbacks in football in terms of being able to line up against anybody and play either man or zone coverage while tackling well are Pat Surtain II of the Broncos, Christian Gonzalez of the Patriots and Devon Witherspoon of the Seahawks. But Surtain missed 3½ games with a pectoral injury, Gonzalez missed three games to start the year with a hamstring problem, and Witherspoon was out for five games during the first half with a recurring knee ailment.

They’ve all been great when they’ve been on the field this season, but missing that much time hurts when so many great players have been on the field all year. I have to leave Witherspoon off by virtue of missing so much action. Surtain had some trouble at times against the Colts and Chargers early in the season, and although he has been great since returning from the pectoral injury, penalties are still an issue for the reigning Defensive Player of the Year (nine flags for 109 yards, including five pass interference calls). That’s just enough to bounce him down to the second team.

In terms of cumulative impact, I’d say Stingley has been the best cornerback in football in 2025. He has played all 16 games so far, which means something relative to the competition. Playing behind an elite pass rush helps, of course, but Stingley’s even great on extended plays and scramble drills. He has allowed a scarcely believable 49.4 passer rating in coverage this season, the best mark in football among full-time players. The Texans don’t play man as often as many other teams, but Stingley’s as good in his role as anybody in the league.

The Eagles, on the other hand, play man at the third-highest rate in the NFL. And Mitchell has already emerged as a shutdown guy on his side of the field. If you’ve watched Eagles games all season, you’ve probably noticed how often teams are going out of their way to target the guys who aren’t Mitchell and Cooper DeJean in coverage.

Most of the targets Mitchell sees are low-percentage prayers from quarterbacks. He’s allowing the third-best completion percentage (43.8%) on targets of any cornerback this season, trailing only Stingley and Donte Jackson, who earned a second-team nod. His 67.5% success rate in coverage is the best mark in the NFL among outside corners. And Mitchell also tackles better than the vast majority of starting corners, as his 6.3% missed tackle rate ranks 10th in the league at the position.

It was between Gonzalez and Surtain for the final spot on the first team, and I narrowly preferred the Patriots standout. The Pats have played less man than they did over the prior two seasons, and I’m not sure Gonzalez was even as good this year as he was during what was a wildly underrated 2024 campaign, but he was still comfortably playing at a star level.

Gonzalez has posted a 63.2% success rate in coverage this season, the fifth-best mark among regular starters. Targets in his direction have generated 7.2 fewer catches than expected, which is third in the league. He has also posted a better missed tackle rate than Surtain (who didn’t miss a single tackle in 2024) while taking six fewer penalties. It’s going to be fun watching Gonzalez battle for the title of best cornerback in the AFC with Stingley on an annual basis over the next few seasons.

Second team: Pat Surtain II, Denver Broncos; Donte Jackson, Los Angeles Chargers; Jaycee Horn, Carolina Panthers

Safety

What a nightmare for opposing offensive coordinators. James is an absolute menace around the line of scrimmage for Chargers DC Jesse Minter, where he’s capable of singlehandedly blowing up run plays and becomes a serious problem for teams as both a designed pass rusher and green dog blitzer. His sack (2) and TFL (6) totals are down from 2025, but James has intercepted three passes, including the Gardner Minshew pick that knocked the Chiefs out of the postseason in the AFC. James is allowing a career-best 59.6 passer rating in coverage, and his physicality dictates so much of what the Chargers can do schematically with light boxes against the run.

Hamilton’s versatility has been essential for the Ravens. Last year, the Ravens salvaged what had been a frustrating defense by moving Hamilton into a deep-lying role, and they fielded one of the best defenses in the NFL from that point forward. This year? With the defense struggling to start the season, coordinator Zach Orr moved Hamilton back into the box, where he has had a James-like impact around the line of scrimmage. You’re not really supposed to be able to play both of those roles at an All-Pro level. Hamilton does.

Watching him just shrug off offensive linemen who outweigh him by more than 100 pounds to make tackles on run plays is just remarkable. He hasn’t been in coverage as often as in years past, but Hamilton has been effective when called on to take on tight ends and slot receivers this season, too. His presence has been absolutely essential on a Ravens team that has faced uncertainty, inconsistent play and injuries from much of its front seven.

Second team: Jessie Bates III, Atlanta Falcons; Talanoa Hufanga, Denver Broncos

Kicker

Brandon Aubrey gets deserved plaudits as the league’s best kicker on a weekly basis, but Reichard has actually been slightly better this season per advanced metrics. He has attempted eight fewer field goals than Aubrey, but Reichard has gone 30-for-32, whereas Aubrey is 35-for-40. Even with the slightly reduced volume, Reichard has made 6.7 more field goals than expected (per NGS), compared with 6.5 for Aubrey, as his average field goal make has been from a yard further out. Reichard has also been perfect on extra points. Vikings fans endured about a decade of frustrating kickers, but Reichard has broken that trend.

Second team: Brandon Aubrey, Dallas Cowboys

Punter

Per the Puntalytics EPA-based model, Dickson has been the best punter in the league this season on a per-punt basis. The Sydney-born punter is only around the middle of the pack in terms of average gross and net yards per punt, but just 35.3% of his punts have been returnable this season, a figure only Mitch Wishnowsky of the Bills and Austin McNamara of the Jets have been able to top. Dickson’s ability to place his punts has made a difference there, as just 13.7% of his punts have gone to the middle of the field, the lowest rate in the league for regular punters.

The only real argument I can make against him is that the Seahawks just haven’t needed Dickson to punt all that often; he has averaged just 3.2 punts per game this season.

Second team: Austin McNamara, New York Jets

Returner

Dike has very high highs and very low lows. On one hand, he might be one of the worst blocking wide receivers on screens I’ve ever seen. On the other? He’s a spectacular return man.

Tennessee had truly wretched special teams in 2024, but the arrival of John Fassel and the selection of Dike in the fourth round has transformed the Titans’ return units. Dike leads all regular punt returners in yards per return (17.7) and is second behind Marcus Jones in punt return yards over expectation (Next Gen Stats). Both Dike and Jones took two punts to the house this season, but Dike gets the nod by virtue of his excellent work on kickoff returns, where he is second in the NFL behind KaVontae Turpin in kick return yards over expectation.

Second team: Marcus Jones, New England Patriots

Lionel Messi is never far from breaking his next record or hitting his next landmark, and he enters 2026 on the verge of yet another massive milestone in his incredible career: his 900th goal.

The eight-time Ballon d’Or winner is poised on 896 goals in his senior career for Argentina, Barcelona, Paris Saint-Germain and current club Inter Miami following his final match of 2025: Miami’s MLS Cup triumph over the Vancouver Whitecaps on Dec. 5.

The 2026 MLS season doesn’t kick off until Feb. 21, and Argentina are not in action again until they play Spain in the Finalissima in Doha on March 27. Therefore, we’ll have to wait a little while before Messi can get the four goals he needs to hit goal No. 900, but it is likely to come soon enough once the 38-year-old resumes competitive action.

Right now, Messi’s longtime rival Cristiano Ronaldo is the only active player to have scored over 900 professional career goals, having achieved the feat in September 2024. Given that the active player with the next-highest goal total is Robert Lewandowski with 685, it might be some while before the twin titans of modern football are joined in the 900 club by anyone else.

– Miami’s maiden MLS title caps off long, ambitious Messi project
– Camp Nou icon: The ultimate history of Messi’s Barcelona career
– Messi tracker: Goals, assists, key moments for MLS champs Inter Miami

Messi’s goal-scoring odyssey began way back in May 2005, when the teenage sensation emerged from the bench for the final two minutes of Barcelona’s league game against Albacete and capped off a 2-0 victory with his first goal in professional football.

Even though expectations were high for Messi all the way through his development, no one could have predicted the incredible level of success that would follow that first goal at Camp Nou. Yet here we all are 21 years later, with Messi still scoring goals at such a rate that there is no telling how much more he could achieve.

Much has rightly been made about Ronaldo’s quest to reach an undisputed career tally of 1,000 goals, with the 40-year-old now within 50 strikes of that total. But as Messi nears 900, could he also have that four-figure total in his sights? And, being almost 2½ years younger than Ronaldo, could he yet retire with more goals to his name than the Portugal superstar?

Messi’s goals by team

It shouldn’t come as much surprise to learn that most of Messi’s goals were scored at the club where he enjoyed the majority of his career and his peak years: Barcelona. The 5-foot-7 forward scored 672 goals in 778 games for the Catalan giants across 17 seasons — which accounts for 75% of his career tally.

Messi then scored 32 goals in 75 games during his two-year stint with PSG before adding another 77 goals in 88 games to date for Inter Miami.

On the international front, Messi has a running tally of 115 goals in 196 games for Argentina. Though none were bigger than the two goals he scored (plus a penalty in the shootout) in the 2022 FIFA World Cup final victory over France.

Barcelona: 672 goals in 778 games
Paris Saint-Germain: 32 goals in 75 games
Inter Miami: 77 goals in 88 games
Argentina: 115 goals in 196 games
Total: 896 goals in 1,137 games

Messi’s goals per season

Aged 17, Messi debuted for the Barcelona senior side in 2004-05 under head coach Frank Rijkaard and scored just one goal in nine games in all competitions — his first professional career goal, when Ronaldinho set him up to open his account against Albacete in May 2005.

He followed up with his first senior international goal for Argentina in March 2006, in a friendly defeat to Croatia. And with goals for club and country combined, Messi reached double figures in his sophomore campaign (10 goals in 2005-06) and hasn’t looked back, having done likewise in each of the subsequent 20 seasons of his professional career.

Messi’s highest single-season return came in 2011-12, when he amassed a dizzying 82 goals for club and country. It was also the same season that Messi notched his 234th goal in 314 games for Barça to become the club’s top career goal scorer at the age of 24, seizing the mantle from César Rodriguez, hero of the side from the 1940s and ’50s. The decisive strike proved to be Messi’s second goal of a hat trick he scored in a 5-3 win over Granada in March 2012.

Messi had to wait until November of the 2014-15 campaign to become LaLiga‘s top career scorer when another hat trick, this time against Sevilla, saw him reach 253 goals in 289 Spanish league games. He overtook another Barça great, Telmo Zarra, whose individual record of 251 goals in LaLiga had stood since 1955. Messi went on to score 66 goals in total that season.

To sum up his ludicrously prolific goal-scoring consistency, during the 22 seasons that Messi has spent as a professional footballer he has passed the 80-goal mark once, the 60-goal mark three times, the 50-goal mark eight times and the 40-goal mark on 14 occasions. During his monumental heyday, he also scored at least 30 goals for club and country for 13 consecutive campaigns between 2008-09 and 2020-21, the end of which coincided with him leaving Barcelona for PSG.

Following that emotional exit, Messi’s goal return faltered in Paris, where his first season (2021-22) produced a “mere” 22 goals. That said, he did deliver 37 goals in his second term (2022-23). He didn’t spend too long in France, but he did manage to win two Ligue 1 titles and the Trophée des Champions, as well as surpassing Ronaldo’s tally of 701 goals to become the top career goal scorer in European club football with a goal against Nice in April 2023.

Messi’s many records and milestones

Messi refuses to hang around in his relentless pursuit of career milestones. He became Barcelona’s top career scorer in 2011-12, just eight seasons into his senior career, by rattling away 234 goals in his first 314 games for the club. He then quickly took the LaLiga record when he scored that 253rd goal in Spanish league appearances.

We shouldn’t gloss over the fact that he also holds a world record for most goals scored in a single calendar year, having stormed to 91 in 69 games in 2012. Messi scored 79 goals for Barça and 12 for Argentina to surpass the previous annual record of 85, which had been held by Bayern Munich legend Gerd Müller since 1972.

Messi scored the 500th goal of his club and international career in April 2016 in a shock 2-1 home defeat for Barcelona against Valencia. The forward did so in his 632nd game, having amassed 450 goals in 525 games for Barça and 50 goals in 107 caps for Argentina at the time.

He is also the fastest player on record to score 100 goals in the Champions League after taking just 123 games to do so, with the crucial strike coming against Chelsea in March 2018 — also making him the youngest player to reach a century in the competition at 30 years and 263 days.

In that same quarterfinal second leg, Messi also scored the quickest goal of his career, when he bagged his 99th UCL goal with 128 seconds on the clock at Camp Nou.

Even as he pushes on toward his 40s, Messi is still eating up milestones in MLS. After guiding Inter Miami to their first-ever trophy, the 2023 Leagues Cup, he then scored 23 goals in 25 games in 2024 to take over as Inter Miami’s top career scorer and drive them to claim the Supporters’ Shield.

The 2025 season saw Messi ramp it up again, scoring 29 goals in 28 regular-season games en route to winning the MLS Golden Boot. He also became the fastest player to reach 50 goals in MLS history, taking 53 games to beat the previous record shared by Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Josef Martínez (54 games). In all, Messi scored 43 goals in 49 games for Inter Miami in 2025.

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How Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi could face off in WC quarterfinals

Take a look at the potential fixtures of the 2026 World Cup quarterfinals including Cristiano Ronaldo’s Portugal facing Lionel Messi’s Argentina.

When could Messi hit 1,000 goals?

He still has more than 100 goals to go until he reaches the 1,000 milestone, but there’s every chance Messi will get there.

At 38, he still has three years to run on his Inter Miami contract after signing an extension in October 2025 that is due to run until the conclusion of the 2028 MLS season, when Messi will be 41.

Messi has averaged 36 goals a season for club and country since moving to MLS in July 2023 (77 for Miami, 12 for Argentina). However, with uncertainty over how much longer he will continue to play for Argentina — speaking to ESPN last month, he would not confirm that he will play at the 2026 World Cup — that rate would likely drop if he is no longer playing international games.

Still, should he continue to average 36 goals per season for Miami beyond the World Cup next summer, Messi would be on course to score his 1,000th career goal at some point toward the end of the 2028 season, the final year of his current contract.

Of course, this is an incredibly basic calculation that doesn’t take into account any fluctuations in form or fitness — but we employed the same method to calculate if/when Ronaldo would reach his 1,000th career goal, and we haven’t been too wide of the mark regarding his progress toward that target thus far.

Could he retire with more goals than Ronaldo?

Ronaldo, who currently has 957 career goals in 1,298 games for club and country, turns 41 on Feb. 5.

Messi, who has 896 goals in 1,137 games at senior level, turns 39 on June 24.

If Ronaldo dramatically announced his retirement on New Year’s Day 2026 and Messi played on for two further seasons for club and country until the age of 40, while successfully maintaining his average goal return since moving to the U.S. of 36 goals per season, the latter would potentially surpass his rival’s tally of 957 in mid-2027.

In that scenario, Messi could end his career with a total of 968. Again, that’s a ballpark calculation, but it gives an indication of how time is very much on Messi’s side as the younger man of the two rivals.

Both players have unquestionably defined the era in which they have played, winning the Ballon d’Or a combined 13 times between Ronaldo’s first in 2008 and Messi’s eighth in 2023. But, even now, both are still strengthening their respective claims to be declared the greatest of all time.

Premier League sides Arsenal, Liverpool and Manchester City are all potential destinations for Real Madrid‘s Rodrygo, while Club Brugge defender Joel Ordóñez nears a move to Anfield. Join us for the latest transfer news and rumors from around the globe.

Transfers home page | Men’s summer grades | Women’s grades

TOP STORIES

– Sources: Rosenior frontrunner to replace Maresca at Chelsea
– Everton keen on Blackburn, Nigeria RB Alebiosu – sources
– Tottenham’s Johnson agrees £35m Palace move – sources

TRENDING RUMORS

– Real Madrid winger Rodrygo wants to leave Real Madrid this winter, according to Diario Sport. The 24-year-old is reported to have begun talks with “two top agents” amid hopes of accelerating his departure from the Bernabéu, but Los Blancos are unlikely to consider offers until the summer following the recent injury to striker Kylian Mbappé. Manchester City and Arsenal are said to be the two most likely destinations for Rodrygo, but Liverpool, who remain on the lookout for a long-term successor for Mohamed Salah, also can’t be ruled out.

– Liverpool are closing in on a move to sign Club Brugge defender Joel Ordóñez, the Daily Mirror reports. A deal worth £43 million has reportedly been agreed, and the Reds are expected to complete the signing of the 21-year-old in a matter of days. The report adds that the Premier League side are also exploring a potential approach for Borussia Dortmund winger Karim Adeyemi, 23, with belief that his versatility could help reinforce Arne Slot’s attacking options.

– Multiple clubs in Italy are tracking Liverpool winger Federico Chiesa, according to Calciomercato. Inter Milan are one of the latest clubs linked with interest in the 28-year-old, with the Nerazzurri said to have been “considering” an approach for some time. Chiesa, who played just 11 minutes in the 0-0 Premier League draw with Leeds on Thursday, continues his struggles to start regularly at Anfield. Italy national team manager Gennaro Gattuso is hopeful of him earning more regular minutes ahead of their FIFA World Cup playoff semifinal against Northern Ireland. Juventus and Atalanta are also reportedly pondering a potential swoop for him.

– Efforts to sign Bayern Munich defender Kim Min-Jae are set to be stepped up by AC Milan, Gazzetta dello Sport reports. The 29-year-old has been identified as one of the top names on the Serie A club’s shortlist amid plans to strengthen their defence, and they are exploring an initial loan move that would include an option to become permanent. Negotiations are set to continue between both clubs with the Bundesliga champions reluctant to accept the current proposal, while the Rossoneri could also struggle to meet his €12m salary in full.

– Real Madrid’s strategy of “patience” with Nico Paz has been rewarded, Marca reports, with the playmaker undergoing an “unparalleled explosion” in growth and profile in Serie A this season. Madrid “seriously considered” bringing Paz back to the Bernabéu last summer but opted to continue his development at Como, with a “clear plan” to re-sign him in 2026.

EXPERT TAKE

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Do Vinicius Jr & Rodrygo play with more freedom for Brazil?

The ESPN FC crew debate if Vinicius Jr & Rodrygo play with more freedom for Brazil than Real Madrid.

OTHER RUMORS

– Negotiations between Real Madrid and winger Vinícius Júnior are set to continue over a new contract. (Diario AS)

– A battle between Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur is set to take place for the signature of RB Leipzig winger Yan Diomande. (talkSPORT)

– Tottenham have moved ahead of Arsenal and Manchester United in the race for Bayern Munich midfielder Leon Goretzka. (Caught Offside)

– Chelsea winger Raheem Sterling is unlikely to consider a move to West Ham United. (Jacob Steinberg)

– Midfielder Kobbie Mainoo is “determined” to stay at Manchester United. (The Sun)

– Sporting CP are in advanced talks to sign West Ham’s Brazilian striker Luis Guilherme in a €17m transfer deal. (A Bola)

– Manchester City defender Jahmai Simpson-Pusey is attracting interest from Strasbourg, FC Koln, and clubs in the Championship. He is set to be recalled from his current loan at Celtic. (Daily Telegraph)

– Tottenham’s Israeli winger Manor Solomon has arrived in Florence ahead of completing his loan move to Fiorentina. (Ansa)

– Uncertainty is growing around the future of Napoli winger Noa Lang, who has caught the attention of Galatasaray. (Il Mattino)

– Manchester United have no plans to recall left-back Harry Amass from his loan spell at Sheffield Wednesday. (The Sun)

– Lazio have joined city rivals Roma in the race to sign Atlético Madrid forward Giacomo Raspadori. (Corriere dello Sport)

– A move for Toulouse defender Charlie Cresswell is being considered by West Ham. (TEAMtalk)

– Lazio are looking at Real Sociedad forward Mikel Oyarzabal. (Nicolo Schira)

– Roma remain interested in Manchester United striker Joshua Zirkzee. (Tuttosport)

– Fiorentina and Valencia are interested in Flamengo right-back Emerson Royal. (Ekrem Konur)

– Crystal Palace, Sunderland, and Fulham are keen on Paris FC winger Ilan Kebbal. (Football Insider)

– Toulouse defender Dayann Methalie is on the radar of Newcastle. (Daily Mail)

– Palmeiras are eyeing Orlando City midfielder Martin Ojeda as a potential reinforcement in January. (TNT Brasil)