A five-minute guide to the 2025 NFL Draft: Teams, players and streams to watch

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Inside: Who are the teams to watch? Which players are attending? What does Vegas expect to happen? All that and more in today’s draft primer.

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NFL Draft 2025: Everything you need to know

The Titans are expected to kick things off by making Miami QB Cam Ward their first No. 1 pick since the Houston Oilers drafted Hall of Fame RB Earl Campbell in 1978.

After that, no one really knows. Seriously. NFL Draft expert Dane Brugler’s top two prospects — CB/WR Travis Hunter and edge Abdul Carter — are expected to go No. 2 and 3, respectively, but there are still questions over who takes them, as the Browns and Giants are reportedly fielding calls from teams eager to move up.

While the host city of Green Bay prepares for an expected 250,000, nearly three times the crowd of a typical Packers home game, let’s quickly cover what you should know:

Schedule 

Round 1: Picks 1 (Titans) through 32 (Eagles) start tonight at 8 p.m. ET

Rounds 2 and 3: Picks 33 (Browns) through 102 (Lions) begin Friday at 7 p.m. ET

Rounds 4 through 7: Picks 103 (Titans) through Mr. Irrelevant, No. 257 (Chiefs), get underway on Saturday at noon ET

Attendance

Ward, Hunter and Carter are three of the 16 prospect attending in person, a list that includes Alabama QB Jalen Milroe (but not Ole Miss QB Jaxson Dart, who backed out). Is Milroe confident in his first-round prospects, hence the decision to attend in person? Jayna Bardahl explains how prospects make that call.

Some suspect he could endure a Lamar Jackson-like experience. Back in 2018, Jackson, then a Louisville star, spent the entire first round in the green room before the Ravens — who passed on him at 22, when this photo was taken — traded up to draft him at No. 32. The Athletic’s story on the 2018 QB situation is an eye opener filled with secrets and deceit. Even for prospects staying home, like Colorado’s Shedeur Sanders, the wait can be painful.

Players to watch

Keep an eye out for the top players at their respective positions — like Boise State RB Ashton Jeanty (Dane’s No. 3 overall prospect) — as well as these risers:

• Ole Miss DT Walter Nolan (No. 31 overall) is gaining steam as an early pick who could go 11th to the 49ers.
• Texas OL Kelvin Banks Jr. (No. 26) is now the betting favorite to land with the Raiders at No. 6.
• Texas A&M edge Shemar Stewart (No. 9), who could go as early as ninth or fall in the late first.

Like it or not, you’ll also hear plenty about this draft’s most discussed player, Shedeur Sanders. Dane’s final mock has the Steelers passing on Sanders at No. 21 before the Giants trade up for Dart. Sanders falls to the second round, where the Browns could reunite him with Colorado teammate Hunter.

Streams

You can watch the draft on ABC, ESPN and NFL Network. As a fan of intelligent discourse and a company man, I’ll be streaming “The Athletic Football Show” live at 7:30 p.m. ET on YouTube both tonight and tomorrow evening, when hosts Robert Mays and Derrik Klassen are joined by draft gurus Dane Brugler and Bruce Feldman to break down every first-round move.

Tabs to open

Our live blog follows each pick with insights from beat writers and NFL insiders throughout. The consensus big board helps you ensure your favorite team is drafting values. (In related news, if the Bengals don’t draft a defensive player on Day 1, I’ll consider a class action suit for negligence, alleging distress).

Teams to watch

The Vikings are paying the price for their two first-round trades last offseason, holding an NFL-low four picks in this year’s draft. They could change that by moving back. Other trade candidates include the Ravens and 49ers, both holding a league-high 11 draft picks, and the Seahawks, the only team with five picks in the top 100.

Things to yell

A nice “BOO” when NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell first appears will always get a laugh at draft parties. Screaming, “THIS IS THEIR YEAR,” after the Bears, Cowboys or Steelers pick is also funny.

Bold takes

I want to hear from you — what are your boldest takes on tonight’s first round? Submit your answer here. I’ll go first: At least four quarterbacks and four receivers go in the first round tonight. Tomorrow, we can briefly compare expectations to results.

Stats to know

Five quarterbacks have second or third-round grades in The Beast (Jaxson Dart, Tyler Shough, Jalen Milroe, Quinn Ewers, Kyler McCord).

Two quarterbacks with second- or third-round grades in 2024 were drafted in the top 12 (Michael Penix Jr. and Bo Nix). Here’s a list of teams who might take a QB tonight.

20.5 percent of draft-day attendees since 2010 were not drafted in the first round. Plenty of others endured painful slides.

40 percent is the hit rate for the first quarterback drafted (i.e. how often they become the best pro passer in that class). Check my math.

Zero players ever accomplished what Colorado’s Travis Hunter did in 2024, which makes scouts and coaches wonder where he’ll play in the NFL. When asked about Hunter’s potential as a receiver, one passing coordinator said this: “Oh my God! He could be Justin Jefferson, but he can really play corner. It’s gonna be an interesting case study because we’ve never seen this.”

Odds to know

Here’s how most sportsbooks are projecting the first-round goes (grain of salt folks, as there was a time when they expected Will Levis to go No. 2 in 2023):

• Ward, Hunter and Carter go top three, followed by LSU OT Will Campbell and Ashton Jeanty.
• Tetairoa McMillan is the first pure receiver drafted, though Texas’ Matthew Golden is a close second.

Sanders is no longer the favorite to land in New Orleans, overtaken by Georgia DE Mykel Williams. The Colorado QB is now expected to land in either Pittsburgh or Cleveland. 👀

Enjoy the draft tonight! We’ll be back tomorrow with grades and round two projections.

Make sure to tune in for “The Athletic Football Show” livestream tonight:

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(Photo:
Gregory Shamus / Getty Images)

This news was originally published on this post .

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