Tom Brady, Kurt Warner, Russell Wilson and Ben Roethlisberger won Super Bowls in their second season in the NFL.
Several other quarterbacks took big leaps in Year 2. Joe Burrow and Brock Purdy led their teams to conference championships. So did Dan Marino and Colin Kaepernick.
Patrick Mahomes went to the AFC title game, losing to Brady. Mark Sanchez went there in his first two seasons. Carson Wentz finished third in MVP voting in his second season despite missing the final three games and playoffs.
Seven sophomore quarterbacks enter Week 1 as starters, including six who were among the first 12 picks in the 2024 draft.
Could Jayden Daniels, Caleb Williams, Drake Maye, Michael Penix Jr., Bo Nix, J.J. McCarthy or Spencer Rattler win a Lombardi this season?
Here’s a look at each quarterback and their team's chances:
Daniels and the Commanders have the best chance of the bunch. Daniels, the AP NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year, led Washington to the NFC championship game against the Eagles after eliminating the Buccaneers and the top-seeded Lions on the road. The Commanders have the seventh-best Super Bowl odds at 18:1, according to BetMGM Sportsbook.
Daniels quickly established himself as one of the league’s top quarterbacks as a rookie, throwing for 3,568 yards, 25 touchdowns and only nine interceptions. He posted a 100.1 passer rating and ran for 891 yards and six scores. Daniels was unflappable in the clutch, tossing a TD pass in the final 30 seconds or overtime in five games this season.
The Commanders added Deebo Samuel to give Daniels another playmaker along with Terry McLaurin. They acquired five-time Pro Bowl left tackle Laremy Tunsil to protect Daniels’ blind side.
The gap between Washington and Philadelphia isn’t as wide as the 55-23 score in the NFC title game suggests.
Nix helped the Denver Broncos end an eight-year playoff drought before losing to the Bills in the wild-card round. He threw for 3,775 yards, 29 TDs and 12 picks with 93.3 passer rating, and ran for 430 yards and four scores.
Coach Sean Payton already believes Nix is one of the league’s best quarterbacks and the offense added veteran tight end Evan Engram and running backs J.K. Dobbins and rookie R.J. Harvey.
With a stingy defense, Denver should push the Chiefs in a tough AFC West. The Broncos have 25:1 Super Bowl odds.
McCarthy takes over a 14-win team after missing his entire rookie season because of a knee injury. He led Michigan to a national championship in 2023.
The Vikings have confidence that McCarthy can help them take the next step in the playoffs. He has Justin Jefferson, Adam Thielen, Aaron Jones and a revamped offensive line to help him. The Vikings have an aggressive, talented defense that helped them play for the NFC’s No. 1 seed in Week 18.
Minnesota is tied with Denver at 25:1 Super Bowl odds.
Williams, the No. 1 overall pick last year, has a new coach and offensive system after the Bears only won five games.
Ben Johnson helped build a dynamic offense in Detroit with Jared Goff and a talented supporting cast. He’s trying to develop Williams, who had 3,541 yards passing, 20 TDs and six interceptions as a rookie.
The Bears have playmakers on offense, including wide receivers D.J. Moore and Rome Odunze, rookie tight end Colston Loveland and Cole Kmet and running back D’Andre Swift. They bolstered an offensive line to better protect Williams, who was sacked a league-high 68 times.
They’re not a Super Bowl contender — 40:1 odds — but there’s optimism Johnson can help Williams lead Chicago to the playoffs.
Penix had a chance to lead Atlanta to a division title when he replaced Kirk Cousins in December last season but they went 1-2 in the final three games.
But Penix showed promise and has talented players around him. The offense should revolve around running back Bijan Robinson, which takes pressure off Penix.
The Falcons have 80:1 Super Bowl odds. They'll compete with the Buccaneers for the NFC South.
Maye was 3-9 as a rookie and he has a new coach and offensive system. Mike Vrabel is trying to lead the Patriots back to prominence and he brought offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels back to New England to develop Maye.
Maye has better protection and more playmakers around him this season — wide receiver Stefon Diggs and rookie running back TreVeyon Henderson.
With 80:1 Super Bowl odds, the Patriots are simply hoping to go from 4-13 to respectable.
Rattler, a fifth-round pick last season, won the starting job in New Orleans. He was 0-6 as a rookie.
New coach Kellen Moore, who helped the Eagles win a Super Bowl as offensive coordinator, is trying to rebuild a 5-12 team.
He could turn to rookie Tyler Shough at some point and the team may eventually draft a franchise quarterback next year.
On Football analyzes the biggest topics in the NFL from week to week. For more On Football analysis, head here.
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Chicago Bears quarterback Caleb Williams drinks before a preseason NFL football game against the Kansas City Chiefs Friday, Aug. 22, 2025, in Kansas City, Mo. (AP Photo/Ed Zurga)
Denver Broncos quarterback Bo Nix passes the ball against the New Orleans Saints in the first half of an NFL preseason football game Saturday, Aug. 23, 2025, in New Orleans. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)
Several Middle Eastern allies of the United States have urged the Trump administration to hold off on strikes against Iran for the government’s deadly crackdown on protesters, according to an Arab diplomat familiar with the matter.
Top officials from Egypt, Oman, Saudi Arabia and Qatar have raised concerns in the last 48 hours that a U.S. military intervention would shake the global economy and destabilize an already volatile region, said the diplomat who spoke on condition of anonymity to describe the sensitive conversations.
Oil prices fell Thursday as the markets appeared to take note of President Donald Trump’s shifting tone as a sign that he’s leaning away from attacking Iran after days of launching blistering threats at Tehran for its brutal crackdown.
Nevertheless, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt on Thursday maintained that “all options remain on the table” for Trump as he deals with Iran.
Here's the latest:
A senior embassy official says there’s been “no outreach from Saudi Arabia to the White House regarding potential military strikes against Iran.” The official wasn’t authorized to comment publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.
The embassy denial comes after several news outlets, including The Associated Press, reported Thursday that the kingdom was among several Middle Eastern allies of the United States that have urged the Trump administration to hold off on strikes against Iran for the government’s deadly crackdown on protesters.
Top officials from Egypt, Oman, Saudi Arabia and Qatar had raised concerns that U.S. military action against Iran would shake the global economy and destabilize an already volatile region, according to an Arab diplomat who spoke on condition of anonymity to describe the sensitive conversations.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt and Ambassador Mike Waltz, the chief U.S. envoy to the United Nations, on Thursday said all options remain on the table even as Trump highlighted that Iran has stopped the killing of protesters and backed away from plans to execute hundreds of protesters.
— Aamer Madhani
He’s pushing for bipartisan support for the GOP proposal to replace expanded Affordable Care Act premium subsidies with individual health savings accounts.
Trump said he hopes to get votes from Democrats but said Republicans can own the issue without them.
Recent AP-NORC polls have shown why Trump is concerned. Approval of Trump’s handling of health care was 34% in November. It slipped to 29% in December.
Most of the decrease came from Republicans. In November, 68% of Republicans had a positive view of Trump’s handling of health care. In December, while still a majority, it was down to 59%.
Exiled Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi told reporters Friday in Washington that he still believes Trump’s promise that “help is on the way” for the Iranian people still stands despite lack of action by the U.S.
Asked if he’s lost faith in the U.S. president, Pahlavi said, “I believe the president is a man of his word. As I said before, how many days it may take? Who knows? Hopefully sooner than later. But as I said before, regardless of whether action is taken or not, we as Iranians have no choice to carry on the fight.”
There had been reports that Pahlavi met over the weekend with Trump’s envoy Steve Witkoff, but Pahlavi refused to discuss any meetings with U.S. officials, including whether he’ll directly meet Trump.
“I may put a tariff on countries if they don’t go along with Greenland,” the president said, without providing details. “We need Greenland for national security.”
Trump for months has insisted the U.S. should control Greenland, a self-governing territory that’s part of the kingdom of Denmark.
But he’d not previously mentioned using tariffs to try and force the issue.
European leaders have joined Denmark in saying the U.S. can’t control the world’s largest island.
The department’s Office for Civil Rights has opened fewer than 10 sexual violence investigations nationwide since it was hit by mass layoffs last March, according to internal data obtained by The Associated Press.
Previously, it had been opening dozens of such investigations a year.
The layoffs last year left half as many lawyers to investigate complaints of discrimination based on race, sex or disability in schools.
At the same time, the administration has doubled down on sexual discrimination cases of another kind. Trump officials have used Title IX, a 1972 gender-equality law, against schools that make accommodations for transgender students and athletes. The Office for Civil Rights has opened nearly 50 such investigations since Trump took office.
▶ Read more about Education Department sexual violence investigations
The president quickly turned his health care forum into a grievance session against Democrats and a bragging session on the votes he’s gotten in rural America.
“I’m all about the rural community. … We’re taking care of those great people,” he said, arguing that former President Barack Obama “didn’t care about the rural community, to be totally blunt.”
“The Democrats are so horrible toward the rural community,” Trump added. He asked voters to “remember ... in the midterms” that Democrats did not back his “Big Beautiful Bill” that included $10 billion for rural healthcare this year.
Trump effectively blamed Obama’s “Un-Affordable Care Act” for rural hospital closures and financial struggles. In truth, KFF has found that rural hospitals closed at a higher rate in states that did not expand Medicaid under Democrats’ 2010 health care overhaul than in states that did expand to take in more federal money.
“I actually want to keep you where you are, if you know the truth,” Trump told Kevin Hassett, the director of the National Economic Council.
Trump made the comment at a White House event on rural health, drawing laughter in the room. But it wasn’t clear the president himself was joking.
It comes as Trump is believed to be in final interviews with potential replacements for the Fed’s current chair, Jerome Powell, a frequently target of Trump’s public attacks.
“We don’t want to lose him Susie,” Trump said of Hassett to White House chief of staff Susie Wiles, who also at the health event. “We’ll see how it all works out.”
The White House is touting health care spending across small-town America intended to transform how care is delivered in places that have lost many hospitals and providers.
A look at some numbers:
That makes him the highest ranking U.S. official to visit the country following the U.S. military strike which captured former leader Nicolás Maduro.
Thursday’s meeting, first reported by The New York Times, was confirmed Friday by a U.S. government official who spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren’t authorized to discuss the matter publicly.
The official said the meeting in Caracas came at President Trump’s direction and was intended to demonstrate the U.S. desire for a better relationship with Venezuela. The official said Ratcliffe discussed potential economic collaboration with the U.S. and warned that Venezuela can never again allow the presence of American adversaries, including drug traffickers.
— David Klepper
As Attorney General Pam Bondi approaches her first year on the job, the firings of Justice Department attorneys have defined her turbulent tenure. The terminations and a larger voluntary exodus of lawyers have erased centuries of combined experience and left the department with fewer career employees to act as a bulwark for the rule of law at a time when President Trump, a Republican, is testing the limits of executive power by demanding prosecutions of his political enemies.
Interviews by The Associated Press of more than a half-dozen fired employees offer a snapshot of the toll throughout the department. The departures include lawyers who prosecuted violent attacks on police at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, environmental, civil rights and ethics enforcers, counterterrorism prosecutors, immigration judges and attorneys who defend administration policies. They continued this week, when several prosecutors in Minnesota moved to resign amid turmoil over an investigation into the shooting of a woman by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer.
▶ Read more about firings at the Justice Department
The White House and a bipartisan group of governors are pressuring the operator of the mid-Atlantic power grid to take urgent steps to boost energy supply and curb price hikes, holding a Friday event aimed at addressing a rising concern among voters about the enormous amount of power used for artificial intelligence ahead of elections later this year.
The White House said its National Energy Dominance Council and the governors of several states, including Pennsylvania, Ohio and Virginia, want to try to compel PJM Interconnection to hold a power auction for tech companies to bid on contracts to build new power plants.
The Trump administration and governors will sign a statement of principles toward that end Friday.
▶ Read more about the administration and AI-driven power shortages
The Justice Department’s investigation into Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell has brought heightened attention to a key drama that will play out at the central bank in the coming months: Will Powell leave the Fed when his term as chair ends, or will he take the unusual step of remaining a governor?
Powell’s term as Fed chair ends May 15, but because of the central bank’s complex structure, he has a separate term as one of seven members of its governing board that lasts until January 31, 2028. Historically, nearly all Fed chairs have stepped down from the board when they’re no longer chair. But Powell could be the first in nearly 50 years to stay on as a governor.
Many Fed-watchers believe the criminal investigation into Powell’s testimony about cost overruns for Fed building renovations was intended to intimidate him out of taking that step. If Powell stays on the board, it would deny the White House a chance to gain a majority, undercutting the Trump administration’s efforts to seize greater control over what has for decades been an institution largely insulated from day-to-day politics.
▶ Read more about Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell
Trump on Thursday announced the outlines of a health care plan he wants Congress to take up as Republicans have faced increasing pressure to address rising health costs after lawmakers let subsidies expire.
The cornerstone is his proposal to send money directly to Americans for health savings accounts so they can handle insurance and health costs as they see fit. Democrats have rejected the idea as a paltry substitute for the tax credits that had helped lower monthly premiums for many people.
Trump’s plan also focuses on lowering drug prices and requiring insurers to be more upfront with the public about costs, revenues, rejected claims and wait times for care.
Trump has long been dogged by his lack of a comprehensive health care plan as he and Republicans have sought to unwind former President Barack Obama’s signature legislation, the Affordable Care Act. Trump was thwarted during his first term in trying to repeal and replace the law.
▶ Read more about Trump’s health care plan
Most American presidents aspire to the kind of greatness that prompts future generations to name important things in their honor.
Donald Trump isn’t leaving it to future generations.
As the first year of his second term wraps up, his Republican administration and allies have put his name on the U.S. Institute of Peace, the Kennedy Center performing arts venue and a new class of battleships.
That’s on top of the “Trump Accounts” for tax-deferred investments, the TrumpRx government website soon to offer direct sales of prescription drugs, the “Trump Gold Card” visa that costs at least $1 million and the Trump Route for International Peace and Prosperity, a transit corridor included in a deal his administration brokered between Armenia and Azerbaijan.
On Friday, he plans to attend a ceremony in Florida where local officials will dedicate a 4-mile (6-kilometer) stretch of road from the airport to his Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach as President Donald J. Trump Boulevard.
▶ Read more about Trump’s renaming efforts
Nearly a year into his second term, Trump’s work on the economy hasn’t lived up to the expectations of many people in his own party, according to a new AP-NORC survey.
The poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research finds a significant gap between the economic leadership Americans remembered from Trump’s first term and what they’ve gotten so far as he creates a stunning level of turmoil at home and abroad.
Just 16% of Republicans say Trump has helped “a lot” in addressing the cost of living, down from 49% in April 2024, when an AP-NORC poll asked Americans the same question about his first term.
At the same time, Republicans are overwhelmingly supportive of the president’s leadership on immigration — even if some don’t like his tactics.
There is little sign overall, though, that the Republican base is abandoning Trump. The vast majority of Republicans, about 8 in 10, approve of his job performance, compared with 4 in 10 for adults overall.
▶ Read more about the poll’s findings
Several Middle Eastern allies of the United States have urged the Trump administration to hold off on strikes against Iran for the government’s deadly crackdown on protesters, according to an Arab diplomat familiar with the matter.
Top officials from Egypt, Oman, Saudi Arabia and Qatar have raised concerns in the last 48 hours that a U.S. military intervention would shake the global economy and destabilize an already volatile region, said the diplomat who spoke on condition of anonymity to describe the sensitive conversations.
Oil prices fell on Thursday as the markets appeared to take note of President Donald Trump’s shifting tone as a sign that he’s leaning away from attacking Iran after days of launching blistering threats at Tehran for its brutal crackdown.
Nevertheless, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt on Thursday maintained that “all options remain on the table” for Trump as he deals with Iran.
▶ Read more about Trump and Iran
— Matthew Lee, Aamer Madhani and Ben Finley
President Donald Trump speaks during an event to honor the 2025 Stanley Cup Champion Florida Panthers in the East Room of the White House, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
