Monday Newsletter: Giants now atop the NFL Draft board, some conflicting QB info, and more!
Get caught up on everything that happened over the weekend!
Welcome back in to this Monday edition of the Daft on Draft NFL Draft newsletter after a long weekend of the College Football Playoffs and the NFL slate!
Ohio State dismantled Tennessee, Penn State throttled SMU, Texas skated past Clemson, and Notre Dame outclassed Indiana. The second round is now set for just about a week away over New Year’s Eve and New Years Day as Ohio State and Oregon get set for a rematch, Penn State takes on Boise State, Texas and Arizona State will go to battle, while Georgia takes on Notre Dame.
There are just two weeks left in the NFL season. Football season is already coming to a close.
So what 2025 NFL Draft repercussions found their way into the headlines over the weekend? That’s what I’m here for. To bring it to you all in one concise newsletter!
A new team picking No. 1 overall
After the Week 16 action that saw the Las Vegas Raiders beating the Jacksonville Jaguars, the New York Giants now sit atop the 2025 NFL Draft board.
And looking at how they’ve been playing I don’t think they’re going anywhere over the next two weeks. They’ll likely take a quarterback despite a weak quarterback class, but will their current regime remain intact?
Here is how the new top-10 shakes out:
New York Giants
New England Patriots
Jacksonville Jaguars
Tennessee Titans
Cleveland Browns
Las Vegas Raiders
Carolina Panthers
New York Jets
Chicago Bears
New Orleans Saints
Cam Ward the early QB1 favorite?
The Athletic’s Jeff Howe has stated that many teams are favoring Ward over Sanders as the first quarterback off the board. He wrote:
"Miami's Cam Ward has the early lead on the race for the draft's QB1, while Colorado's Shedeur Sanders will have his supporters among teams."
Howe went on to add that Sanders will need to ace his interview process in order to find himself as the first quarterback off the board. And I find that hard to buy.
Starting with the next bullet point.
Giants have had plenty of eyes on Colorado games
According to ESPN’s Jordan Raanan, Giants’ general manager has been to Boulder "on multiple occasions” to meet with Deion Sanders and scout his son. Raanan admits that the Giants are doing a ton of research on both Ward and Sanders, however:
"The Giants' fallback—if it didn't work out with Jones—was always to look for a solution in the draft, multiple sources have told ESPN throughout the year… It's hardly a surprise they have heavily scouted at the University of Miami and spent an inordinate amount of time in Boulder and at Colorado games."
Deion went on a podcast and predicted the Giants would predict his son and Shedeur hung out with Giants’ wideout Malik Nabers in New York last week. We are just getting started with the predraft murmurings.
Laremy Tunsil talks about the infamous NFL Draft gas mask
One of the most notable NFL Draft moments over the past decade where when a video of Houston Texans’ offensive tackle Laremy Tunsil smoking weed out of a gas mask moments before the start of the event went live.
Tunsil still managed to be selected 13th overall by the Miami Dolphins and has become one of the NFL’s best offensive tackles since. Tunsil has opened up about the experience, however, nearly nine years later:
"I was panicking a little bit, and I'm just like 'Don't let my mom and my auntie see this… How can we get this cleaned up and remove this as fast as possible?"
ESPN’s DJ Bien-Aime went on to detail from sources around the league how the video impacted Tunsil’s stock. The Baltimore Ravens opted for offensive tackle Ronnie Stanley over him, the Tennessee Titans went with Jack Conklin. The San Francisco 49ers had interest but felt more comfortable with DeForest Buckner’s character check than Tunsil’s as a result of the video.
Tunsil added:
"Once I saw Baltimore and Tennessee, the two teams I know that wanted me, passed on me, it didn't feel good… I really thought I was dropping to the second and third round."
Tunsil has rebounded nicely from the draft day nightmare scenario, however, as he has now made over $121 million throughout his NFL career.
What is coming on Daft on Draft?
It will be another busy week on Daft on Draft. Monday will host a new article outlining one player from each playoff team who helped their 2025 NFL Draft stock over the weekend. Tuesday will see a new mock draft drop.
Dalton and I will record as much as we can over the Christmas season, dropping at least two episodes this week as well. Subscribe and tune in! Draft season is right around the corner and you don’t want to miss out.