play0:49Stephania Bell: Geno Smith is a sinking tide in fantasyStephania Bell breaks down Raiders quarterback Geno Smith’s fantasy struggles to start the season.
play1:58Stephen A.: Eagles don’t instill fear in opponentsStephen A. Smith says that despite being defending champs, the Eagles aren’t scaring anyone.
Jeremy FowlerCloseJeremy Fowlersenior NFL national reporterJeremy Fowler is a senior national NFL writer for ESPN, covering the entire league including breaking news. Jeremy also contributes to SportsCenter both as a studio analyst and a sideline reporter covering for NFL games. He is an Orlando, Florida native who joined ESPN in 2014 after covering college football for CBSSports.com.Follow on XDan GrazianoCloseDan Grazianosenior NFL national reporterDan Graziano is a senior NFL national reporter for ESPN, covering the entire league and breaking news. Dan also contributes to Get Up, NFL Live, SportsCenter, ESPN Radio, Sunday NFL Countdown and Fantasy Football Now. He is a New Jersey native who joined ESPN in 2011, and he is also the author of two published novels.Follow on XOct 8, 2025, 06:30 AM ET
Raiders offense struggles heavily in Week 5 loss (0:49)Ryan McFadden breaks down the Raiders’ struggles in Week 5 loss to the Colts. (0:49)
Stephania Bell: Geno Smith is a sinking tide in fantasyStephania Bell breaks down Raiders quarterback Geno Smith’s fantasy struggles to start the season.
Stephen A.: Eagles don’t instill fear in opponentsStephen A. Smith says that despite being defending champs, the Eagles aren’t scaring anyone.
Which player is most likely to get an extension over the next two months?
Which coordinator has boosted his head-coach candidate stock the most this season?
We’re cruising into Week 6 of the 2025 NFL season, and insiders Jeremy Fowler and Dan Graziano have been making calls to sources around the league for the latest news and buzz on key situations.
This week, they tried to get the pulse of the Raiders building after Geno Smith had another iffy game. He’s now up to nine interceptions on the season and hasn’t delivered on the promise of Las Vegas’ offseason trade. Are the Raiders concerned? On the flip side, Daniel Jones has wildly exceeded expectations in Indianapolis. But do people around the league think the Colts quarterback can sustain his early-season success?
Jeremy and Dan also break down what they’re hearing on players who could get contract extensions over the next few months and coordinators who are putting themselves in position to get head-coaching job interviews in the offseason. It’s all here, as our national reporters answer big questions and empty their notebooks heading into Week 6.
Stephania Bell: Geno Smith is a sinking tide in fantasy
Stephania Bell breaks down Raiders quarterback Geno Smith’s fantasy struggles to start the season.
Fowler: The Raiders are operating in a weird space between rebuilding and trying to win now, and those two worlds appear in conflict. New general manager John Spytek took over a deficient roster and believes in building through the draft. That takes time. But 74-year-old Carroll was essentially a win-now hire. He doesn’t have the personnel to do that in Year 1 of this regime. The roster is lacking premier players — save for Bowers and edge rusher Maxx Crosby — particularly on defense.
Smith was a sensible offseason quarterback acquisition for a team with scarce options in the draft. But he’s quarterbacking a squad that might not be ready to win for another two seasons.
In New York, Jones was plagued by overthinking. He’s playing more freely now. The Colts have helped him improve his footwork. And let’s be honest, he’s playing behind one of the best offensive line-tailback combinations in the league. That’s a huge aid to any quarterback. I know the Vikings were bummed to lose Jones — who has ideal size and a ton of tools — in the offseason after his short stint there.
There’s an easy comparison to be made to what Kevin O’Connell and the Vikings were able to do with Sam Darnold last season, and I think that’s the template. Of course, the hope would be for a stronger finish to the season than the one Darnold had. But if and when that time comes, it should help that Jones has some playoff experience, whereas Darnold did not.
While I’m not sure Hutchinson tops that number, he’ll be among the highest paid at his position whenever this deal gets done. He looked destined for a Defensive Player of the Year award last season before suffering a leg injury in mid-October, and he has picked up where he left off with five sacks and three forced fumbles through five games. Detroit has shown an eagerness to extend its marquee players, and there’s none bigger than Hutchinson.
Graziano: Hutchinson is a good one, and I’m fascinated to see whether the Colts would do something with Jones in-season. That one is complicated, because the rules say you must wait a year after signing a guy if you want to adjust his contract in a way that makes his cap number go up. But there are certainly ways the Colts could do that if they chose. But what would they do with Anthony Richardson Sr. if they did?
Stephen A. Smith says that despite being defending champs, the Eagles aren’t scaring anyone.
On offense, Ravens tight end Isaiah Likely and Packers receiver Romeo Doubs are on my radar in the coming weeks and months, depending how things shake out on the field.
I’m really intrigued by the young defensive coaches this year. We highlighted that a few weeks ago with Minter, the Packers’ Jeff Hafley and the Rams’ Chris Shula. Add Campanile into the mix. He has juice.
Graziano: I think the key is trying to figure out what from the first five weeks is sustainable. If the Falcons or Colts have great seasons on defense, does that mean Jeff Ulbrich or Lou Anarumo will reappear on the radar? I don’t want to sit here and throw out a ton of names, since this could all look a lot different in a month, much less two or three. But we need to look at who’s winning, and which coordinators have contributed to significant improvements on those teams.
Fowler: I would classify it as mildly concerned. The Raiders know Smith has to play better — and soon — but there’s no sentiment that Smith is a broken quarterback. So I’m not expecting him to get benched or anything this week. Scouts I’ve talked to believe Smith has been too late with the ball this season and is relying on arm talent to force throws into tight windows. On the flip side, the Raiders were without their top two tight ends (Brock Bowers and Michael Mayer) and left tackle Kolton Miller on Sunday against Indianapolis. And the receiver depth is not great overall.
Also, his two picks against the Colts weren’t blatantly bad decisions. The Colts appeared offsides on one of them, resulting in a batted pass, and Smith said he threw to a spot where a receiver was supposed to sit against Cover 2 coverage on the other. The situation is obviously not good, but as was pointed out to me by someone with the team, Raiders coach Pete Carroll and Smith have enough sweat equity together from their Seattle days that Carroll could stick with him a little longer as a result.
Graziano: If the season spirals down the drain, could the Raiders look at Kenny Pickett? Possibly. That’s what the Browns were trying to do before they drafted two quarterbacks and Pickett got hurt in camp before landing in Las Vegas on a trade. But for now, it sounds like the Raiders will ride it out with Smith. What I’m hearing from a lot from people around the league is that offensive coordinator Chip Kelly’s scheme isn’t creating enough advantages to overcome the Raiders’ personnel deficiencies, and there’s no margin for error if Smith keeps turning the ball over as much as he has.
Graziano: What’s interesting to me is that the contract Smith signed with the Raiders after the trade doesn’t really tie them to him beyond this year. He has an $18.5 million salary guarantee for 2026, after making $40 million this year. If the Raiders cut him after this season, they’d have paid him $58.5 million for one (presumably disappointing) year. That’s a lot, but as Jeremy said, this team wants to win soon. If absorbing $18.5 million in dead money next year to move on helps them do that, I doubt it would stand in the Raiders’ way.
Graziano: Most people I talk to believe Jones can continue to succeed in Shane Steichen’s system if he stays healthy. He had turnover problems early in his career, but less so in later seasons with the Giants. And with RB Jonathan Taylor running the way he’s running, a strong offensive line in front of him and Jones’ own ability to create plays with his legs, there seems to be a belief that the infrastructure around Jones is solid enough to sustain — again, assuming he stays healthy. It does feel a little bit like the 2022 Giants season where they went to the playoffs with Saquon Barkley running wild and Jones gutting out tough, low-scoring wins. Except the Colts aren’t a low-scoring team!
Fowler: There are a few areas of apprehension. Jones’ deep ball is still a bit spotty. He’s underthrowing some of them, which resulted in a late-game interception in the Week 4 loss to the Rams. Alec Pierce’s jump-ball ability helps bail Jones out at times, but he has been out of the lineup due to concussion protocol. And there’s plenty of time (12 games) for a Jones gaffe that became a signature in New York to resurface in Indianapolis. Interceptions and fumbles were once part of the Jones experience. Can he prevent the turnover snowball when mistakes happen? The Colts believe he can.
As for pending extensions, the Eagles are always proactive, and they have a lot of young defensive players coming up for extensions over the next year or two. I have my eye on defensive tackle Jordan Davis, who’s playing well in his fourth season and is extension-eligible. The Eagles picked up his fifth-year option for 2026, so they have time to figure out what they want to do. But with fellow DT Jalen Carter eligible for an extension next offseason and defensive backs Quinyon Mitchell and Cooper DeJean the offseason after that, it wouldn’t surprise me to see the Eagles try to get ahead of things and get some cost certainty on Davis.