The 2025 NFL Draft is just days away, and the questions many have had for months will finally be answered. CBSSports.com analysts gaze into their crystal balls one final time to predict some of the headlines that will be made later this week.
A year ago, there had been plenty of records set with six quarterbacks taken among the top-12 picks and the first defensive prospect being available until No. 15 overall. Although there may not be as many record breaking moments, the 2025 NFL Draft should provide more mystery than ever with a limited supply of blue-chip, first-round worthy talents at the top.
The Sanders family name has always driven headlines, and soon it will be learned where Shedeur will begin his professional career. The league has never seen a prospect quite like Colorado’s Travis Hunter, who can play two positions on either side of the ball at a high level. How will his future team use him as a rookie?
Those answers and more below.
Ryan Wilson: To the Steelers. Whether that’s a trade-up or at No. 21, we’ll see. But it seems like the Browns and Giants will pass on Sanders at the top of the draft, the Saints could address other needs at No. 9, and there isn’t a QB-needy team between there and Pittsburgh at No. 21.
Josh Edwards: No. 9 overall to the Saints. If not New Orleans, then it gets more difficult to project. It is unknown if he is even Pittsburgh’s quarterback of choice.
Chris Trapasso: One of two places — New Orleans or Pittsburgh. Both are clearly in need of a quarterback, and although Sanders isn’t a premier prospect, I’d be shocked if both pass on him in Round 1.
Mike Renner: To the Giants, but not at 3. I think he’ll fall into a range where they can make a move up from 34 to go get him.
2. How do you project Travis Hunter being used in the NFL?
Wilson: “I feel like I could dominate on each side of the ball.” That’s what Hunter told CBS Sports’ Garrett Podell recently and it’s hard to disagree with him. That said, I think he’s an immediate impact cornerback on Day 1, and you have a package of plays for him on offense as he gets more comfortable on that side of the ball. In the meantime, he’s also an asset in the return game.
Edwards: The expectation is that he will be drafted by the Browns, and Cleveland has stated its plan to allow him to major in wide receiver. Under those circumstances, one would expect him to be used, at the very least, situationally at cornerback and potentially in a more significant role. General manager Andrew Berry recently compared him to Shohei Ohtani of the Dodgers because he can play both at a high level; that does not sound like an organization interested in limiting him.
Trapasso: Ultimately as a wide receiver, but he’ll get serious run on both sides of the ball for a long time.
Renner: Wide receiver who plays red zone at CB. Receiver is a bigger need than corner for both the Browns and the Giants. Plus the red zone is where he’s at his best.
2. Who is the safest prospect in the draft?
Wilson: WR/CB Travis Hunter, Colorado. He’s a Day 1 starting cornerback with some of the best ball skills ever. And he has a chance to be an elite wide receiver. Again, managing his snaps will be the toughest part of drafting Hunter.
Edwards: OT Will Campbell, LSU. Will it work out at left tackle? I think so. If it doesn’t, there is confidence he would play a long time at guard. There are not a lot of “safe” candidates in this draft class.
Trapasso: WR/CB Travis Hunter, Colorado. The only, incredibly minor concern is his lacking size. Then again, he’s not much smaller than many of early-round receivers who’ve been selected in the past few drafts.
Renner: RB Ashton Jeanty, Boise State. Any running back with his kind of burst and contact balance is going to have a very high floor when projecting to the NFL — even if the level of competition wasn’t that of a traditional elite running back prospect.
3. Who is the prospect with the biggest red flag?
Wilson: EDGE James Pearce Jr., Tennessee. He is off some teams’ boards, but if we’re talking strictly on-field production, NFL upside and physical measurables, he’s a top-10 talent. He’s also taken several 30 visits, which indicates that there is still a lot of interest in him. It certainly feels like the Eagles would jump at the chance to take him at the bottom of Round 1.
Edwards: OT Josh Simmons, Ohio State. Yes, Simmons suffered a significant injury that cost him most of the season, but it was also his first year in Columbus. Prior to his time with the Buckeyes, he had played for San Diego State, so there is an even smaller sample size of him performing against Power 4 competition. Coming out of high school, there had been some character concerns as well.
Trapasso: TE Colston Loveland, Michigan. He averaged just 6.8 missed tackles forced per reception in college, which is crazy low for a locked-in first-round tight end prospect.
Renner: WR Isaiah Bond, Texas. Bond has already been arrested on sexual assault charges this spring and didn’t have the best reputation prior to that.
4. Who’s a surprise team who you think will target a QB?
Wilson: Rams. Sean McVay admitted that he hasn’t done a lot of work on this QB class, but for as much as we talk about Shedeur Sanders to the Steelers, the Rams would be a better fit. Better weather, better offense and McVay calling plays. Of course, I could see Kyle McCord having a lot of success in this offense, too, if the Rams decided to wait until after Day 1 to target a QB to serve as Matthew Stafford’s eventual replacement when he retires.
Edwards: Rams. If the question is strictly related to the first round, then it is the Rams. It is unlikely that Las Vegas or Seattle will target the position after moves made this offseason and the Saints, Steelers hardly qualify as a surprise. If the question extends into Day 2, then the Buccaneers and Dolphins could come into play.
Trapasso: Seahawks. Just because they signed Sam Darnold, I don’t think they should (or do) feel completely secure about the long-term future at the quarterback position.
Renner: Ravens. Given Lamar Jackson’s injury history, the Ravens could see Jalen Milroe as a high-end developmental backup who could pay off big dividends down the road. The move would also give the Ravens more leverage in negotiations when Jackson’s contract expires in 2027.
5. Who is one top prospect you expect to slide the furthest?
Wilson: EDGE James Pearce Jr., Tennessee. He’s a top-10 talent who could slide to the bottom of Round 1, or maybe even into Day 2.
Edwards: EDGE Jalon Walker, Georgia. Walker is not going to be for every team because of his size. If those teams do not go in his direction, then a slide begins. I think back to the Nolan Smith draft when he had consistently been mocked early but fell much later than anticipated.
Trapasso: EDGE James Pearce Jr., Tennessee. The lack of buzz for someone who was as productive as Pearce was in the SEC indicates teams must be lower on Pearce due to maturity/or off-field concerns. That’s the only explanation that is sensible to me.
Renner: QB Shedeur Sanders, Colorado. There are a lot of prospects whose draft ranges seemingly fall anywhere from the top-10 to out of the top-25. Sanders, though, takes the cake with rumored ranges all the way from No. 3 overall to outside the first round entirely. I’d bet Sanders ends up closer to the latter.
6. Which player has the chance to be a surprise top-10 pick?
Wilson: CB Jahdae Barron, Texas. Barron reminds me a lot of Brian Branch, the former Alabama standout who slipped to Round 2 because he ran a 4.58-second 40-yard dash at the NFL Scouting Combine. Branch plays a lot faster than he timed, but he’s an example of NFL teams overthinking it. Barron plays fast and he times fast – he ran a 4.39 in Indy – and guess who coached Branch in Detroit? Aaron Glenn, the new Jets head coach. This is all to say that Barron to New York at No. 7 feels like a real possibility.
Edwards: LB Jihaad Campbell, Alabama. The medicals will be incredibly important for Campbell, but the talent is there to be a top-10 selection. One other prospect to consider is Ole Miss defensive tackle Walter Nolen. Interior defenders are a premium and Nolen is a supreme athlete.
Trapasso: CB Jahdae Barron, Texas. There is so much uncertainty in the cornerback class after Travis Hunter. There doesn’t seem to be many questions with Barron.
Renner: S Nick Emmanwori, South Carolina. Top-10 picks are lottery tickets and everyone wants to hit that Powerball jackpot. Emmanwori can be just that with one of the most impressive physical profiles of a safety in NFL history.
7. Which prospect could make the biggest leap into Round 1?
Wilson: EDGE Jalon Walker, Georgia. Jalon Walker might be just 6-foot-1 and just shy of 250 pounds, but his athleticism and versatility (he can play both off-ball and on the edge) make him a popular candidate to go early on Day 1. A week out and there feels like no way he gets past the Panthers at No. 8, and he could even go a few spots higher than that.
Edwards: CB Trey Amos, Ole Miss. Amos is occasionally mocked in the first round, but few view him as a staple. Michigan’s Will Johnson did not solidify himself as a top pick, and some teams will not value Jahdae Barron in the first round, because he is best suited playing over the slot. Amos has checked the boxes that other cornerback prospects have not, so he could stand to rise the highest.
Trapasso: EDGE Donovan Ezeiruaku, Boston College. Even though he’s shorter and smaller, he has long arms, and his volume of productivity improved in his final few seasons at Boston College.
Renner: LB Carson Schwesinger, UCLA. It is not a great linebacker class, and two men have separated themselves from the pack. Jihaad Cambpell looks like a shoo-in at this point, but don’t be surprised if he sneaks into the back of the 20s for a team realizing Schwesinger — or anything close to him — won’t be there in 32 picks.
8. Which prospect could fall out of the first round?
Wilson: RB Omarion Hampton, North Carolina. I’d set the over-under for running backs to go in the first round at 1.5, and while I think Hampton make almost too much sense not to land in Denver with the No. 20 pick, in the live seven-round mock draft we did on “With the First Pick” recently, both tight ends were still available when the Broncos were on the clock and Colston Loveland felt like better value than Hampton there. The UNC running back ended up going to the Patriots at the top of Round 2, which feels like the second-best present you could give a young quarterback after taking left tackle Will Campbell in Round 1.
Edwards: WR Luther Burden III, Missouri. Burden’s performance was not up to the standard that he set for himself in 2023. With no clear pecking order at the position and a greater need for other positions in the back half of the first round, Burden could find himself available once Day 2 begins.
Trapasso: CB Maxwell Hairston, Kentucky. His lack of premier size and off-field concerns would be the culprits.
Renner: EDGE James Pearce Jr., Tennessee. This isn’t much of a hot take as it’s happening in a lot of mocks, but Pearce has a good chance of going far later than his talent suggests.
9. Which team do you expect to make the most surprising pick that shakes up the draft?
Wilson: Seahawks. The Seahawks. And I say this for no other reason than when we think Seattle will zig, GM John Schneider typically zags. Bruce Irvin, Rashaad Penny, LJ Collier, and even Devon Witherspoon were all atypical picks, at least by the standards of media mock drafts. Put another way: everything is on the table when Seattle is on the clock.
Edwards: Saints. Seattle is usually my selection for this category, because general manager John Schneider has the longest track record of shocking selections. Since Ryan mentioned the Seahawks first, I will throw New Orleans’ hat into the ring, because it is also prone to going off the grid.
Trapasso: Rams. They’re always down to do something out of the ordinary in the draft.
Renner: Saints. They can go any which way with a roster full of needs and a murky quarterback situation. Mickey Loomis is no stranger to surprise picks, and that feels even more likely in a jumbled class.
10. Which player is most likely to get traded during draft weekend?
Wilson: QB Kirk Cousins, Falcons. Kirk Cousins seems like an obvious answer, in part because he’s no longer the starter in Atlanta. And for those QB-needy teams who aren’t able to land a passer early in the draft, Cousins becomes a more attractive Plan B, especially if he can get closer to his pre-Achillies-injury form in 2025.
Edwards: CB Jalen Ramsey, Dolphins. Miami seems to be engaging in a bit of a reset, and the book on Ramsey with the Dolphins seems to be closing. Will the Dolphins find a suitor and be able to agree on compensation?
Trapasso: TE Mark Andrews, Ravens. Even though it’s a quality tight end class, Andrews is still a borderline elite-level tight end, and the Ravens won’t be afraid to move him.
Renner: CB Jalen Ramsey, Dolphins. Miami needs to realize quickly its Super Bowl window has slammed shut. It needs to start working cap magic and selling off vets for parts to kickstart its rebuild.
The 2025 NFL Draft will take place from Thursday to Saturday at Lambeau Field in Green Bay, Wisconsin. More draft coverage can be found at CBSSports.com, including daily mock drafts, consensus prospect rankings, biggest team needs and more.
This news was originally published on this post .
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