NFL Draft 2025
- Maggie Lipson
- Sep 22
- 5 min read
By Jonah Casel ‘27 (Reporter)
In the middle of each NFL offseason, every team gets the chance to pick the future stars of the biggest football league in the world. This selection is from the college player draft, and it can change a team’s season depending on the abilities of the players they take. In 2025, the 90th NFL draft was held, and there was no shortage of excitement during the three-day event in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The draft is different from every other NFL event because it is about stories, not games. None of the players who join new teams during it have ever played professional football, so there are no objective facts or statistics that prove one player is better than another. This lack of factual information tells the story of surprise risers and fallers in the draft as well as the hidden gems, who emerge not during the draft process, but during the regular season. It is too early to tell who those players will be this season, but NFL fans continue to guess who will be the next breakout player.
The spectacle began with the NFL Commissioner, Roger Goodell, emerging from the green room to a chorus of boos from the fans. This greeting has begun every NFL Draft since 2006, and Goodell has become accustomed to it. The NFL fans hold the Commissioner accountable for the unpopular decisions made by the league over the years, and every NFL Draft begins this way. After a brief introduction with some Green Bay Packers players and local celebrities, the Tennessee Titans were put on the clock with the first overall pick. For months, experts had predicted that the pick would be Cam Ward, a quarterback from the University of Miami. The Titans surprised no one and took the Heisman trophy finalist with their first-round pick. It was a start that players and fans alike believed was coming since the end of the regular season. After the young quarterback walked out of the green room, shook the commissioner’s hand, and put on his new jersey, the draft moved on to the Cleveland Browns and the second pick. The Browns had plenty of needs on both sides of the ball. Deshaun Watson, their quarterback on a contract of over two hundred million dollars per year, has struggled ever since being traded to Cleveland, but the team has committed plenty of resources into making him their quarterback for a long time. It was a tough situation for Cleveland, so they decided to trade down in the first round and collect assets to build up their team in the draft.
Replacing them at the second pick were the Jacksonville Jaguars, a team that had an extremely disappointing 2024 season. Their pick was a no-brainer, as shown by their desire to give up multiple first-round picks just to move up three spots in the draft. It was Travis Hunter, the Heisman trophy-winning phenom from the University of Colorado who plays both wide receiver and cornerback. Hunter is truly a special player, and he looks to shine in Jacksonville, especially because they spent so much to get him. After the future star took the stage, it was the New York Giants on the clock. Despite a need at quarterback, the Giants went for the best talent left in the draft. The player was Abdul Carter, the dominant edge rusher for Penn State University. Carter was raised as a Philadelphia Eagles fan, but he has become their worst nightmare now that he’s a member of their division rivals, the New York Giants.
The betting favorites for each of the top three picks had been selected as predicted, and the draft moved on to pick four, where the New England Patriots took Louisiana State University’s Will Campbell, an offensive tackle. The Patriots got themselves a great player who is committed to protecting their quarterback, Drake Maye, no matter what it takes. In an emotional interview, the six-foot-six lineman said, “I’m going to fight and die to protect [Maye] with everything I’ve got.” The Patriots hope to return to playoff contention this year, and building up their offensive line is an excellent way to do it. After the Patriots, the Cleveland Browns were on the clock for the second time of the night, due to their trade with the Jacksonville Jaguars. They took a powerhouse of a defensive lineman, Mason Graham, from the University of Michigan. The Browns hope that Graham, who has experience winning the National Championship in college, will bring the team a championship of their own.
The top five picks were all expected by fans and analysts, and most of the first round continued like that. Each team made additions to their squad in the first round, with some notable picks being runningback Ashton Jeanty from Boise State University to the Las Vegas Raiders, wide receiver Tetairoa McMillan from the University of Arizona to the Carolina Panthers, defensive tackle Walter Nolen from the University of Mississippi to the Arizona Cardinals, and linebacker Jihaad Campbell from the University of Alabama to the Philadelphia Eagles. The only thing that was out of the ordinary was a player who was not taken: quarterback Shedeur Sanders, son of NFL Hall of Famer Deion Sanders. Not only is Sanders related to one of the greatest football players in NFL history, he was also Mel Kiper Jr. 's top quarterback prospect of all draft-eligible players in 2025.
Sanders was one of the top quarterbacks in the NCAA last season for the University of Colorado, but what caused his draft stock to plummet was his pre-draft interviews. As reported by ProFootballTalk’s Mike Florio, an anonymous NFL assistant coach explained that Shedeur Sanders had one of the worst pre-draft interviews he had ever seen. The coach said, “He’s so entitled. He takes unnecessary sacks. He never plays on time. He has horrible body language. He blames teammates.” Sanders had the talent to be taken in the first round, as shown by NFL draft expert Mel Kiper Jr. having him as the number one quarterback on the board, but no team wanted to deal with his attitude. Sanders fell past the first, second, third, and fourth rounds before finally being taken by the Cleveland Browns in the fifth round. The interesting thing about that specific team taking Sanders is that they had already drafted a quarterback the same day, in the fourth round. It was Dillon Gabriel from the University of Oregon, who had been a finalist for the Heisman trophy along with Sanders’ teammate Travis Hunter. Now, Gabriel and Sanders have to duke it out along with former starters Deshaun Watson, Kenny Pickett, and Joe Flacco for one starting job. It seems as though the Browns have too many cooks in the kitchen, and none of them know how to cook very well at all.
Teams can’t win or lose a Super Bowl just based on a draft class, but they sure can set themselves up for success. This year, the Seattle Seahawks, New York Giants, Philadelphia Eagles, and Tennessee Titans were deemed “draft winners” by experts. On the other hand, the Minnesota Vikings and Cleveland Browns did not put themselves in a position to succeed according to the draft analysts. Only time will tell if these predictions are accurate, but for now, each team will do whatever they can to mold these drafted players into their next superstars.
Comments