Mock Draft Madness: You're all going to hate it
Mock Draft Madness: You're all going to hate it
Could Shedeur Sanders and Travis Hunter really put Colorado at the top of the 2025 NFL Draft? It's extremely possible...
We have reached Week 10 of the College Football season and the 2025 NFL Draft keeps crawling nearer by the day; what better time for another mock draft?
This was a week in the NFL where we saw a ton of movement on the draft board as well. The Cleveland Browns went from the No. 2 pick all the way down to pick No. 8. The Carolina Panthers are back at the top of the board (and without any semblance of direction), while the Kansas City Chiefs remain at the back of the pack at an undefeated 8-0 to start their 2024 season.
Team needs are shifting and boards are rearranging as the sample sizes of tape continue to grow into actual competitive, conference football for these NFL hopefuls. Who is soaring and who is plummeting up and down the board?
Let’s have a little fun.
1. Carolina Panthers: CB/WR Travis Hunter, Colorado
We have never seen a cornerback selected with the first overall pick in the NFL Draft. However, Travis Hunter is not just a cornerback even if that is where he will play the majority of his snaps at the NFL level.
He won’t be a full-time two-way player at the NFL level, but he will still command 10-15 offensive snaps per game. He is that gifted.
Could the Carolina Panthers already go after another quarterback? They could. They invested a ton of money in the offensive line around the quarterback. However, they are lacking offensive playmakers. This is still not a great situation to bring a rookie quarterback into.
So go get the best overall player in the draft.
2. Tennessee Titans: QB Shedeur Sanders, Colorado
We live in a world where the top two picks in the 2025 NFL Draft legitimately are Colorado Buffaloes. It’s incredibly apparent that Brian Callahan is fed up with Will Levis and needs a new quarterback.
And there is only one quarterback worth taking with a high draft asset: Shedeur Sanders. The Titans have invested a ton of high draft capital in their offensive line, now it’s time to get a quarterback who can operate an NFL offense.
Sanders is deadly accurate, on time, and now the new face of the Titans.
3. New England Patriots: WR Tetairoa McMillan, Arizona
The Patriots need to get Drake Maye some pass protection and playmakers at the wide receiver position.
The problem with the former, however, is that there is not a top-tier tackle in this 2025 NFL Draft class. This may lead them to select a wide receiver with the third overall pick. That’s what they do now with Arizona’s Tetairoa McMillan.
Listed at 6-foot-5, McMillan’s catch radius is extraordinary and his hands are even better. He may not be the most explosive player on the vertical plane and has room to improve his play strength, but he is agile for his size and has proven better at making defenders miss with the ball in his hands.
Drake Maye rejoices.
4. New York Jets: DT Mason Graham, Michigan
Boy, where do the New York Jets go from here?
They still have Aaron Rodgers under contract for another year, have holes along their offensive line, and more. However, Quinnen Williams desperately needs a running mate along the defensive line.
Given their team needs versus what is currently on the board here, the Jets have no choice but to go with the best player available. And that is the heavy-handed Michigan defensive tackle Mason Graham.
The lack of flash in the box score is deceiving from Graham. He is explosive, wields hammers for hands, and is a consistent havoc wreaker in opposing backfields. An already strong defense gets stronger.
5. Jacksonville Jaguars: CB Will Johnson Jr., Michigan
There are a few glaring needs for the Jacksonville Jaguars, but there is a top-tier, potential blue-collar, talent left on the board at one of their bigger holes: the cornerback position.
It’s incredibly nit-picky and difficult to poke a hole in the game of Michigan cornerback Will Johnson Jr. He’s got the ideal body type, is incredibly fluid in his 6-foot-2 frame, and has ball production off the charts during his career with the Wolverines.
A battle between him and Travis Hunter, the top player in this class is a cornerback.
6. New Orleans Saints: OT/G Will Campbell, LSU
Is Will Campbell an NFL offensive tackle? Unlikely. However, in a weak draft class that will not cause him to sink too far down the board. Similar to Quenton Nelson and Zack Martin, Campbell is going to be a good enough guard to justify drafting him early.
With Nick Saldivieri starting at left guard (and Lucas Patrick getting playing time as his backup), this is a massive hole on the depth chart of the New Orleans Saints. Campbell is a day-one starter with the potential to be an All-Pro guard, and this is the move the Saints make here.
It also helps that Campbell could play tackle in a pinch if needed too.
7. Las Vegas Raiders: RB Ashton Jeanty, Boise State
The Las Vegas Raiders are certainly not in a position to make a luxury pick. However, taking the wrong quarterback over a luxury pick would be an even worse decision. And that is what they’d be doing here.
So fuck it, we ball.
After letting Josh Jacobs walk in free agency, the Raiders have perhaps the worst running back room in the NFL. Boise State’s Ashton Jeanty will change that. Far and away the best running back in this class, Jeanty is putting himself into the same tier of back that Bijan Robinson, Ezekiel Elliott, and Saquon Barkley did as prospects: One worthy of using a top-10 pick on.
8. Cleveland Browns: WR Luther Burden III, Missouri
This was a huge internal debate between Missouri receiver Luther Burden III and Texas offensive tackle Cameron Williams.
Ultimately, it came down to how the offensive line in Cleveland can play when the quarterback gets the ball out on time. And it turns out it’s quite well! Dawand Jones made his debut at left tackle last week and right tackle Jack Conklin is still under contract (while still a potential cap casualty).
So why not go out and get a YAC monster who can win at every level of the field to play Z? Burden would bring a creative element to the Cleveland offense that will take the pressure off of the quarterback by giving him a playmaker who can get into space and become a threat to break any tackle in the open field.
9. Miami Dolphins: OT Cameron Williams, Texas
One of my personal favorite young prospects in the class, Texas right tackle Cameron Williams is just 21 years old and in his first season as a full-time starter. And that shows when turning on his tape as there are still warts to work through with his punch timing and how he balances his weight over his base.
However, the tools are off the charts. He is perhaps the only offensive tackle in the class with legitimate OT1 tools. The length, the size, the foot speed, and the play strength are all evident with Williams.
With the aging and declining play of Terron Armstead in Miami, the Dolphins take a chance on those tools here.
10. New York Giants: QB Cam Ward, Miami
I’ve made it well known that I believe this is a one-quarterback class with Shedeur Sanders at the top.
However, supply and demand at the most important position in professional sports always elevates more to the top of the draft. This could turn out like 2013 and 2022 where only one quarterback did go in the first round and that wouldn’t shock me, but the New York Giants are so desperate to move on from Daniel Jones.
Miami’s Cam Ward is a flashy playmaker who lacks substance when asked to play on time and in structure. However, there is no doubting the physical tools. That’s enough to entice the Giants here to get them past their mistake of extending Jones.
11. Cincinnati Bengals: EDGE Abdul Carter, Penn State
There is no way around paying both wide receivers in Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins. Their offense revolves around their two playmakers doing just that. But that also means the Cincinnati Bengals will have to make concessions on the defensive side of the ball.
This means that Trey Hendrickson likely walks this offseason, piling onto an already depleted defensive line. This makes Penn State edge rusher the perfect pick here at pick No. 11. He’s a Penn State athlete who is getting better every game in his first time since switching from an off-ball hybrid to a full-time pass rusher.
That’ll do in Cincinnati.
12. Los Angeles Rams: OT Kelvin Banks Jr., Texas
The Los Angeles Rams have a ton of holes on their roster. And at premium positions too, which is potentially frightening for the future of that franchise. They address one of those premium positions here taking Texas left tackle Kelvin Banks Jr.
While I question his athletic upside and actual ability to perform sets at depth (he’s just asked to jump set everything in sight!), he is strong as an ox, has vice grips for hands, and has taken strides forward in his technique in 2024. As just a true junior as well, there is no reason to think he cannot just keep getting better.
13. Dallas Cowboys: WR Isaiah Bond, Texas
One pairing that I just cannot get out of my head as a perfect duo on paper is Texas wide receiver Isaiah Bond with the Dallas Cowboys.
Brandin Cooks is aging and the Cowboys have to do anything possible to not move CeeDee Lamb out of a role that has made him an All-Pro. This means they need to get a guy who can burn from the X and still command enough attention for Lamb to remain one of the league’s best game-breakers deep over the middle of the field and across the hashes.
Bond has sudden hips that allow for him to run every route in the book and more than likely runs his 40-yard dash in the 4.3s. This is the perfect pairing with Lamb and perfect replacement for the aging Cooks.
14. Indianapolis Colts: CB Shavon Revel Jr., East Carolina
You cannot win in the NFL with Day 3 and undrafted free agent cornerbacks. It cannot happen. And that’s what the Indianapolis Colts are doing right now except a Pro Bowl nickel cornerback in Kenny Moore II.
This has to be their priority in the 2025 NFL Draft and what they address here by selecting the East Carolina standout Shavon Revel Jr. with pick No. 14. Yes, Revel tore his ACL in September and will miss the rest of the season and probably the NFL Scouting Combine as well. There is hope, however, that he can perform for his pro day.
Regardless, an NFL scout told me nobody is worried about a September ACL tear as he will be ready to return to the field by the start of training camp and maybe even OTAs and minicamp.
This is great news for the Colts here.
15. Tampa Bay Buccaneers: EDGE James Pearce Jr., Tennessee
Once thought of as perhaps the best player in the draft class, Tennessee edge rusher James Pearce Jr. has slowly fallen down boards. He is now seen as a player to be selected in the 10-15 range after a slow start to his season, meddled by an injury.
Since entering SEC play, however, Pearce has begun to pick the pace up again, most recently in a dominant performance against Alabama. If he keeps this up, he could once again dominate the EDGE1 conversation.
For now, he lands with the Buccaneers who are still looking to replace Shaq Barrett. Former first rounder Joe Tryon-Shoyinka has not panned out, so the Buccaneers need someone to join the breakout player YaYa Diaby as his partner in crime. Pearce becomes that man.
16. Seattle Seahawks: OT/G Jonah Savaiinaea, Arizona
One of the most improved offensive linemen this year is Arizona’s Jonah Savaiinaea, who was already pretty damn good in 2023. He did, however, have some overactive and overaggressive feet that led to a tendency to overset and give pass rushers an easy path to the inside shoulder.
That tendency has been erased. Like the rest of the tackles in this class, many want Savaiinaea to kick inside at the NFL level. However, he is one of the few tackles who I think can hang as a tackle at the NFL level (after all, he does have confirmed 34.5-inch arms).
The Seahawks need a right tackle and a guard, so Savaiinaea can wear whatever hat they want him to. Besides, he has starting experience at right tackle, right guard, and left tackle during his time with the Wildcats.
17. San Francisco 49ers: EDGE Mykel Williams, Georgia
Teams are going to love Mykel Williams. Even if he hasn’t hit his max potential at Georgia, and even if he has had some issues staying healthy and on the field. Williams is explosive as hell, built in a lab, and possesses massive 36-inch arms with the bend to win along the outside track as well.
The San Francisco 49ers are currently paying Leonard Floyd on a two-year deal, but have the ability to get out of it with minimal dead money if they need to after the season. Behind their starters of Nick Bosa and Floyd as well, the 49ers are baren off the edge.
They get Williams here.
18. Chicago Bears: EDGE Nic Scourton, Texas A&M
There is some buzz that the NFL could be even lower on Texas A&M pass rusher Nic Scourton than a mid-first round pick. That is crazy to me, however, as Scourton continues to put his talent on display against the best competition in the nation.
Most recently? Scourton got the best of Will Campbell and Emery Jones Jr. in the Aggies’ come-from-behind win over LSU.
He has a massive body type (he’s just 20 years old with plenty of opportunity to tune it up as well!), can win along the outside track, cross face back inside, and through the chest. It’s hard to figure out what is missing from his game.
Frankly, Demarcus Walker and Darrell Taylor are not going to cut it otherwise opposite of Montez Sweat in the Windy City. Austin Booker has flashed his talent in the preseason but is not a three-down player.
The Bears take Scourton here to pair him with Sweat.
19. Arizona Cardinals: S Malaki Starks, Georgia
Budda Baker has been a mainstay in the desert for seven years but is now set to hit the open market after the season. The Arizona Cardinals may have to replace one of their best players in a rather dry era of talent over the last half-decade.
So why not do it with one of the best players in the entire class?
Malaki Starks is rangy, has elite ball skills, and has been instilling fear into opposing quarterbacks since his very first game as a true freshman in 2022. But he plays safety, and we know safeties tend to get pushed down the board.
That is to the reward of the Cardinals.
20. Los Angeles Chargers: TE Tyler Warren, Penn State
This might be a shocking pick, but you can’t tell me that an NFL team won’t overdraft a 6-foot-6 and 260-pound freak athlete. Penn State tight end Tyler Warren has put it together as a receiving threat this season, even if his massive frame could be a better blocker (he’s a converted quarterback, give him some coaching).
Warren has the makings of a player that Jim Harbaugh will love. The Chargers are seeing some top-tier play from Justin Herbert right now despite the lack of talent from his pass catchers. Warren is a mismatch nightmare, impossible to defend at the catchpoint, and has even proven to be a tight end worth investing manufactured touches in given his body of work after the catch.
21. Atlanta Falcons: EDGE Shemar Stewart, Texas A&M
Atlanta Falcons’ head coach Raheem Morris loves hybrid defensive linemen he can move around and create mismatches with upfront. He’s going to love Texas A&M’s Shemar Stewart.
An elite athlete with a ton of explosiveness, Stewart plays predominantly off the edge at a massive 6-foot-6 and 290 pounds. The closest body type to his that we have seen in the NFL off the edge is future Pro Football Hall of Famer J.J. Watt.
Stewart has shown the ability to kick inside and hold his own as well. For a team that has struggled to generate pressure up front this season, Stewart has the chance to be a foundational piece in Atlanta.
22. Denver Broncos: TE Colston Loveland, Michigan
The Denver Broncos lack play-making pass catchers and the best available one is a tight end. Which is fine for the Broncos because they lack a top-end tight end as well. Here they land Colston Loveland, the Michigan standout who can win at X, as a big slot, and a little bit in-line.
He cannot block, but that hasn’t stopped Sean Payton in the past as he turned another athletic specimen into an All-Pro despite his inability to block in Jimmy Graham.
Loveland is quite a bit thinner than Graham was and does not win in the same way that Graham did, but you get the sentiment. Loveland is a smooth separator who makes life difficult on all of nickels, safeties, and linebackers. If you can find a role for his unique play style, he is worth the first round pick.
23. Baltimore Ravens: OT Joshua Simmons, Ohio State
Despite his season-ending due to a knee injury, Ohio State offensive tackle has the athletic profile and tape against Big Ten opponents to justify using a first round pick. And with Ronnie Stanley set for free agency after the season, Simmons may just be the answer at left tackle for Lamar Jackson and company.
His foot speed is top-notch, his ability to climb and get wide is spectacular, and Simmons has displayed a much more controlled and well-timed punch this season with the Buckeyes. His tape against Iowa and Michigan State was OT1-worthy.
Baltimore takes that risk here late in Round 1 that they are going to get an elite pass protector back from injury.
24. Philadelphia Eagles: DL LT Overton, Alabama
Over two years, the Philadelphia Eagles will have lost two mainstays on their defensive line. Fletcher Cox retired after last season, and Brandon Graham is retiring after this season. Both of these players have proven to have inside-out lethality, and the Eagles will miss that versatility.
Alabama’s LT Overton can offer them that.
After transferring over from Texas A&M this season, The 6-foot-5 and 283-pound Overton has played 228 snaps outside of the tackle, 58 snaps as a five-tech over the tackle, and 28 snaps as a three-tech. And he has produced everywhere already racking up 30 pressures, two sacks, and 13 stop tackles along the talented Crimson Tide defensive line.
25. Pittsburgh Steelers: WR Emeka Egbuka, Ohio State
The Pittsburgh Steelers need a glue guy offensively. George Pickens is lethal down the field and has superb hands and ball skills, but they do not have someone who will dominate at the short and intermediate levels of the field to give whoever their quarterback will be in 2025 a valve under pressure.
Ohio State’s Emeka Egbuka, while he lacks a dominant physical trait, is that guy. He’s refined, and smooth, knows how to hunt out green grass and present his number, and will make life easier on his quarterback.
He’ll block his ass off too, winning over the heart of head coach Mike Tomlin in record time.
Egbuka is a pick that may not turn out to be a consistent 1,100-yard receiver, but you’re not going to miss on him.
26. Minnesota Vikings: CB Tacario Davis, Arizona
Currently starting the veteran Stephon Gilmore at cornerback, the Minnesota Vikings need a long-term answer at the position. Here they do that while adding a player with the mindset of their defensive coordinator in Arizona’s Tacario Davis.
This would be a scheme change for Davis, who is predominantly a Cover 1/Cover 3 island cornerback at Arizona and Flores runs a lot of Cover 2/Cover 4 on the backend. However, Cover 4 typically involves a ton of vertical matching anyways.
Besides, Davis has great eyes and instincts anyway so the transition does not defeat the talent here. Jimmys and Joes overrule Xs and Os as the Vikings take the long and fluid Davis.
27. Buffalo Bills: DT Derrick Harmon, Oregon
Given their draft slot and the talent left on the board vs. their team needs, the Buffalo Bills are perhaps the hardest team to pick for in a mock draft. Here, however, we take a look at the interior of their defensive line and select just the second defensive tackle in this exercise.
The Bills pair Oregon breakout player Derrick Harmon with Ed Oliver with the 27th pick in this mock draft. The 6-foot-5 and 310 defensive tackle transferred to Oregon from Michigan State after three unproductive years with the Spartans.
This season, however? Harmon has racked up 32 pressures, three sacks, 11 stop tackles, and two forced fumbles for the Ducks. In a defensive tackle class that is failing to produce as expected, Harmon hops the likes of Ohio State’s Tyleik Williams and Michigan’s Kenneth Grant here to land in the first round.
28. Green Bay Packers: EDGE Landon Jackson, Arkansas
The Green Bay Packers need to create more pressure, and they’re going to have to do it while potentially looking to replace a veteran mainstay in Preston Smith.
Enter the flexible 6-foot-6 and 270-pound Arkansas pass rusher Landon Jackson. A man his size should not be able to move the way he can along the outside should of opposing offensive tackles, but he can. He is putting together some wildly impressive tape for the Razorbacks this season.
Jackson is averaging four pressures per game over his last six, including four against the LSU duo of offensive tackles. His bend is immaculate as an apt player comp for Jackson may just be Gumby.
That’s the direction the Packers go here.
29. Washington Commanders: EDGE/LB Jalon Walker, Georgia
Dan Quinn had Micah Parsons with the Dallas Cowboys. Dan Quinn has Frankie Luvu for two more years in Washington to play a pseudo-Micah role. However, he drafts another similar hybrid linebacker here to do the same thing and give him even more defensive flexibility in Georgia’s Jalon Walker.
While he has a sawed-off body type, Walker is explosive with closing speed to hunt down any opposing quarterback outside of structure. Does he have the size to hang full-time off the edge? Likely not, but a base down linebacker you can deploy as a pass rusher in obvious passing situations?
Sign me up.
30. Houston Texans: OG Tyler Booker, Alabama
The Houston Texans are going to get C.J. Stroud killed, and much of it has to do with the play of their guards. They address that at the backend of this 2025 NFL Draft simulation.
Alabama’s Tyler Booker is an elite pass protector along the Crimson Tide offensive line. And it looks like he transformed his body this offseason as well entering a crucial 2024 season. Why take a tackle like Emery Jones Jr. or Aireontae Ersery that many project inside to guard when you can just take the best true guard in the class?
31. Detroit Lions: OT/G Emery Jones Jr., LSU
Do the Detroit Lions need another edge rusher to bookend with Aidan Hutchinson? Yeah. Was there a massive run on EDGEs before they got on the board here? Yeah. Instead, they address another need: offensive guard.
With Graham Glasgow and Kevin Zeitler 32 years old and 34 years old respectively, it’s time for some youth in Detroit. Zeitler is a free agent after this season as well after signing just a one-year deal.
While Emery Jones Jr. plays right tackle and has not quite taken the leap I had hoped he would in 2024, his athletic traits are off the charts and his strengths will correlate directly to the next level (namely his core strength and recovery ability). He is projected, along with the majority of tackles in this class, to move inside to guard at the NFL level.
32. Kansas City Chiefs: TE Gunnar Helm, Texas
The production of Travis Kelce has significantly decreased despite the lack of an additional pass catcher in the Chiefs’ offensive line. There is a reason to believe this has to do with Father Time. It might be time to look for his heir apparent, even if the Chiefs extend Kelce for another year or two.
The third tight end off the board here in the first round is Texas’ Gunnar Helm. He’s not at the level of an athlete that Warren or Loveland are, but he is silky smooth as a route runner and with the ball in his hands. His ability to whip his head around in passing windows and anticipate the football will go so well with Patrick Mahomes.
And he can block. Not that blocking has mattered too much for the Chiefs from their top tight end.