NFL Teams to Watch Closest During OTAs: By the Power of Grayskull Edition
By Ha Kung Wong
Did I go watch the new Masters of the Universe movie on opening night? Of course I did. And did I like it? Well, the bar was low after the entire 1987 fiasco headed by Dolph Lundgren and, believe it or not, a very young pre-Friends Courtney Cox. And although my optimism for the new movie was inexplicably high, based on basically zero facts, I lucked out and the movie was actually good. My point is that optimism can be good, but it can also be totally unwarranted.
For instance, OTAs are the NFL’s annual reminder that a dangerous amount of optimism can be based on zero tackling, no pads and a ridiculous amount of slow motion video on social media. The league allows Phase Three OTA work to include 7-on-7, 9-on-7 and 11-on-11 drills, but no live contact, which means we should treat every glowing practice report with care. Nobody wins a Lombardi in shorts. Nobody loses one because a rookie receiver dropped a slant in June. But OTAs still matter because they reveal reps, roles, chemistry and the first hints of how teams want to look when the real season arrives.
Think of this offseason like the Masters of the Universe movie. Lots of folks are walking around Castle Grayskull declaring, “I have the power,” but OTAs are when we find out who actually has the Sword of Power and who is just Skeletor with a laminated depth chart.
Las Vegas Raiders: Fernando Mendoza and the Sword-in-the-Stone Watch
The Raiders’ OTA storyline is simple: How fast is Fernando Mendoza coming?
Las Vegas has been patient with the No. 1 overall pick. During OTAs, Kirk Cousins reportedly worked with the first team, Aidan O’Connell followed with the second group, and Mendoza worked with the third team while learning the system. That does not mean the Raiders are slow-playing him forever, but it does mean they are not handing him the Sword of Power just because he showed up with first-round arm talent. (ESPN)
Unfortunately, every fan base wants its rookie quarterback to shout “I have the power!” well before the preseason, and Raiders fans have been no different. The Raiders are taking the less cinematic approach: “Please identify the Mike linebacker, manage the huddle and do not accidentally teleport the offense to Eternia.”
The thing to watch is whether Mendoza starts climbing the rep ladder. If he gets more second-team work, the clock speeds up. If he stays buried behind Cousins and O’Connell, Las Vegas may be preparing for a slower, more Gwildor-with-the-Cosmic-Key development plan. [Editor’s Note: If you know, you know.]
Cleveland Browns: Rebuild, Reboot or Full Skeletor Monologue?
The Browns are fascinating because they are trying to sell both patience and urgency, which is a very Cleveland way to enter June.
Cleveland’s quarterback picture is unsettled, with Deshaun Watson and Shedeur Sanders splitting attention in a new offensive structure under Todd Monken. At the same time, the franchise’s identity changed dramatically after the Browns agreed to trade Myles Garrett to the Rams for Jared Verse and draft capital.
That makes Browns OTAs feel like the first act of a reboot. You recognize the logo. You recognize some of the characters. But the script has clearly been rewritten, and someone backstage is yelling, “This time, the portal opens in 2027!”
The key question: Is Cleveland actually staging a serious quarterback competition, or is this just the opening montage before another major decision? Watch who gets first-team work, who looks comfortable in Monken’s offense and whether Verse immediately becomes the new face of the defense.
New England Patriots: Drake Maye Finally Gets His Battle Armor
The Patriots became one of the league’s most interesting teams the second they traded for A.J. Brown. New England added a true No. 1 receiver for Drake Maye, while Brown gets reunited with Mike Vrabel, his former head coach in Tennessee.
This is the football version of He-Man finally finding the sword. Maye had tools before and even managed to guide his team to the Super Bowl without a true wide receiver one. Now he has a receiver who can win outside, win through contact and make a quarterback look smarter than the coverage intended.
The OTA watch is all chemistry. Back-shoulder timing. Red-zone usage. Third-down trust. Does Brown immediately become the center of gravity in the passing game, or does the offense need time to stop looking like a group project assembled the night before it is due?
Also worth monitoring: Christian Gonzalez’s participation after missing voluntary work while extension eligibility looms. A Maye-Brown connection can raise the ceiling, but New England needs its defense to remain more Man-At-Arms than cardboard henchman.
Philadelphia Eagles: Life After A.J. Brown, or “Where Did the Sword Go?”
The Eagles traded A.J. Brown to New England for future draft capital, which means Philadelphia’s OTA practices now come with a very obvious question: What does this offense look like without one of the league’s most physically imposing receivers?
Jalen Hurts is reportedly adjusting not only to life without Brown but also to a new offense under coordinator Sean Mannion, with more under-center work and more throws over the middle. That is not a minor tweak. That is the football equivalent of telling He-Man, “Great news, we redesigned the sword, changed the castle layout and moved Skeletor to nickel corner.”
This is one of the most important OTA watches in the league because it is about identity. Can DeVonta Smith fully own the WR1 role? Can the younger receivers, like first round pick Makai Lemon, earn trust quickly? Can Hurts evolve as a passer without losing the physicality and efficiency that made him dangerous?
Philadelphia does not need to answer everything in June. But it does need to look like the offense has a plan beyond “remember when A.J. Brown was here?”
Los Angeles Rams: Myles Garrett Enters the Villain Lair
The Rams traded for Myles Garrett, which is the kind of move that makes the rest of the NFC stare into the distance like someone just opened a portal over Castle Grayskull. As mentioned above, Los Angeles added the reigning Defensive Player of the Year in a deal that sent Jared Verse and multiple picks to Cleveland.
This is not a subtle OTA storyline. This is Skeletor appearing in a cloud of purple smoke and announcing that pass protection is now everyone’s problem.
The actual football question is how the Rams deploy Garrett. Does he live on one edge? Does the staff move him around? Does his presence turn the rest of the defensive front into a weekly stress test for offensive coordinators?
The Rams are not using June to find out whether Garrett is good. They are using June to figure out how many ways he can ruin someone else’s Sunday.
Kansas City Chiefs: Patrick Mahomes’ Knee and the Most Important Footwork in Football
The Chiefs’ OTA story is not complicated. It is Patrick Mahomes’ health. Now that the Chiefs have extended Mahomes through 2033 to the tune of half a billion dollars, they’re going to be extra careful with him to make sure he stays healthy through the offseason.
Mahomes is working back from left knee surgery, and Kansas City is watching his workload, footwork and mobility before the long break leading into training camp.
For most teams, a quarterback moving well in June is a nice note. For the Chiefs, it is the entire plot. Mahomes does not need to look like he just discovered the Sword of Power in minicamp. But he does need to look like the guy who can move, reset and create when the pocket gets weird.
Kansas City can survive an underwhelming OTA report from a depth receiver. It cannot casually shrug off uncertainty around Mahomes’ movement. That is not a subplot. That is the movie.
Minnesota Vikings: Two Quarterbacks, One Castle
Minnesota’s quarterback room has one of the best OTA storylines in the NFC. The Vikings are holding a nominal competition between J.J. McCarthy and newcomer Kyler Murray, with Murray widely expected to win the job but McCarthy still trying to make the team think hard before training camp.
That is wonderful June theater. Murray is the proven veteran who knows where the buttons are on the Cosmic Key. McCarthy is the younger challenger trying to prove he should not be left guarding the spaceship.
The thing to watch is not just who completes more passes in practice clips. It is who gets the high-value reps: two-minute work, red-zone periods, third downs and install-heavy sessions. If Murray looks sharp and composed, the Vikings can move toward clarity. If McCarthy keeps pushing, this becomes a much more dramatic summer. Keep in mind that it was less than a year ago that McCarthy orchestrated a 4th quarter comeback win in Week 1 against the Chicago Bears, getting him anointed by everybody under the sun as the new face of the franchise. Oh what difference a season makes.
New York Giants: Jaxson Dart Needs Somebody to Catch the Magic Orb
The Giants are trying to build a functional environment around Jaxson Dart, but Malik Nabers and Darius Slayton are rehabbing injuries, opening OTA opportunities for other receivers and tight ends.
This is where OTAs can actually be useful. Without Nabers dominating targets, Dart gets to find out who else he trusts. That matters for a young quarterback because the regular season rarely unfolds like the first page of the playbook.
The Giants need someone to emerge as a reliable answer. Maybe it is a receiver. Maybe it is a tight end. Maybe it is someone currently listed so far down the depth chart that even the equipment staff is still learning his coffee order. If I had to place a bet, with the caveat that I’m a little biased here, I like 3rd round pick Malachi Fields to pick up some opportunity. He was reliable and solid at Notre Dame and has potential to immediately step in to supplement Nabers and Slayton on Sundays.
Either way, Dart needs more than one weapon. Even He-Man had Teela, Man-At-Arms and Battle Cat. Young quarterbacks should not be asked to storm Snake Mountain alone.
Chicago Bears: Less Flash, More Fundamentals
The Bears’ OTA story is not just Caleb Williams and Ben Johnson, even though every Chicago practice report will naturally orbit the quarterback like he is carrying the Sword of Power through Lake Michigan.
The more interesting question may be on defense. Chicago is in Year 2 under Dennis Allen, with the staff emphasizing fundamentals while integrating new additions across the defense. Kyler Gordon’s availability is also being monitored after a soft-tissue issue kept him sidelined during OTAs.
This is the kind of storyline that sounds boring until it wins games. Better tackling angles, cleaner communication, sharper assignments — that is not trailer material, but it is how teams stop turning third-and-7 into emotional damage. Adding Coby Bryant should help, but one safety doesn’t make a reliable defense.
The Bears don’t need their defense to be a special-effects monster. They need it to be stable enough that Williams does not have to single-handedly save Eternia every week.
Houston Texans: Searching for the Explosive-Play Cosmic Key
Houston already has the kind of defense that can make life uncomfortable. The question is whether the offense can add enough explosiveness to turn the Texans from dangerous into terrifying.
ESPN’s minicamp preview noted that Houston’s offense has looked serviceable through the air but that explosive plays have not fully arrived yet under coordinator Nick Caley.
That is the OTA subplot: Can the Texans find the switch that turns solid into scary?
Every contender needs a few “how did that happen?” plays. A busted coverage. A perfectly timed deep shot. A catch-and-run that makes a defensive coordinator stare at his call sheet like Skeletor realizing the portal opened in the wrong suburb.
Houston’s defense gives it a floor. The offense decides whether this team has a ceiling high enough to reach February.
The Bottom Line
OTAs are not the final battle at Castle Grayskull. They are the scene where everyone is assembling the weapons, arguing over the map and pretending the plan is more complete than it really is.
The teams worth watching closest are the ones with something real to reveal: the Raiders’ quarterback timeline, the Browns’ new direction, the Patriots’ Maye-Brown connection, the Eagles’ post-Brown identity, the Rams’ Garrett-powered defense, Mahomes’ recovery, Minnesota’s quarterback decision, the Giants’ supporting cast, Chicago’s defensive growth and Houston’s search for explosives.
The rule is simple: ignore the June coronations. Follow the reps.
Because by the power of Grayskull, somebody is going to win the offseason — and somebody else is just going to look good in shorts.