2025 NFL Draft Thread

The Game Room
1

We’re 24 hours out, give or take, from the first pick of the 2025 NFL Draft. Time for a new thread!

This year’s draft will take place outside the historic Lambeau Field in Green Bay. Below are the dates and times for each day.

  • Thursday, April 24: Round 1, 8 p.m. ET
  • Friday, April 25: Rounds 2-3, 7 p.m. ET
  • Saturday, April 26: Rounds 4-7, Noon ET

For the first time in the common draft era the NFL Draft looks to open intact, with every team having its own designated 1st round pick. Even if there’s a pre-draft trade in the next 24 hours, this will be the first time we entered draft day like this.

Round 1 draft order

  1. Tennessee Titans
  2. Cleveland Browns
  3. New York Giants
  4. New England Patriots
  5. Jacksonville Jaguars
  6. Las Vegas Raiders
  7. New York Jets
  8. Carolina Panthers
  9. New Orleans Saints
  10. Chicago Bears
  11. San Francisco 49ers
  12. Dallas Cowboys
  13. Miami Dolphins
  14. Indianapolis Colts
  15. Atlanta Falcons
  16. Arizona Cardinals
  17. Cincinnati Bengals
  18. Seattle Seahawks
  19. Tampa Bay Buccaneers
  20. Denver Broncos
  21. Pittsburgh Steelers
  22. Los Angeles Chargers
  23. Green Bay Packers
  24. Minnesota Vikings
  25. Houston Texans
  26. Los Angeles Rams
  27. Baltimore Ravens
  28. Detroit Lions
  29. Washington Commanders
  30. Buffalo Bills
  31. Kansas City Chiefs
  32. Philadelphia Eagles

The general consensus has Cam Ward (QB - Miami) going to the Titans first overall. There seems to be no drama around this pick, though neither the player nor the team have made any declarations thus far.

As always, it’s the QBs that will likely drive most of the action tomorrow. After Ward, there are 4 other QBs who have popped up on various mock drafts in the 1st round, Shedeur Sanders (QB - Colorado), Jaxson Dart (QB - Ole Miss), Jalen Milroe (QB - Alabama) and Tyler Shough (QB - Louisville). It will be a bit of a shock if more than 3 of these guys get picked tomorrow. When they get picked will have a butterfly effect on the picks that follow as other positions slip.

Beyond the rookies, there’s still Aaron Rodgers and Kirk Cousins available on the market. Both these guys could fill a spot causing any or all of these next 4 guys to slide.

There have been 17 confirmed players attending this year’s draft to sit in the Green Room. So if you’re tuning in to watch, you’ll be seeing these guys dressed up all fancy and nice. The real question will be which of these guys have to go home Thursday night without a team and then needs to come back Friday night for their photo op.

Here’s the list.

  • Tyler Booker, OG, Alabama
  • Jihaad Campbell, LB, Alabama
  • Will Campbell, OT, LSU
  • Abdul Carter, EDGE, Penn State
  • Jaxson Dart, QB, Mississippi
  • Matthew Golden, WR, Texas
  • Mason Graham, DT, Michigan
  • Travis Hunter, CB/WR, Colorado
  • Ashton Jeanty, RB, Boise State
  • Will Johnson, CB, Michigan
  • Tetairoa McMillan, WR, Arizona
  • Jalen Milroe, QB, Alabama
  • Josh Simmons, OT, Ohio State
  • Malaki Starks, S, Georgia
  • Shemar Stewart, EDGE, Texas A&M
  • Cam Ward, QB, Miami (Fla.)
  • Mykel Williams, EDGE, Georgia

Off the cuff, I think the top 3 candidates for a long wait are Jihaad Campbell (injury), Josh Simmons (injury) and Shemar Stewart (can’t sack QBs). I would like to include Milroe, but I feel like he’s showing up because he knows something.

The general belief is that this is an overall weak draft class. Iffy at the top, thin at some traditionally featured positions, and overall missing a lot of the so-called athletic “freaks” or unicorns. I subscribe that that opinion. Some think this draft actually pretty strong in the 25-75 pick range where you can find a lot of gems on day 2. I don’t buy that, I think it’s weak all the way through.

A few storylines of note:

  • Ashton Jeanty will be the first RB drafted, is he a top 5 pick?
  • Will Shedeur Sanders slide dramatically?
  • Will there be more RBs taken than WRs on day one? More TEs?
  • Will there be a lot of trades? Is anyone exciting enough to justify a team mortgaging it’s future?
  • Will teams trade any high-paid veterans for picks?

That’s enough preamble. Tell me what you’re hoping for from your team? Who are your guys in this class? Who do you think will bust?

2

As a Giants fan, I want them to draft either Abdul Carter or Travis Hunter.

3

Chiefs fan here. They need massive help on the offensive line, but neither Josh Simmons from Ohio State nor Kelvin Banks from Texas nor Armand Membou from Missouri will be around for pick #31.

So they’ll go with the old ‘best player available’. Who that might be, I’ve no clue.

4

I left out one of the big storylines from my OP.

Will Travis Hunter get to play both sides of the ball? How will the team that drafts him handle the situation.

On this one, I actually have a strong opinion. There has been a lively debate about whether Hunter can play both sides of the ball in the NFL the way he did in college. The simple answer is no, but not for the reasons usually cited. People usually mention his small stature, the overall wear and tear, the conditioning it would require, the unlikelihood of him being one of the best 50 or so players in the world at two positions, etc. as reasons he can’t do it. Others have floated more esoteric problems like how you’d determine his compensation if he’s putting double the work.

But in reality, the problem is far more fundamental. In training camp, and during game weeks, the offense and defense practice at the same time. They break out into position groups at the same time. They study game film separately at the same time. They run against different scout teams at the same time. There’s absolutely no way that Hunter can possibly be prepared to face professional NFL opponents, coached by elite professionals, who have spent all week preparing specifically to target him with tactics and deceptions if he’s missing half the prep time for each of his positions.

While WR and CB can sometimes just run out there and “beat their guy”, that’s not really the way things work these days. Offenses use tons of motion, pre-snap and post-snap options where the QB, WRs, RBs, and TEs all need to be on the same page without the benefit of verbal communication. This comes from repetition, and the game plan isn’t going to be the same every week, so he can’t just learn it once. And WRs need to not just know their position, but they need to know every position to account for injuries and switches. On the defensive side, it’s basically the same. He needs to know the opponents’ personnel and their tendencies, in addition to a complex defensive plan.

Even if after a year or two of being under the same coaching staff he manages to learn all his team’s plays and adjustments, he’s still playing a new opponent every week. How would you feel knowing that your star WR and your star DB showed up at noon every day and missed half the team’s meetings and walk-throughs going into a rivalry game? That’s basically what you’re signing up for. How do you think the media will react when he blows an assignment in a critical moment?

And then if you change coaches, you start all over again. Sounds fun.

You might see him out there as a gadget player on offense, assuming he’s on defense full time. Or you might see him as a dime DB for the inverse, but there’s basically zero chance he’s full time at both. Football is not baseball. Even if his is the NFL’s Ohtani, the logistics just don’t work.

5

I’m rather pumped for this draft. The 49ers picked late last year and didn’t have 1st Round picks the two prior years. I don’t have the time to keep track of 100+ prospects anymore, but ~20 top guys and some random mid and late round “fits” and “steals” is doable.

I’m intrigued by hybrid LB/Edge Jalon Walker. He’d be my pick at #11, but he might not make it that far.

The Niners need a DT and DE/Edge. Given the depth of the DT class, I’d rather see them go Edge first. Except I’m not super enamored by the rest of the 2nd-tier 1st Round options after Carter and Walker.

For top end DTs, maybe Walter Nolen and Kenneth Grant are higher than Mason Graham? I’m OK with all three.

None of the top O-line prospects feel like slam dunks at #11.

BPA at a position not considered a “need”? At #11 absolutely. IF they nail it with a future star. Tyler Warren would fit the Shanahan offense well, but what a luxury pick.

So, yeah. Nervously excited about the draft, even knowing the current regime has a poor track record in the 1st Round. They’ll do something interesting.

6

I think this point illustrates that it’d be extremely challenging, at a minimum.

There have been guys who have done it in the modern era, on at least a limited basis:

  • Roy Green started out as a safety for the Cardinals, but in 1982, he played both ways, as both safety and wide receiver. After that year, he switched to WR full-time, and rarely played on defense any longer.
  • Deion Sanders played WR on occasion, most notably in 1996, while he was with the Cowboys, when he caught 36 passes, while also being a starting cornerback.
  • Troy Brown, a reserve wide receiver for the Patriots, started having to fill in as an emergency DB in 2004; he played well enough that the Patriots kept him in the role, and he wound up leading the team in interceptions.

But, those are the exceptions to the rule, and it’s worth noting that the last example (Brown) is now 20 years ago.

7

Right after the Bears with similar needs.

8

After not hearing anything about him I’m suddenly hearing a lot about Shough. Lots of comparisons with Josh Allen. He’s not going in the 1st but I wouldn’t be surprised if he sneaks into the 2nd.

9

I think the physical toll of running routes and playing CB all game is too much in a 17 game pro season. Either he’s a good WR who moonlights as a dime back, or a really good CB who can occasionally produce as a gadget/ 4th/5th receiver.

10

Listening to Peter Schrager on the Simmons podcast while cleaning and heard a new (to me) tidbit.

Giants’ GM Joe Schoen’s daughter apparently attends Ole Miss, where Jaxson Dart played. And he’s attended a lot of games there.

This is probably common knowledge amongst Giants fans by this point, but I hadn’t seen this. I don’t know exactly why, but this feels like a big deal. While the Giants taking Dart at 3 might be a stretch, this dramatically increases my belief that he’ll end up a Giant somehow. Schoen feels like a guy that will get attached to the QB he probably watched a lot of casually. I don’t know if it’s a trade back into the first thing or a top of the 2nd round pick. This also reduces the odds that Sanders is the pick at 3 in my mind.

I’m probably completely nuts.

11

The Giants also watched Shaduer a lot but seem to have cooled on him. I won’t be surprised if they go after Dart but not at #3.

Many projections are still predicting a trade to happen. I’ve seen the Giants taking Carter or Hunter (whoever didn’t go at 2) at #3 and then trading up to the low 1st round and getting Dart.

12

I am seriously hoping the Giants whiff and take Sanders or Dart at #3, leaving Carter or Hunter to the Pats at #4. But I know that’s a pipe dream and the Pats will reach for need and take “short-armed” LT Will Campbell. In a perfect world, someone would want to trade up to 4 and give them some more picks, but the trade market seems ice cold, so I doubt that, too.

13

With my team sitting at #11 and not needing a QB, I sure hope Sanders and Dart go top ten.

14

Who really knows at this point but it sounds like Sanders is dropping rapidly. He apparently did himself no favors in his interviews.

15

As usual, Seattle needs linemen. One or two guards and probably a tackle (since they have two very good tackles but one is chronically injury-prone). A defense lineman would also be pretty good, because you can almost always do better there. Other than that, I expect the usual “best guy available at the time” picks. I also heard rumors that if the top OL people get snatched before pick 18, Seattle may trade back out of the 1st round for more picks later to get more volume, but I’m skeptical.

I’ve heard some terrible stories, with an assistant coach allegedly saying it was the worst formal interview he had ever seen. Though this article points out that you shouldn’t fully trust “anonymous” sources like that.

Regardless, it doesn’t paint a very good picture, and whatever the reality, this is the kind of negative buzz that tends to lead to players sliding in the draft, just as you are suggesting.

16

Shower thought. Josh Connerly or Grey Zabel are definitely getting picked by the Chiefs if they are still there.

Neither will be there at the start of the 2nd round.

17

Grey Zabel is reportedly one of the guys Seattle really wants (and could pick at 18). The only counter is that he is from an FCS school, and GM John Schneider rarely picks anyone from the FCS. Out of 213 draft picks since he took the job in Seattle, only 4 have been from the FCS, and none were picked earlier than the 5th round. So I’m thinking this is probably not happening.

ETA: I’m seeing a lot of suggestions that Seattle is unlikely to draft any OL people in the first round, due to the fact that there are so many talented linemen in this draft (it’s rather deep with them) that teams should be safe to wait until later rounds and be able to get solid players this year. A lot of people are suggesting that they’d pick Matthew Golden if he’s there at 18, because another weapon for new QB Darnold would be welcome, or a defensive lineman. (I wouldn’t be mad with either of those.) Also, one reason why every team still has their original first round pick is because this is a generally weak draft with very few stars, and there is little incentive for anyone to trade up in the draft, so that rumor about Seattle trading out of the 1st round is unlikely because it’s doubtful another team would be willing to give up the capital to do such a trade.

18

I know it’s a weak class, but I will be shocked if the Seahawks don’t take a WR. Someone needs to catch balls over there. That’s certainly not their only need, but still.

If he’s still available, Egbuka makes a mountain of sense for them.

19

That’s a name that gets tossed around, yes. :slight_smile:

They will draft a WR. They draft one every year, though they don’t always work out well. They already have a stud #1 WR, that’s why they let DK Metcalf and Tyler Lockett go in the off-season; Jaxon Smith-Njigba (or JSN as we usually call him) eclipsed everyone else and became the clear top receiver over the last two years (and he’s only entering his 3rd year in the NFL). So anyone they draft will fill out the receiving group behind him. It’s not their biggest need, but it’s a need.

I don’t know that they’ll draft a WR in the first round. I wouldn’t hate it; JSN was a first-rounder and they struck gold there. But if they don’t draft one, I expect a defensive guy like an edge-rusher or tackle. Maybe, maybe an OL guy but I’m really doubting that now (but it’s possible).

20

Ashton Jeanty is wearing Crocs with his suit. I’ve never been more terrified that the Bears are about to do something tragically stupid.