(Will Johnson / CB / Michigan)
We are three weeks into the 2024 college football season, the first season of the expanded, 12-team playoff, and several trends are beginning to be exposed. 1) The defending National Champion Michigan Wolverines are not the same team that they were last year with an inexperienced QB, lack of talent at WR, and the loss of coach Jim Harbaugh to the NFL. 2) Georgia and Texas are national title contenders led by two potential #1 overall picks at QB in Carson Beck and Quinn Ewers, respectively. 3) Notre Dame and Florida State are not national title contenders at least partially due to subpar QB play and too much preseason hype. 4) The Heisman Trophy Award will once again be earned by a QB. Which QB it will be is still to be determined but seems likely that Beck, Ewers, Jaxson Dart (Ole Miss), Cam Ward (Miami, Fl), and Jalen Milroe (Alabama) are the leading contenders to bring the trophy home in December.
A Way Too Early Look at the Potential 2025 QB Draft Class
The 2024 NFL Draft established a new record with five QBs being amongst the first eleven picks last April. The 2025 QB class does not look like it will provide as many potential franchise QBs as last year’s class but there appears to be a few candidates to be selected in next April’s first round. Beck is likely to be a Top 10 selection due to his size, arm strength, accuracy, and field vision. He is surrounded by elite talent including an NFL quality offensive line, a bevy of talented WRs, and a dominating defense, which all makes his job significantly easier. It is doubtful that he will be surrounded with the relative degree of talent in the NFL he has at his disposal in Athens, but his tools and mental makeup seem NFL ready. Ewers was the top recruit in the country, committed to Ohio State and then transferred to Texas, and is in his second year as the starting QB in Austin. He has steadily improved and is reading coverages much better this season. He has elite arm strength, throws with accuracy/timing/touch, has good mobility, and is beginning to play with the moxie and leadership skills every team seeks in its franchise QB. Dart, a transfer from USC, is a great athlete with excellent arm talent and athleticism. Dart plays for noted QB developer, coach Lane Kiffin, and fits the NFL profile for size, arm strength, and mobility. Dart needs to elevate his performance against better competition, something he has yet to do. But he will have plenty of opportunities to do so this season. Dart could rise rapidly up draft boards with a strong season. Ward considered entering last year’s draft until the Hurricanes came calling and offered him an NIL deal to leave Washington State for south Florida. Ward has a game that is similar to Jalen Hurts and is a natural leader. He has the arm, athleticism, and accuracy to become an NFL starter. Ward needs to prove he can elevate his team in crunch time and should get plenty of opportunities to do so as Miami has become the prohibitive favorite to win the ACC title. Milroe went from fighting for his job to begin the 2023 season to becoming a Heisman Trophy finalist last fall. Milroe is a physical and powerful runner with great arm strength and improving field vision. He needs to work on accuracy and touch but the progress he made over the course of a single season is very encouraging and makes Milroe a first-round candidate next April. Shedeur Sanders (Colorado) has received more hype than he has earned praise from his play on the field. But Sanders has the skill set NFL teams covet – arm strength, accuracy, and pocket presence. However, his field vision is still lacking as he holds on to the ball waiting for the receiver to get open as opposed to throwing with anticipation and he tries to play “hero” ball too often and force throws into coverage. If Sanders can improve his vision and continue to mature, he could be a starting QB in the NFL.
The 2025 TE Class Could be Very Good
The 2023 TE class may have been the best recent class for providing complete TEs that are athletic enough to create mismatches downfield with enough size and strength to provide a competent level of in-line blocking – Sam LaPorta (Detroit), Dalton Kincaid (Buffalo), Luke Musgrave and Tucker Kraft (Green Bay) all look like long term NFL starters and contributors. The potential 2025 TE class may be nearly as deep with prospects as the 2023 class with a couple of them looking like possible first round picks. Colston Loveland (Michigan) is in his third year starting for the Wolverines and checks every box a scout looks for in a TE – he has the frame, mass, and length desired, to go along with soft hands, agility, speed, and power to be a threat with the ball downfield. TEs do not often get drafted in the first round but Loveland looks likely to break that trend when he enters the draft. Luke Lachey (Iowa) missed almost the entire 2023 season so how he performs this season will determine his draft future. But based on how he looked in 2022, Lachey looks like the next great Iowa TE with the size, athleticism, and blocking skill to be a 10-year contributor in the NFL. Lake McCree (USC), like Lachey, missed most of last season with injuries but has flashed NFL skills. He’s athletic in space with good size and reliable hands. He needs to prove he can be a quality in-line blocker and stay healthy but he looks like an NFL player. Mitchell Evans (Notre Dame) has prototypical size with the strength to be effective as a run blocker with the speed and route running skill to be a reliable midfield passing option. He is still recovering from a season-ending injury suffered last season and should be nearer to full health when the post season prospect assessment period begins in earnest later this year. Caden Prieskorn (Ole Miss) had a breakout season last year and hopes to build on it this year. Prieskorn has the frame and length desired at TE and is already a proven receiving threat. He needs to continue to develop as an in-line run blocker but looks like a future Pro Bowl player if he continues to develop. Mason Taylor (LSU) was a much-ballyhooed recruit when he signed with the Tigers out of high school and has started to reach his hype. The son of Hall of Fame Edge Rusher Jason, Taylor has an ideal combination of size, length, and athleticism and separates easily from man coverage. His pedigree and experience starting for three years in the SEC should make him a high draft pick when he declares for the draft. Rivaldo Fairweather (Auburn) needs development as a run blocker but his speed and elusiveness make him a challenging cover for LBs and safeties. Fairweather is flying under the radar somewhat but he has tremendous upside that may make him the most promising TE in the 2025 draft class.
Texas Longhorns Have the Best Offensive Line in the Nation
One of the main reasons that the Michigan Wolverines were so dominate over the last few seasons is the NFL quality offensive lineman produced by the school. As witnessed in the Longhorns’ destruction of Michigan at the Big House, Texas has adopted a similar approach with a domineering offensive front that dictated the action last Saturday. Texas is led by potential #1 overall pick Kelvin Banks, a three-year starting OLT with the frame, mass, and length to be a Pro Bowl level player. There is some thought in scouting circles that Banks may play guard in the NFL. He certainly could flourish there but he seems like a natural blindside protector and will likely be drafted for that role. Although not as highly rated as Banks, center Jake Majors and left guard Hayden Conner are NFL starting caliber IOL who should earn mid-round grades next spring. Both Majors and Conner have excellent size and good movement skills. Majors, specifically, has the football IQ and leadership skills that every team wants at center. The right side of the line is manned by two talented juniors. Right guard DJ Campbell and ORT Cam Williams are two huge prospects with large wingspans and solid movement skills who look like strong candidates to get drafted in 2026.
Return of the Lockdown CB
2025 could be the year where the era of the true lockdown CB returns. In actuality, lockdown CBs have never gone away. Patrick Surtain II and Sauce Gardner can line up across from and neutralize any WR in the NFL on any single snap. The problem is that the proliferation of bigger WRs has grown disproportionately more than the growth of similar sized CBs who can match up with the WRs downfield. That may be beginning to change with the potential CBs who may be available next April. Will Johnson (Michigan), Benjamin Morrison (Notre Dame), and Travis Hunter (Colorado) all have the mental makeup and athleticism required to match up with the elite WRs in the NFL. Johnson, SNS’ #1 ranked CB in the preseason, is a former 5-star recruit who has lived up to the hype. Johnson has been a major contributor and star from the moment he walked on campus. At 6’2” he has the frame and length coveted by defensive coordinators with the agility and explosiveness rarely found at CB. He is a playmaker and clutch performer who looks like a Top 10 pick next spring. Morrison has good height and length but does not have the frame or length of either Johnson or Hunter. But what Morrison excels at is getting after the ball – he has 14 INTs over the last 2+ years in South Bend. He is fluid and fast and has the short area reaction skills required to line up across from elite WRs. Hunter is the most intriguing prospect who could be available next April. He grades out as a potential first round pick at both CB and WR. In fact, the team who drafts him may try to play him at both positions like how he has been used at Colorado. But playing 80+ snaps a game is not the way to have a long and productive NFL career. So, Hunter will have to eventually choose a position to focus on. The bet here is that he sticks at CB where his height, length, quickness, and ball skills are harder to find then his skills are to duplicate at the WR position. Hunter has the moxie and swagger that is reminiscent of his coach, Deion Sanders and has the potential to be SNS’ highest rated CB since Charles Woodson entered the NFL in 1997.
Who Will Go First Overall Next April?
Unlike last season when Caleb Williams was the consensus top prospect from the beginning of training camps in August until the draft in April, the 2025 NFL Draft does not appear to have a consensus prospect that looks a cut above the rest of the class. Three QBs (Beck, Ewers, and Sanders), a pair of OLTs (Banks and LSU’s Will Campbell), a trio of EDGE rushers (Harold Perkins – LSU, Mykel Williams – Georgia, and James Pearce – Tennessee), a stud DT (Mason Graham – Michigan), and two potential generational CBs (Johnson and Hunter) appear to be the leading contenders to go #1 next April. The college season has only just begun so this will likely sort itself out over the course of the next couple of months. The early money is on Carson Beck and Quinn Ewers but all of these players have the skills and upside to deserve consideration as the best prospect in the 2025 NFL Draft.
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