Draft Ramblings - Rumors and Musings on the Dawn of the Draft
- John B. Everett
- 8 hours ago
- 4 min read
Draft Day is here! After evaluating hundreds of prospects over the last eight months, conducting mock drafts, ranking prospects, and assessing teams needs, all of this effort begins to payoff as the seven round, 257 pick draft kickoffs tonight at 8 ET from Green Bay, Wisconsin. Let’s take a look at what to expect this weekend as the NFL welcomes a new class of prospects into the ranks.
How Deep is this Draft?
The 2025 NFL Draft is, from top to bottom, an average draft in terms of star power and depth, with few real, blue-chip players. This draft has one of the best and deepest groups of RBs to enter the NFL in over a decade with two RBs – Ashton Jeanty (Boise State) and Omarion Hampton (North Carolina) – who figure to be top 20 picks tonight. Although there are few elite EDGE rushers, the overall depth is very good with potential starters to get drafted on Saturday afternoon. The IDL are an excellent group of prospects with plenty of top shelf players and plenty of depth. Safety is loaded with some very good prospects and solid depth.
The QB position is notably much weaker than the 2024 class with only one QB (Cam Ward) earning a first-round grade and questions abound regarding the other QB prospects available this weekend. WR and CB are average groups of prospects with very few potential starters available and only middling depth.
Draft Tiers
Tier I – Elite Prospects
The 2025 NFL Draft has only a couple of truly special prospects. Namely, CB/WR Travis Hunter (Colorado), EDGE Abdul Carter (Penn State), and RB Ashton Jeanty who are all close to being universally viewed as elite prospects while LB Jalon Walker (Georgia), IDL Mason Graham, OT Will Campbell, OT Kelvin Banks, and TE Tyler Warren have plenty of fans in the scouting community and then the quality of the prospects drops off a bit.
Tier II – Future Starters
This is where the quality and overall depth of this class is displayed. Starting around the 25th pick or so and running through the middle of the third round, many future starters and a few possible stars will get selected. This is where there may be a lot of trade activity as NFL GMs try to trade down and acquire more day 2 picks.
Tier III – Critical Depth
The next tier provides quality depth that is needed later in the season when injuries take a toll across the league. From mid-third round to late in the fifth round, NFL teams will build their roster depth and add prospects to play on special teams next season.
Tier IV – Sleepers & Prospects Who Fall Through the Cracks
The last two rounds of this weekend’s draft will offer few late round sleepers (see SNS’ Deep Dive for a list of 12 potential sleepers) but due to the depth of the RB, EDGE, and IDL classes some potential starters may be found late on Saturday afternoon. The majority of these prospects will have to earn their living on special teams early in their careers.
Rumors
It’s lying season in the NFL and all rumors should be taken with a pinch (or truck load) of salt. But let’s dive into some of the rumors that are in play as the draft prepares to kickoff.
· WR Jameson Williams has unfollowed Detroit Lions’ social media and rumors are swirling that the Lions are going to trade Williams for a top 10 pick this evening. Williams is a dynamic receiving weapon who would rank as the best WR in this year’s draft if he was in it. But Williams is nearing his fifth-year option and the Lions have a lot of contracts to negotiate in the next year – namely EDGE Aidan Hutchinson, RB Jahmyr Gibbs, and S Brian Branch. This is a situation to keep an eye on tonight.
· Rumors out of Chicago have the Bears enamored with Ashton Jeanty and pulling a trade off tonight to move up to the fourth pick to select the Boise State RB. New England would only make this trade if Hunter and Carter are off the board. The Patriots would receive the tenth pick, pick #41 (second round), and a 2026 third round pick. This trade makes a lot of sense for the Patriots who are likely to still get to select one of the top three OTs with the tenth pick (Campbell, Banks, or Membou) but makes less sense for the Bears who have a major need for a blindside protector for Caleb Williams.
· The direction of this year’s draft may hinge on when and who selects QB Shedeur Sanders (Colorado). Sanders could go off the board as high as the second pick (Cleveland) but could fall out of the first round to the Saints at pick #40. Sanders irritated some teams during interviews at the Combine and some question his maturity and leadership skills. Although he has a strong enough arm, it isn’t special and he has only played for his father in college so some NFL teams are concerned how he will handle coaching in the pros. Sanders’ story is likely to be throughline that dominates the first-round tonight.
· EDGE James Pearce (Tennessee) is arguably the best pure pass rusher in this draft besides Carter but he is unlikely to be the second EDGE drafted. NFL personnel departments are concerned about Pearce’s locker room personality. Pearce is viewed as immature and a divisive personality in the locker room. The lack of elite pass rushers should be a boon for Pearce. But if he is seen to be immature, his draft stock is likely to diminish. And so it goes for Pearce who may find himself falling to the bottom of the first round even though he plays like a Top 10 prospect.
· Mike Green (Marshall) led FBS with 17.5 sacks in 2024 and quickly rose up draft boards with a solid week of practice at the Senior Bowl in January. But during Combine interviews, Green admitted to being accused of sexual assault twice while in college, although never arrested nor charged with any crime. He also transferred to Marshall after being dismissed from the University of Virginia and this could impact his draft status tonight as character concerns usually are the reason a prospect falls during the draft.
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