By the end of August, NFL teams are supposed to be figuring out their depth charts — not watching key players get carted off the field.

These weren’t just fringe roster players or camp bodies who lost their seasons. They were starters and young players who were in line to take on bigger roles once the games started to matter. Now, their teams have to move on without them.

The Injuries That Changed Entire Units

Tyler Biadasz, Los Angeles Chargers

The Chargers gave Tyler Biadasz three years and $30 million because Justin Herbert was sacked 54 times last season. They wanted some experience in the middle of a rebuilt offensive line, and Biadasz had plenty of it.

The former Pro Bowler started 80 games between Dallas and Washington. He played more than 900 snaps in both of his seasons with the Commanders and gave up just four sacks during that stretch. With younger players filling out the rest of the line, Biadasz was supposed to handle the protections and make life a little easier for everyone around him.

Instead, he hurt his ACL and also had a few other injuries to his left knee when 49ers defensive tackle Sebastian Valdez fell into his leg during a joint practice. He’ll miss the entire season without playing a meaningful snap for Los Angeles.

That puts second-round rookie Jake Slaughter in the starting lineup at center. Slaughter played the position at Florida, and offensive coordinator Mike McDaniel said he’s “uniquely structured” for the job. The Chargers obviously liked him enough to draft him as their eventual answer.

“Eventually” just showed up a few years early.

Now Slaughter has to snap the ball to Herbert and help organize a line that was already sorting through competitions at guard. Maybe he handles it. Maybe he even turns into the long-term answer sooner than expected. But the Chargers paid Biadasz specifically so they wouldn’t have to make that kind of gamble in 2026.

Jayden Higgins, Houston Texans

Jayden Higgins wasn’t just expected to start on the outside. He looked ready to become a real second option for C.J. Stroud.

As a rookie, Higgins caught 41 passes for 525 yards and a team-high six touchdowns. His production picked up as the season went on, too. Four of those touchdowns came over the last nine weeks, and his target share kept climbing during Houston’s nine-game winning streak to close out the regular season.

The reports from camp were even better. Higgins’ routes looked sharper and the Texans expected his role to grow quite a bit. Then he tore his ACL during a red-zone period in a joint practice with the Raiders.

The timing makes the loss sting even more because Tank Dell's still working his way back. Houston quickly signed Sterling Shepard and Zay Jones before trading for Kayshon Boutte, who caught 33 passes for 551 yards and six touchdowns for New England last season. Jaylin Noel and Xavier Hutchinson will get chances, too.

Boutte gives the Texans another legitimate outside receiver and could end up being the primary replacement. But what Houston can’t replace in late August is the connection Higgins and Stroud had already built.

Jalon Walker, Atlanta Falcons

Atlanta didn’t draft Jalon Walker 15th overall in 2025 so he could be just another rotational edge rusher. His rookie season was supposed to be the beginning of something bigger: 36 tackles, 5.5 sacks, two forced fumbles, and 27 pressures despite starting just nine games. That pressure total ranked seventh among rookies, and his 10.3% pressure rate ranked fourth.

Year 2 was supposed to be when the rest of his game started to show up. Walker could rush off the edge, play off the ball and move around enough to make quarterbacks think twice before the snap. Outside linebackers coach John Timu talked about how he's stepped up over the offseason:

"He's got this voice, this Batman voice that everyone's ready to follow."

Instead, Walker tore his ACL during an early-August practice. That would’ve been a tough enough blow on its own, but then James Pearce Jr. got hit with an eight-game suspension. Atlanta came into the offseason hoping to build on a franchise-record 57 sacks. Now they'll start the season without the duo responsible for nearly 30% of them.

The Falcons have since brought Za’Darius Smith out of retirement and can rotate Cameron Thomas, Brandon Dorlus, Azeez Ojulari, and Samson Ebukam. Defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich can also create pressure with linebackers and defensive backs. But signing a 33-year-old in late August and leaning more heavily on the blitz isn’t the same as having Walker develop into a movable, three-down problem.

Nic Scourton, Carolina Panthers

Nic Scourton’s rookie season was one of the better things that happened on Carolina’s defense, even if it didn’t get much attention. He tied Derrick Brown for the team lead with five sacks and added 47 tackles, seven tackles for loss, and a forced fumble.

The Panthers thought there was a lot more coming. Scourton spent the offseason adding to his pass-rush toolbox and learning from free-agent addition Jaelan Phillips. The plan was to start them together and finally give Carolina a young edge duo with some real upside.

That plan lasted one practice. Scourton tore his ACL in his right knee on a wet field during the Panthers’ first training camp session.

Now Carolina's going to have to lean on Phillips, Patrick Jones II, and second-year rusher Princely Umanmielen. Umanmielen’s looked good so far, and the Panthers can also try to manufacture pressure by sending safety Tre’von Moehrig or bringing extra cornerbacks.

That might work in certain matchups. Over a full season, though, losing a starting edge rusher who’d already produced at 21 is a pretty big problem. Carolina needed Scourton to turn last year’s flashes into steady pressure. Now the Panthers need a few different players — and probably a more aggressive scheme — to replace what one ascending player was supposed to give them.

Bryan Bresee, New Orleans Saints

Bryan Bresee tore his ACL on the first day of Saints camp, which is about as quickly as an offseason plan can go sideways.

The former first-round pick started all 15 games he played last season, finishing with a career-high 37 tackles, 2.5 sacks, five tackles for loss, and eight quarterback hits. The sack number wasn’t anything special, but Bresee has 14.5 sacks and 31 quarterback hits through three seasons. That kind of interior disruption is hard to find, especially from a 24-year-old who was still expected to get better.

The Saints clearly believed in that growth. They picked up Bresee’s fifth-year option, which is worth nearly $14 million. They weren’t treating him like some easily replaceable piece of the defensive-line rotation.

Now they’ll have to cobble those snaps together with Davon Godchaux, Nathan Shepherd, Vernon Broughton, John Ridgeway III, and second-round rookie Christen Miller. That group should be big enough to hold up against the run. The tougher part will be finding someone who can consistently push the pocket next to Chase Young and Cameron Jordan.

The Projected Roles That Vanished

Chris Brazzell II, Carolina Panthers

Chris Brazzell II's job wasn’t completely locked down, but he was certainly on the right path. The third-round rookie was pushing Xavier Legette and making a pretty strong early case for a role in three-receiver sets.

And it was easy to see why people were excited about him. Brazzell's 6-foot-4 and ran a 4.37-second 40-yard dash. That’s a pretty fun combination of size and speed, especially alongside reigning Offensive Rookie of the Year Tetairoa McMillan.

Brazzell injured the LCL in his left knee during a seven-on-seven drill. The initial hope was that he could avoid surgery and get back at some point during the season, but a second opinion changed everything. He’ll have surgery and miss his entire rookie year.

Carolina still has enough bodies in that room to put a respectable group on the field. Legette now has a clearer path to the third job, and guys like John Metchie III and Jimmy Horn Jr. will compete for the snaps that are left.

Jamal Adams, Minnesota Vikings

Jamal Adams was never going to play every defensive snap for Minnesota. His role was supposed to be a lot more creative than that.

The Vikings listed Adams as a linebacker but had him working with both the linebackers and defensive backs. He could line up in the box, rush the passer, or play next to Joshua Metellus, making it tough to figure out what Minnesota was doing before the snap.

Adams suffered a non-contact tear of his right quad during the Vikings’ preseason opener against the Giants. It was a particularly brutal injury because he tore the quad in his other leg during Seattle’s 2022 season opener.

At his best, Adams was one of the NFL’s most dangerous blitzing defensive backs. His 9.5 sacks in 2020 are still the single-season record for a defensive back. He isn’t that same player anymore, but Minnesota saw enough from him over two-plus weeks to give him first-team reps and build a role around what he could still do.

The Vikings can give those snaps back to their established defenders, especially Metellus, and Flores isn’t going to have any trouble disguising pressure. That’s why this injury doesn’t hurt quite as much as the Walker or Bresee injuries.

Still, it takes a genuinely interesting wrinkle out of the defense. Adams was trying to rebuild his career in a scheme that seemed like a perfect fit for him.

Alex Wright, Cleveland Browns

Alex Wright’s season-ending Achilles injury creates a tough problem for a Cleveland defensive line already trying to move on without Myles Garrett.

The Browns got Jared Verse in the Garrett trade, which gave them a new centerpiece on the edge. Wright was expected to handle a big chunk of the snaps on the other side. He was also the longest-tenured player left in the room and had just signed a three-year, $33 million extension after setting career highs with 37 tackles and 5.5 sacks in 2025.

Wright ruptured his Achilles during a one-on-one pass-rush drill at a joint practice with Buffalo. Cleveland responded by signing Derek Barnett to a one-year deal worth up to $5.5 million.

Barnett makes sense as an emergency addition. He had five sacks for Houston last season and 34 in his career. Isaiah McGuire, meanwhile, gets a chance to move into the starting lineup after recording 5.5 sacks over his first three seasons.

Between Barnett and McGuire, the Browns should be able to cover the snaps. Replacing Wright’s length and run defense is the harder part.

All stats courtesy of NFL Pro.

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