The 2021 NFL season kicks off Thursday, Sept. 9, when the Tampa Bay Buccaneers play host to the Dallas Cowboys (8:20 p.m., NBC). Teams have been in training camp since late July, with three preseason games to help inform decisions about which undrafted free agents might be worth keeping, which veterans are on the decline and which positions need the most reinforcements.
With the regular season approaching fast, teams have to make roster decisions and cut to 53 players by 4 p.m. ET on Tuesday. With that in mind, ESPN’s NFL Nation projects what those rosters will look like below. We’ll update this page after each of the final preseason games end this weekend, and all 32 roster projections will be live Sunday.
Most of the 53-man roster wasn’t difficult to piece together, but there will be questions at running back (three or four?) and cornerback (does versatile linebacker Isaiah Simmons allow them to keep five cornerbacks instead of six?). But the biggest question is this: Will pass-rusher Chandler Jones be on the roster for Week 1? Josh Weinfuss’ final 53-man roster projection
It might seem like kicker is the biggest issue with the Panthers from all the midweek activity with Joey Slye in a slump, but that’s the least of their problems. There is still uncertainty about whether Sam Darnold can rebound from three bad years in New York and Cameron Erving can finally solve the revolving door at left tackle. And then there is the overall lack of depth on defense. David Newton’s final 53-man roster projection
There are not a ton of household names on the roster, but the new regime, led by first-year coach Dan Campbell, is looking to establish a hard-nosed identity with the organization in a complete rebuild. These new-look Lions have brought in players with a chip on their shoulder, and have seemingly nothing to lose since no one is expecting much out of this team. Eric Woodyard’s final 53-man roster projection
This was one of the least-competitive training camps the Colts have had in recent years when it comes to roster spots. The kicking competition didn’t have much flare, as Rodrigo Blankenship beat out Eddy Pineiro. Receiver could end up being the deepest position on the team. Mike Wells’ final 53-man roster projection
The most interesting decisions are on the offensive line, where the Chiefs added eight strong roster candidates who weren’t with the team last year. So they might keep extras there or look to deal one or more of the backups. Adam Teicher’s final 53-man roster projection
The Vikings will keep three quarterbacks, but don’t be surprised to see a new face backing up Kirk Cousins once Minnesota gets a look at other veterans that become available next week. Neither Jake Browning nor Kellen Mond did enough in preseason games to earn the QB2 role, and one of them finds himself off the roster at Tuesday. Courtney Cronin’s final 53-man roster projection
The Saints will have at least 10 new starters in Week 1, thanks to Drew Brees’ retirement, an offseason salary-cap purge and a handful of untimely injuries and suspensions. They will look to add depth at cornerback, defensive tackle, tight end and kicker from players cut around the league. And there is some intrigue about whether they will keep veteran skill-position players like Latavius Murray, Devonta Freeman and Chris Hogan. Mike Triplett’s final 53-man roster projection
With the No. 2 waiver priority and many holes to fill, the Jets will be in a roster-churning mode over the next few days. They also will be looking to trade for an edge rusher, perhaps using one of their receivers as a bargaining chip. Jamison Crowder has the most trade value and could attract teams. Also, don’t rule out a veteran backup at quarterback. Rich Cimini’s final 53-man roster projection
The receiver group is a question mark for a couple reasons. For one, it’s super young and inexperienced, and needs one or two unproven players to emerge. There are some tough personnel decisions looming. Tim McManus’ final 53-man roster projection
Some of the hottest battles of the Steelers’ training camp were for backup jobs. While Mason Rudolph appears to have won the No. 2 QB job, the Steelers seem poised to keep Dwayne Haskins on the roster to develop this season. Quiet camps from running backs Benny Snell and Jaylen Samuels might have cost them jobs as the Steelers look to give the secondary and linebackers more depth. Brooke Pryor’s final 53-man roster projection
Allar missed the second half of last week’s win over Wisconsin after suffering a left knee injury, but he was not listed on the injury report for the No. 3 Nittany Lions on Saturday morning.
Penn State coach James Franklin said earlier this week that Allar could be a game-time decision and that backup Beau Pribula would take snaps with Allar in practice.
Allar ranks 10th nationally with a QBR of 83.6. He has completed 71.3% of his passes for 1,640 yards and totaled 15 touchdowns with four interceptions.
Penn State starting defensive lineman Dani Dennis-Sutton will be a game-time decision, a source told ESPN’s Pete Thamel. Dennis-Sutton, who is listed as questionable, is expected to warm up and try to play.
Information from ESPN’s Jake Trotter was used in this report.
WEST POINT, N.Y. — Army star quarterback Bryson Daily will miss Saturday’s game against Air Force with an undisclosed injury/illness, Army officials told ESPN.
Daily leads the country with 19 rushing touchdowns and leads all FBS quarterbacks with 909 rushing yards. He was unable to practice this week. The No. 21 Black Knights had a bye last weekend after beating East Carolina 45-28 on Oct. 19 to win their seventh straight game this season.
In the win over ECU, Daily carried the ball 31 times for a career-high 171 yards and accounted for six touchdowns, five rushing and one passing. The 6-foot, 221-pound senior has already set Army single-season records for touchdowns responsible for (26) and rushing touchdowns (19) in seven games.
With Daily sidelined, junior Dewayne Coleman will fill in at quarterback and make his first career start. Daily, one of four team captains, has been Army’s starting quarterback over the past two seasons and the main cog in a Black Knights offense that has eclipsed 400 yards of total offense in all seven games this season.
Army (7-0, 6-0) travels to North Texas next week for an AAC contest. They get a bye week on Nov. 16 and then face Notre Dame on Nov. 23 at Yankee Stadium.
There’s no timetable at this point on how long Daily might be out of the lineup, but Army officials don’t think it’s a season-ending setback.
Army, off to its best start in nearly 30 years, will be one of the top contenders for the Group of 5’s spot in the College Football Playoff if the Black Knights can win the American Athletic Conference championship.
The 2024 World Series ended with the Los Angeles Dodgers winning the championship in a stunning comeback in Game 5, with Walker Buehler the unlikely pitcher to close out the 7-6 win over the New York Yankees. First baseman Freddie Freeman was handed the World Series MVP award for his record-tying 12-RBI performance.
But that doesn’t tell the full story of everyone who played a starring role in October — a postseason that featured a record six grand slams, among other wildness. So, to honor the best of the entire postseason, we’ve created our first MLB All-October Team.
From wild-card-round sensations to World Series standouts, here are the players our ESPN MLB panel of experts voted as the best of the best at every position along with some award hardware for the brightest stars of October.
Why he’s here: To be honest, it wasn’t a great playoffs for catchers — they hit just .184/.254/.310. Higashioka is the one catcher who did hit, belting three home runs and driving in five runs in the seven games the Padres played.
Honorable mention: Will Smith, Los Angeles Dodgers
1B: Freddie Freeman, Los Angeles Dodgers
Why he’s here: Freeman didn’t have an extra-base hit and drove in just one run in the first two rounds of the playoffs as he tried to play through the severely sprained ankle he suffered at the end of the regular season. He didn’t even play in two games of the NLCS and required hours of physical therapy before each game just to get on the field. But the five days off before the World Series clearly helped, and he homered in the first four games, including his dramatic walk-off grand slam in Game 1 that will go down as not only the signature World Series moment of 2024 — but a World Series moment for the ages.
Why he’s here: Torres had a solid October as he heads into free agency, although he had little competition here. Indeed, second basemen collectively hit just .219 with three home runs the entire playoffs — two of those from Torres — and drove in 24 runs, with Torres driving in eight himself. He had three multihit games and scored five runs in five games in the ALCS, while also taking walks to help set the table for Juan Soto.
Why he’s here: Max Muncy set a record when he reached base 17 times in the NLCS, including a single-postseason-record 12 times in a row, but he went hitless in the World Series. Vientos, meanwhile, had a stellar first trip to the postseason, hitting .327/.362/.636 with five home runs and 14 RBIs in 13 games. That followed a breakout regular season in which he posted an .837 OPS with 27 home runs in just 111 games. He looks like he’ll be a fixture in the middle of the Mets’ lineup for years to come.
Why he’s here: Edman was an under-the-radar pickup at the trade deadline, in part because he was still injured and hadn’t yet played for the St. Louis Cardinals. Most of Edman’s starts came at shortstop, especially after Miguel Rojas was injured in the NLDS, but his bat got him here. Edman was the NLCS MVP after hitting .407 with a record-tying 11 RBIs in the series. He had started at cleanup just twice in his career but was slotted there twice against the Mets, driving in seven runs in those two games. Then he went 2-for-4 in each of the first two games of the World Series, including a home run in Game 2, and finished the Fall Classic hitting .294/.400/.588 with six runs.
Why they’re here: Betts entered this postseason in a 3-for-38 postseason slump going back to the end of the 2021 NLCS — and it initially looked like it would be more of the same when he went 0-for-6 the first two games of the NLDS, including being robbed of a home run courtesy of Jurickson Profar. Everything turned in Game 3 when Profar almost robbed him of another home run — but didn’t. After that, Betts was in the middle of most of the Dodgers’ big rallies, hitting .321/.394/.625 with four home runs and 16 RBIs over the Dodgers’ final 14 playoff games.
Soto’s at-bats spoke for themselves: He never seemed to have a bad one. His big at-bat was the three-run home run in the 10th inning of Game 5 of the ALCS to send the Yankees to the World Series. Getting intentionally walked twice while batting in front of Aaron Judge speaks to Judge’s struggles, yes — but also to how locked in Soto was all postseason. He finished the postseason slashing .327/.469/.633 with 4 home runs, 9 RBIs and 14 walks in 14 games.
Hernandez actually began October on the bench, but we’ve seen him perform big in the postseason before, and he stepped up when Rojas was injured in the NLDS. Hernandez homered in the Dodgers’ 2-0 victory to close out the Padres in the NLDS, had a big two-run home run against the Mets in Game 3 of the NLCS and got the series-turning five-run rally against the Yankees in Game 5 started with a leadoff single in the fifth as well as the series-winning rally in the eighth with another leadoff base hit. Overall, he hit .294/.357/.451 with 11 runs and six RBIs.
Why he’s here: The Yankees were often a two-man show in the postseason, just like they were in the regular season — except it was Soto and Stanton, not Soto and Judge. Stanton blasted seven home runs in the playoffs, including in the final three games of the ALCS (earning MVP honors) and in Games 1 and 5 of the World Series. He finished the playoffs hitting .273/.339/.709, and those seven homers are the most in a single postseason in Yankees history.
Why they’re here: Certainly, it seems as if the status of the starting pitcher in the postseason continues to decline — although, that doesn’t mean they’re not important. There were certainly some stellar individual outings along the way: Corbin Burnes allowed one run in eight innings (but lost 1-0) for the Baltimore Orioles; Philadelphia Phillies ace Zack Wheeler allowed one hit in seven scoreless innings (but that would be his only start); and the Padres’ Michael King fanned 12 to beat the Atlanta Braves in the NLDS. Skubal had two scoreless starts against the Houston Astros in the wild-card series and Cleveland Guardians in the ALDS, confirming his status as one of the best in the game — or maybe the best, as his soon-to-be AL Cy Young Award will attest.
Cole was really the one consistent starter throughout the postseason, making five starts with a 2.17 ERA. Unfortunately, that ERA doesn’t register the five unearned runs from the final game of the World Series when the Yankees’ defense turned into a comedy of errors — including Cole himself opening up the floodgates by failing to cover first base to get what would have been the inning-ending out.
Why they’re here: It also wasn’t the best of postseasons for closers — not even great ones. The Guardians’ Emmanuel Clase allowed five earned runs all regular season — and then eight in the playoffs. Milwaukee Brewers closer Devin Williams blew that wild-card game against the Mets. All-Star Jeff Hoffman lost two games for the Phillies. Weaver, however, was the one consistent late-game performer and was great while often pitching more than one inning. He posted a 1.76 ERA across 15⅓ innings. Who knows how the World Series ends if Yankees manager Aaron Boone keeps Weaver in the game in the 10th inning of Game 1. (Weaver had thrown just 19 pitches.)
Treinen, meanwhile, capped his comeback season — he had missed almost all of 2022 and then all of 2023 — with a 2.19 ERA across 12⅓ innings, winning two games and saving three others. In the World Series clincher, he recorded seven outs and got out of a two-on, no-out jam in the eighth inning to preserve the Dodgers’ 7-6 lead before handing the ball to Buehler to close out the ninth.