The Athletic: Top players 25 and under

The future, as they say, is now.

Another NFL season brings with it the evolution process that sees intriguing prospects develop into solid contributors and legit difference-makers. Eventually, they firmly entrench themselves as some of the games’ brightest stars. For some, it’s a gradual process. Others morph into household names in no time.

Once again, we’re examining and ranking those young players on the sharpest and most rapid ascents. We call it the Top 25 players 25 and under.

For consideration, players must have one season of experience, and they can’t be any older than 25 by Week 1. That meant stars such as Justin Jefferson, Micah Parsons, CeeDee Lamb, Tristan Wirfs and Jordan Love all aged out this season after making the list in previous years.

Keeping with tradition, we reached out to a collection of front office members, scouts and coaches — nearly two dozen in all — for insight. All were granted anonymity so they could speak freely about the players. The participants were given a list of 35 potential players (many of whom had received All-Rookie or Pro Bowl honors) for inclusion. The experts were asked for feedback on where each might rank. The participants were encouraged to nominate any players that they believed had been left out. They also were free to suggest eliminating players they deemed unworthy of inclusion, even if they had made the cut last year.

This year’s original list featured 18 returning players and 17 new entries, but wound up with 16 familiar faces and nine impressive newcomers.

Here’s who made the cut and where they rank:

Top 25

1. Ja’Marr Chase, WR, Cincinnati Bengals. Age: 25 (DOB: 3/1/00)

One of the top two or three most dominant receivers in the game, Chase led the league with 1,708 receiving yards and 17 receiving touchdowns and has eclipsed the 1,000-yard mark in each of his four NFL seasons. He’s also a four-time Pro Bowl selection and took home first-team All-Pro honors last season.