Building the Board: Pre-Conference Championship Weekend top-10 players in the 2025 NFL Draft
Let's talk about the ten best players in the 2025 NFL Draft class.
The College Football season is coming to an end, so it is time to start sorting out Colorado cornerback Travis Hunter, Boise State running back Ashton Jeanty, and all of the other 2025 NFL Draft prospects into a big board.
We have completed this exercise on the podcast, but now let’s put it into writing form as well. If you want to hear my co-host’s, Dalton Miller, big board be sure to check out those two episodes of the Daft on Draft podcast which can be found below:
Big Board reveal: Players 6-10
There is no suspense in seeing my top-10 players, however, as I’ve got it documented below for you. So where do the likes of the Heisman contenders Hunter and Jeanty slot in my top-10? Who joins them? Let’s talk about it.
1. CB/WR Travis Hunter, Colorado
A no-brainer here, Travis Hunter is the best player in college football.
Hunter has some of the best zone coverage instincts that I’ve ever seen in my six years of doing draft content. It routinely feels like Hunter is in the opposing offensive huddle by how he feels out passing concepts, peels off, and finds a way to make a play on the football.
His ball skills are exceptional, a blue chip trait of his as evidenced by his ability as a wide receiver, and Hunter is a true lockdown cornerback (and would probably be a top-10 pick as just a wide receiver as well).
Travis Hunter, 1.1.
2. EDGE Abdul Carter, Penn State
If you want to see what pure violence looks like on the football field, watch Abdul Carter. The Penn State pass rusher, in his first season as a full-time edge defender, sees red 100 percent of the time.
The scary part is that he continues to get better as a pass rusher every single week. He’s got the explosive first step off of the line of scrimmage, he’s got bend to corner just about any offensive tackle he has faced, and he is sharpening his toolbelt while already having a handful of go-to’s to attack the man across from him as well.
Oh yeah, and he’s your typical Penn State athlete who is going to do some nutty stuff at the NFL Scouting Combine.
3. RB Ashton Jeanty, Boise State
A running back as the third-best player in the draft class? A running back as the third-best player in the draft class.
Elite vision, elite contact balance, he has both short-area burst and long speed to break the big runs in the open field, and he is a hell of a pass blocker. On the verge of breaking the rushing record set by Barry Sanders (assuming Boise State takes care of business against UNLV and gives him an extra game), Jeanty is a blue-chip player in this class.
He’s one of the rare running backs who deserves to hear his name called in the top-12 of the 2025 NFL Draft.
4. DT Mason Graham, Michigan
With heavy hands, ungodly explosiveness, and a nuanced plan to get after opposing quarterbacks, it is extremely difficult to poke a hole in the game of Mason Graham.
His run defense was on full display against Ohio State as well as he made the interior of their offensive line routinely look silly. He is the easy-money DT1 in this class and in a tier to himself. Graham not only has a high floor, but a sky-high ceiling.
You won’t miss on Mason Graham.
5. CB Will Johnson Jr., Michigan
Back-to-back Michigan Wolverines here.
Despite an injury that sidelined him the majority of the season, Will Johnson Jr.’s tape speaks for itself. It has a very Patrick Surtain II at Alabama feel to it where many will begin to try to poke holes in his game down the stretch of the cycle, but predominantly because it’s boring.
Johnson Jr. is a refined player with great press man technique, zone eyes, and ball skills to boot. He has a nose for jumping the football with a high IQ and taking it back to the house.
Don’t let the overly boring nature of Johnson’s tape fool you. He has an elite body type, excellent speed and fluidity at that size, and a great college sample size to back it all up.
6. S Malaki Starks, Georgia
Some team is going to get a steal later than Malaki Starks should come off the board. Just like Kyle Hamilton in the 2022 NFL Draft, safeties tend to get pushed down the board. However, Starks is every bit the top prospect that we knew he would be from the very first time he stepped foot on the field as a true freshman in Athens.
He has a knack for finding his hands on the football, elite explosiveness and range over the top, versatility to drop down into the slot and man up wide receivers, and Starks is not
7. WR Luther Burden III, Missouri
The production is down for Luther Burden III after racking up 1,200 yards a year ago, but the talent remains on tape. Namely, he is one of the few wide receivers in the class with the play strength to fight through contact.
Not only is Burden III a YAC machine, what he is known best for, but he possesses soft, strong hands, the body control to track, find, and adjust to footballs along the boundary and down the field, and a lethal throttle to stop/start and tempo his routes at a high level.
The biggest issue is projection with Burden III. Despite playing 80 percent of his snaps in the slot, can he play Z at the next level more frequently and develop a less gimmicky route tree? Everything about his profile gives me the ability to answer that with a resounding yes.
8. S Nick Emmanwori, South Carolina
Two safeties make an appearance in my top-10.
South Carolina’s Nick Emmanwori, at 6-foot-3 and 227 pounds, is extremely quick-witted, explosive, and physical in the backend of the Gamecocks’ defense. While we don’t get to see much range from Emmanwori given the heavy Cover 4, match-based system that South Carolina deploys, we do get to see Emmanwori’s understanding of route concepts and ability to peel off, split levels, and find a way to the football stand out.
His ball skills are also tremendous with six interceptions (should be seven with one bogus penalty calling one back against LSU as well) over the last two seasons, with a few of them coming in acrobatic fashion.
Emmanwori is a damn good football player.
9. TE Tyler Warren, Penn State
There may not be a more fun prospect in the entire 2025 NFL Draft class than Penn State tight end Tyler Warren.
Need a big-bodied tight end to create mismatches down the seam? Check. Want to throw him in the slot or out wide and still find ways to get the football in his hands? Check. Oh, and do you need a 6-foot-6 and 260-pound wildcat quarterback? Check.
Warren is a special athlete who is going to test like the typical Penn State athlete. Penn State has built their entire offense out of Tyler Warren and it has gotten them to the Big Ten championship game. If they want to make a run at a national title, they’ll need to do more of the same.
10. EDGE Shemar Stewart, Texas A&M
Players who are 6-foot-6 and 290 pounds built like Shemar Stewart do not come around often. Then you add in the freakish amount of explosiveness that he possesses within that frame and it makes him a rare, rare NFL Draft prospect.
Watching Stewart get off the ball is a treat. He plays shot out of a cannon and can fire down the line in pursuit of ball carriers. What is most freaky? He’s not overly stiff at his size. He possesses average bend and fluidity to win along the outside track and even turn some corners on offensive linemen, which is devastatingly impressive in his frame.
Stewart can play 3-tech, 5-tech, and 7-tech, making him a fun prospect with a great deal of variety in how to deploy him.