Defensive players set to make a leap in 2025
The Athletic Football Show: A show about the NFL
The Athletic
4.7 • 3K Ratings
🗓️ 5 June 2025
⏱️ 63 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Whenever a player makes a leap—whether that's bad to average, average to good, good to great, or great to elite—it can change his team. Just think of guys like Zack Baun and Derek Stingley last season. Who might make a leap this year akin to what those two did in 2024? Derrik Klassen and Diante Lee from The Ringer highlight their top defensive breakout players on this episode of The Athletic Football Show.
Rundown
Daiyan Henley
Edgerrin Cooper
Nate Wiggins
Laiatu Latu
Kobie Turner
Brian Branch
Will Anderson
Cooper DeJean
Honorable mention
Hosts: Robert Mays and Derrik Klassen
With: Diante Lee
Executive Producer: Michael Beller
Producer: Michael Beller
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Transcript
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| 0:35.7 | Welcome to the athletic football show. |
| 0:37.8 | I am not Robert Mays. |
| 0:39.7 | I'm Derek Klastin. |
| 0:40.5 | I'm your other co-host. |
| 0:41.7 | Usually I am sitting next to Robert on the co-host seat, but today I will be hosting. |
| 0:46.6 | And today we're going to be running through, you know, I think the fantasy people this time of year get a lot of run to do. |
| 0:52.3 | Who's going to be our breakout quarterback and skill players |
| 0:54.6 | and all that jazz we're going to flip it to the other side we're going to talk about some of the |
| 0:58.0 | defenders some of our favorite trench players that we think are coming up a couple of linebackers |
| 1:02.3 | that we think could could really have some good seasons so we're going to talk about a handful of guys |
| 1:06.4 | that we think can go from solid to good contributors, maybe jumping into that Pro Bowl tier, |
| 1:11.7 | and then the ever elusive guys jumping from the Pro Bowl tier into that elite, the market |
| 1:16.7 | setting type of talent. So here to do that with me today is the ringer's Deonté Lee. Let's get |
| 1:21.1 | into it. All right, we've got a very different show here today. |
| 1:28.8 | Usually I, Derek Claston, am your co-host. |
| 1:30.9 | But today I am the lead co-host. |
| 1:32.7 | And today we're talking a little bit about some breakout defenders. |
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