From Brock Purdy to Jordan Love, Sky Sports NFL presenter Neil Reynolds picks out the most important figures heading into the 2024 season; watch Atlanta Falcons @ Pittsburgh Steelers from 6pm on Sunday, followed by Dallas Cowboys @ Cleveland Browns from 9.25pm
Friday 6 September 2024 22:51, UK
When I was asked to come up with six important and influential figures for the 2024 season, I could have done 26 in this league full of stars. But I've gone with six and cheated with a bonus one... because you can't have a list like this without Patrick Mahomes...
First up is Brock Purdy, the quarterback of the San Francisco 49ers, who enters a massive year as he sets the stage for a big payday after the season. Purdy has been arguably the best quarterback statistically in the NFL over the last two years.
He has won some big games but lost the biggest of all in the Super Bowl last year, so there is pressure on the 49ers and I think Purdy will be key to their season.
They have so many stars, stars that we are often told carry the quarterback, but the quarterback has to distribute the ball to the likes of Christian McCaffrey, Deebo Samuel, Brandon Aiyuk, George Kittle. Purdy does that with considerable skill.
I think this is the year he becomes viewed as one of the true elite quarterbacks in the NFL. I think he will actually be the league's MVP.
Detroit threw their woeful history out of the window last year to come within 30 minutes of reaching the Super Bowl. They had the 49ers on the ropes, could not finish the job and Dan Campbell suggested immediately his team would play with a target on their backs and things would be much more difficult in 2024.
He has not shied away from that challenge and talked to me in training camp about circling games against other teams on their schedule, how they would be ready for those teams, how he had a team of fighters.
Campbell's week-to-week messaging to keep the Detroit Lions on track is going to be key, and I think what will then happen is Detroit will go deep into the playoffs. They will do that based on the leadership of their head coach as well as their skills on either side of the ball.
The New York Jets have one of the most talented rosters in the NFL, but it goes without saying their quarterback Aaron Rodgers is going to make or break this season.
He lasted just four snaps last year before tearing his Achilles and clearly that rocked and devastated not only him personally but the whole team.
New York rallied to win seven games but never truly recovered from that opening night. If Rodgers can stay healthy and play anywhere close to the level we expect from him, then the Jets are a playoff team and could be even more than that.
Rodgers has talked very openly about the Jets being one of the eight to 12 teams that can win it all this season, so confidence is high, but they need their quarterback to be in the line-up week in week out. Rodgers is going to be one of the focal points of this season.
The Houston Texans have been one of the feelgood stories of the offseason. They won 11 games last year including that playoff victory against Cleveland, so hopes are high.
They built well around CJ Stroud, who is the real deal and special. Houston have the capability to be one of the top dogs in the AFC, I think they are right there now alongside the likes of Kansas City and Baltimore.
If they are to take a step forward they can be an AFC Championship Game team. Stroud is going to lead that attack, especially with Stefon Diggs coming along, and with Nico Collins, Tank Dell, Joe Mixon.
All of that around Stroud is going to make the Texans a real contender. He is going to be pivotal to their chances this year.
Jordan Love cashed in as quarterback of the Green Bay Packers after leading them on a playoff charge in the second half of last season.
He is now the joint-highest-paid quarterback in NFL history alongside Jacksonville's Trevor Lawrence. Love is going to be a key man on that offense that is going to add Josh Jacobs in the backfield but still feature a really young passing game core when you look at the receivers and tight ends.
Love showed us he can be special last year. His running was excellent, and the way he led the Packers to victory in Dallas and scared the life out of the San Francisco 49ers, it shows that quarterback run is going to continue in Green Bay.
The succession from Brett Favre to Rodgers to Love - Packers fans do not know how good they have got it.
Much has been made of Lamar Jackson fading in the playoffs during the course of his career so far, and also when we look at the AFC Championship Game last year and how little Baltimore ran the ball against the Kansas City Chiefs.
In comes a man who can help Jackson and the entire team in Derrick Henry, who has been known to terrorise the Ravens during his time with the Tennessee Titans.
Henry is built for this team, he is going to be a huge difference maker especially in the second half of the season. I would actually put him on a bit of a pitch count in the first half of the season and get him to full speed and unleash him on the rest of the NFL come December and January.
However the Ravens play it, Henry is one of their key men this season and I think he can drive them all the way to the Super Bowl.
You cannot have a list like this without Mahomes featuring. He will always be one of the most pivotal, influential and important figures in the NFL for as long as he is in the league.
This guy has been the driving force for a Chiefs team that is not going to go away. There will be questions but there were questions last year and they ended up winning the Super Bowl again.
Mahomes is going to lead that charge for the three-peat. He has won three Super Bowls in the last five seasons, he is an all-time great already, he is going to keep adding to his CV and resume.
Even if the Chiefs do not make history and become the first team to win three in a row, we will not be able to tell this story of the 2024 NFL season without heavily featuring the performances of Mahomes.
Watch the Atlanta Falcons take on the Pittsburgh Steelers from 6pm live on Sky Sports on Sunday September 8, followed by the Dallas Cowboys at the Cleveland Browns from 9.25pm and the Los Angeles Rams at the Detroit Lions at 1.20am Monday morning. Also stream with NOW.
Sky Sports+ has officially launched and will be integrated into Sky TV, streaming service NOW and the Sky Sports app - giving Sky Sports customers access to over 50 per cent more live sport this year at no extra cost. Stream The new EFL season, Test cricket and more top sport with NOW.
