Riddell NFL Pocket Pro Mini Helmet Collection
Below are the five pocket helmets with the Jets text logo. Look closely at the logos.
I found this image on Helmet Addict. It shows the differences between the 78-97 logo and 2024-present logo. I thought they were the same.
And sure enough, if you look closely at the pocket helmet logos, you can see the differences. Well done, Riddell.
Six out of 8 rivalries helmets from 2025 have dropped. I think it’s safe to assume that two of the remaining 2025 Limited Edition drops will be the 49ers and the Dolphins.
The Jets alternate is the 49th pocket drop…meaning #50 is the next drop! Try not to think about the money you’ve spent 🙂 What I do like about the Limited Edition series is that they are heavy on alternates. 28/49 have been alternates. 33/49 alternate throwbacks.
The three teams highlighted in this post all had 2025 rivalry pocket helmets released by Riddell and announced new alternates for 2026. That’s my excuse for the delay in recent postings 🙂
I have updated the Limited Edition, Teams Checklist, and Factory Speed pages. In addition to the Bills, Jets, and Rams pages.
Jets Updates
The Jets also announced a new alternate for 2026: the white alternate. The white alternate seems to be a trend. I kind of like the clean, white or black look. At the same time, though, I must admit that I kind of miss the oranges, blues, reds, and multi-colored combinations of the 70’s and 80’s.
The Jets, by the way, have accumulated A LOT of alternates over the years. I also indicated if there is a factory pocket version of the helmet (as of 8/16/26):
Another fun fact about this release. The Jets now have the most unique factory speed pocket helmets with six. The Chargers, Commanders and….Browns all have five. The Browns are a little surprising as they are associated with a plain orange helmet. However, they’ve had two alternates (brown and white) and had subtle changes to their stripes and facemask.
Bills Updates
The Bills also announced their new alternate for 2026. The 2026 alternate is definitely interesting. This will be the first time since 1960 (!) that the Bills have not worn the Bill, whether the Bill was plain red, plain white (1994), or Blue with the red stripe. Quite a departure.
Rams Updates
The 2025 rivalries helmet is the first Rams limited edition pocket helmet. The 2026 alternate could be the third helmet with the modern horns and the third color. I took a picture of the primary and the 2025 rivalries and frankly it’s difficult for me to tell. This will be the first white horns on a helmet since 2019. Previously, the horns were white between 1964-72.
We are halfway through the 2026 drops with the Cardinals alternate rivalries drop. This is the 47th overall and the 2nd for the Cardinals (the other being the black alternate). I think it’s a pretty nice design. The limited edition helmets have pretty good craftsmanship, in my opinion, and I expect this release to be the same.
This is the fourth rivalries alternate. The other rivalries alternate releases were the Seahawks, Patriots, and Rams. There are four other rivalries alternates that Riddell has not released: 49ers, Bills, Dolphins, and Jets. I am going to assume the four other rivalries will eventually be released, leaving three helmets. There are some throwback and other alternate options from the last few years Riddell could release.
Moving forward, here are changes in the 2026 season that could be released. Many will be confirmed or finalized in August.
This Sports Illustrated article did a pretty good job outlining the changes for 2026. All of the drop announcement images are below (not including the most recent Cardinals).
About a month ago, Riddell dropped the 2020-23 LA Chargers helmet. This was interesting because Riddell had previously only released contemporary helmets. The Chargers hadn’t worn this helmet since 2023…three years ago.
The most recent drop goes back to 2021. Here’s the story: In 2016, the Giants wore the 1981-99 helmet as a throwback. However, the NFL had a one helmet rule at the time. So, that Giants helmet has a metallic blue color, as opposed to the dark blue color the team actually wore between 1981 and 1999. That rule was repealed in 2022. So the Giants could wear the dark blue color starting 2022. Riddell released the dark blue helmet in February 2025.
You can also see in the photo below that the color of the 2016-21 helmet closely matches the primary color. Well done, Riddell. The craftsmanship for the limited edition helmets has been very good.
More info: Giants – Riddell NFL Pocket Pro Helmets
Updated Checklist
There have been a total of 46 limited edition helmets. Eight are left in 2026.
Riddell manufactured alternates and throwbacks in the speed style for the Bengals (2), Eagles, and Lions. There are not part of the limited edition series. And the Bengals throwback was never actually worn by the Bengals.
The only teams without a limited edition series helmet (not including the Bengals, who have the two speed helmets) are the Chiefs and Raiders. I wouldn’t expect a limited edition from these teams as they have essentially worn the same helmet since the 90’s.
Who could be next? There are still five rivalries helmets from 2025 available. The fact that Riddell has released retired helmets in the limited edition series opens up possibilities, like the 2023 Lions, 2023 Texans, 2016-22 Broncos, 2023 Broncos, or 2023 Jets alternates, which I think are really cool. Or maybe the Bills, Colts or Saints throwbacks, all of which have been worn in recent years.
Throwback / Alternate
NFC: 26
AFC: 20
Note: The Bengals 1968-79 throwback, Eagles 1985-95 throwback, Lions 2023 alternate, and Bengals white alternate were manufactured in the speed style, but not released as part of the limited edition series. They are not included in this checklist.
The limited edition helmets have been sharp, in my opinion. It would have been nice to have numbers on the helmets (like the actual helmets did), but that’s okay. I think there is licensing issues with using the numbers. But overall, well done in my opinion.
The execution of the bolt in the limited edition helmet (2020-23 alternate) on the left is much better executed than the regular factory helmet (2020-present primary). The photo below compares the two.
The photo below shows all the factory helmets for the Chargers.
The photo below is my factory and customs. The only one missing is the 2025 alternate throwback with player #s.
The newest Pocket Helmet Limited Edition drop will be the Chargers color rush helmet. It has a gold bolt with a royal blue outline and gold facemask. The pocket helmet does not have the player number, so it’s not entirely ‘authentic.’ After I write about why this is such an unusual drop, I will present the recent history of this helmet follows.
This is unusual drop because the Chargers haven’t worn this style since 2023. Previous limited edition drops focused on the current (or just ended) year. But this one goes three years back, almost putting it in the category of a throwback. Maybe the Chargers will wear this helmet again in 2026? This drop also kind of opens the possibility of pre-2024 limited drops, like the 2023 Lions alternate. Which is the holy grail of speed NFL pocket helmets 🙂
The Chargers switched to the white helmet in 2007. They had worn a white helmet in the 60’s and 70’s. Since 2007, the Chargers helmets have had several bolt color and outline variations. This is based on my research from the Gridiron Uniform Database.
You may note the recent 2020-23 alternate drop is very similar to the 2016-19 alternate helmet, just with a different type of blue (navy blue vs dark royal blue). I will assume the blue outline is different. The colors did change, according to the Chargers branding sites. And they do look different on the Gridiron Uniform Database site. Riddell did not make a factory helmet for the 2016-19 alternate, so it will be difficult to compare.
The table below provides more details about the history since 2007. The full history is on my Chargers pocket helmet site.
| Years | Color | Facemask | Logo | Pocket helmet |
| 2007-2018 | White | Blue | Gold bolt with powder blue and navy blue outline Worn for one game in 2019 as an alternate | Revolution Speed |
| 2019 | White | Gold | Gold bolt with powder blue and navy blue outline | Speed |
| 2016-19 alternate | White | Gold | Gold bolt with navy blue outline | None |
| 2020-present | White | Gold | Gold bolt with powder blue outline, Powder blue player There is no player # on helmet on the factory pocket helmet | Speed |
| 2020-23 alternate | White | Gold | Gold bolt with dark royal blue outline Royal blue player # There is no player # on helmet on the factory pocket helmet | Speed – limited edition series |
| 2020-24 alternate | White | Navy blue | Navy blue bolt with gold outline, Navy blue player # | None |
| 2025 alternate throwback | Navy blue | Navy blue | White bolt with gold and navy blue outline There is no player # on helmet on the factory pocket helmet | Speed – limited edition series |
The Commanders are switching to a new primary and alternate again in 2026.
At first, I thought the burgundy primary was the same as the 2025 alternate. It is in every respect except for one detail. The 2025 alternate had a matte finish. The 2026 primary has a gloss finish. The new Commanders primary (along with the new Titans primary) is available for a pre-order on the SESportsMemorabilia website.
The new primary is a clear homage to the 1972-2019 helmet design. The new alternate likely references the 1965-69 arrow helmet. The last time the Commanders wore that helmet as a throwback was in 2003.
What is interesting to me is that there is ZERO reference to the Commanders in this helmet design. In fact, it’s more of a reference to the past than the current Commanders team. I wonder what that means for the future.
With this announcement, Riddell is almost certainly going to release the 2025 rivalry alternates this year. This helmet has a muted white look with a washed out blue logo. It is kind of an underwhelming design, in my opinion. Riddell didn’t have a lot to work with here. But maybe when the physical helmet arrives, I will have a different opinion.
More information on my Limited Edition site.
Bills Promotional Images
Every limited edition release had the same announcement branding, including the 2026 Seahawks. All of them are on the Limited Edition site, but a sample are below.
The 1987-2001 Bills throwback (from March), however, did not. The first image was from the release day, while the second is from the Riddell website. So, Riddell could be taking a new branding approach.
Interestingly, some of these Bills helmets are still available weeks later. Last year, they were selling out so fast. This surprises me as the Bills are a hot team. And these is a cool looking and unique helmet. We’ll see how the Patriots helmet does.
The Bills 1987-01 throwback dropped today. I love all the Bills logo and helmets. It might be my favorite (and that’s saying something as a Chiefs fan!) Some limited edition helmet facts:
The Bills have worn four different versions of the red helmet, all between 1987 and 2010 (and the 2026 throwback). They are listed below, along with their pocket helmet history.
This is the 3rd Titans design and 10th re-design if including the Oilers history (11th if one includes the 1975-96 style, which had a grey and then a red facemask). Read more about the new brand here.
When some sports teams move cities, they make a clean break with their previous brand (like the Ravens or Brewers). Even the Houston Texans colors lean into the Oilers’ colors. The Titans strongly lean into their Oiler history with this new helmet. The rebrand theme is “Born in Oil, Refined into Titans.” It honors both their history with the colors and their current city of Nashville. Note the stripe mirrors guitar strings. I don’t normally like letters in logos, but I think the “T” in the helmet works well by suggesting a shield or “Titan like” weapon.
Interestingly, this is the first Titans/Oilers helmet to have a white facemask. Other colors have been grey, red, or navy. The lighter blue is slightly different than the light blue the Oilers wore. According to teamscolorcodes.com, the Oilers light blue was simply “Light Blue.” This Titans light blue is “Titans blue.” The navy is “Titans navy.”
Where to get factory helmets
A question that comes up a lot is: Where can I buy the factory pocket helmet? I get my factory helmets in one of two places:
Speaking of ebay sellers, some really nice new Titans custom primary helmets have popped up. The photo below is from picksixpreviews. Good job!
Riddell NFL Pocket Pro Helmets 