All 32 NFL teams will have completed their minicamps by the end of Thursday, launching a six-week summer break prior to the start of training camp next month. That’s when the real meat and potatoes will be served, but there have been some interesting bread crumbs left from practices. With that in mind, here are five things we learned while teams were wrapping up their offseason workouts.
1) Confident Burrow is the best Burrow. Joe Burrow chooses his words carefully. The Bengals quarterback often delivers loaded, thinly veiled statements when things are not going well.
But when he’s optimistic, Burrow isn’t scared of holding back either. That’s why when Burrow compared this year’s Bengals team to his 2019 LSU club — arguably one of the best college teams in recent memory — I didn’t chalk it up to typically rosy offseason fluff.
I sat up a little. This is the Burrow I want to hear.
It feels like Burrow knows his team is very good, or that it could and perhaps should be. He’s entering this season injury-free and has most of his offensive crew back. Defensively, there are worries, but the Bengals were highly active this offseason in adding pieces. Talent shouldn’t be the issue.
Head coach Zac Taylor has to win this season. Burrow has to stay healthy for at least close to 17 games. The defense clearly has been in a three-year tailspin and must pull itself out. This isn’t just a finger-snap operation in Cincinnati.
Yet there’s optimism for good reason. The schedule is arguably the easiest in the division. This offense can rip off 30-plus points without issue at its best. Even an incremental improvement defensively would make a big difference in the team’s outlook.
And Joe is feeling it again. This league is better with a confident Burrow. The Bengals were pretty darned fun as contenders a few years back. I think we’re going to get a dangerous team from them this season.
2) Penix has work to do to earn Falcons QB job. Michael Penix Jr. has said he believes he’ll be ready to go come training camp, eager to engage in his highly anticipated competition against Tua Tagovailoa. But Penix has yet to be cleared for 11-on-11 work this offseason, making late July feel suddenly very close.
Right now, it feels like Tagovailoa has the subtle edge in the battle, even if nothing has been decided. Or at the very least, Penix will have to make up some ground once he’s cleared. Is six weeks enough time?
New Falcons coach Kevin Stefanski said they are “not giving out any jobs in June,” and that’s a good thing. OTAs are more of a teaching environment than an evaluation period, even if it’s natural for the team and fans alike to engage in the latter this time of year.
Penix has been limited this offseason. He has done 7-on-7 work. It’s not nothing. If Penix had been stuck on the stationary bike during these June sessions, I’d be more concerned. Stefanski said that Penix is “exactly” where he needs to be at this stage.
But consider me a little worried about his ability to get cleared, stay healthy and beat out Tagovailoa for the Week 1 starting job. Penix figures to play at some point — Tua has only started a full season once in six years — but winning the job from the outset feels like more of a reach to me right now.
3) What can Chiefs expect from Worthy? While much of the talk about Chiefs wide receivers this offseason has centered around Rashee Rice, there’s another wideout in Kansas City whose role and output also deserve some scrutiny.
When the Chiefs traded up for Xavier Worthy in Round 1 two years ago, it felt like a perfect match between team and player. Worthy had a solid-to-good rookie season as a complementary playmaker, capping the season with a big showing in the Super Bowl loss to the Eagles.
All of that appeared to foretell a big Year 2. After suffering a shoulder injury in Week 1, Worthy was never the same. Despite playing a higher percentage of the team’s snaps, his numbers decreased almost across the board. Yes, Patrick Mahomes’ late-season injury impacted that, but Worthy had only one TD and averaged fewer than 50 receiving yards per game with Mahomes starting.
I don’t know if Worthy ever will become a truly full-time player, as his size and route tree still lend to a more streamlined role, although few teams use first-round picks on that type of player. The Chiefs clearly thought he could be dynamic in their offense when they drafted him, and I still think Worthy has a chance to be that guy.
They’ll need him, with Rice missing 22 games over the past two seasons due to suspension and injuries. Young WRs Jalen Royals and Cyrus Allen might not be ready for major roles yet. There’s also the matter of Mahomes coming off an ACL injury, and Eric Bieniemy’s return to the coaching staff. This is a Chiefs offense that hasn’t looked quite right for a few years now, after all.
Yet Worthy is the kind of player who can do some damage on handoffs and bubble screens. That might be a role we see plenty of as Mahomes is regaining his footing early in the season. There was a time when receivers were given at least three years to develop, and Worthy deserves that treatment. He has a chance to have his best season yet.
4) Changes in Cowboys’ backfield? The Cowboys have their starting running back in Javonte Williams, coming off his best season to date. But Dallas has a fascinating battle for RB2 duties, and the winner could end up with a significant role in one of the league’s more explosive offenses.
The assumption heading into this offseason was that Malik Davis would be the front-runner for that job, but it appears he has some competition. Second-year backs Jaydon Blue and Phil Mafah are also in the mix, and when I saw they each received first-team snaps at minicamp, it caught my eye.
Davis was the best of the three last season in limited duty, averaging 4.8 yards per carry and logging a 100-yard rushing day after Williams was hurt. He’s been with the team for nearly four years now, plays special teams and even has playoff experience in Dallas.
But keep an eye on Blue and Mafah — two intriguing and quite different backs. Blue’s speed and receiving ability are attractive. Mafah runs with power and force. He could be a worthy short-yardage and four-minute back. Both have opened eyes early in camp, attempting to rewrite their stories this season.
Head coach Brian Schottenheimer appears to be weighting his options. Williams might be the workhorse, but Dallas needs insurance. If the Cowboys deem Davis, Blue and Mafah as not enough, I wouldn’t be shocked to see them sniff around some free-agent backs; there are plenty looking for work.
But it also wouldn’t stun me to see Blue and Mafah earn more chances with their complementary skill sets.
5) Rookie sleeper in Jacksonville. As I wrote earlier, evaluating players — especially rookies — in June is risky business. There have been plenty of players over the years who flashed in shorts and shells only to disappear when the pads came on.
And to be fair, I didn’t love the Jaguars’ draft class at first glance. But it appears they have an intriguing rookie who will be angling to earn a role if he can follow up his offseason performance with a strong training camp.
The Jaguars drafted TE Nate Boerkircher with their top pick this year, late in Round 2, and he’s expected to have a role as a two-way, in-line tight end, even after missing much of the offseason program with an injury. Instead, it was the Jaguars’ second TE pick, Tanner Koziol, who has reportedly opened eyes.
Unlike Boerkircher, Koziol is more of a “detached” tight end — better suited for slot duty than in-line work. Koziol is more of a receiver than a blocker, but he’s a king-sized target at 6-foot-7 and nearly 250 pounds, reportedly making several grabs in practice sessions open to the media.
One thing is clear, and it’s that the Jaguars appear to want to incorporate more tight end usage into the offense. According to Next Gen Stats, they were middle of the pack in 12 personnel packages (one RB, two TEs, two WRs) and even lower on the list in 13 personnel usage (one RB, three TEs, one WR) with a mere 31 snaps last season. I could see the Jaguars trying to mold their offense into something similar to last year’s Rams and Steelers, each of which had four tight ends catch TD passes in 2025.
Brenton Strange is in line for a big role for the Jags. Boerkircher figures to earn snaps for his blocking alone. But I think Koziol bears watching as a valuable third option, perhaps even pushing one of the other TEs (Hunter Long or Quintin Morris) out the door.