It's the third mock draft, and now we have the benefit of Top 30 visits and Vegas favorites.
A "Top 30 visit" refers to a pre-draft meeting between an NFL team and a college football player eligible for the draft. Each team can host up to 30 such players for visits, allowing them to get a more detailed look at the player's character, football acumen, and medical history.
In many ways, Colorado quarterback Shedeur Sanders is the key to projecting this first round, and this time, we examine the news that he might be slipping out of the top five picks. Most prospects might be unhappy to fall, but there's a sense that Sanders' camp would rather take the hit in initial salary to end up in a healthier situation.
Also see:
- 2025 NFL Mock Draft by Meng Song
- 2025 NFL Mock Draft 2.0 by Alfredo Brown
- 2025 NFL Mock Draft 2.0 by Dave Kluge
2025 NFL Mock Draft Round 1
This mock will not project trades.
1. Tennessee Titans - Cam Ward (QB - Miami)
Cam Ward to the Titans is a lock. The team informed other top prospects they don't need to bother visiting. Ward's scouting report lists escapability and big-game clutchness as traits, and as a rookie expected to start day one, these qualities will be tested immediately.
2. Cleveland Browns - Travis Hunter (WR/CB - Colorado)
In the last week, Travis Hunter has overtaken Abdul Carter as the Vegas favorite for number two. As human treasure Sigmund Bloom points out, Hunter to Cleveland means a new rookie WR1 is in town. Whoever the quarterback is, Hunter at wideout is an exciting prospect for dynasty owners.
3. New York Giants - Abdul Carter (ED - Penn State)
It feels right to project the New York Giants drafting this great Penn State prospect... and have him defect back to his hometown Philadelphia Eagles at the age of 27. Fun fact: Carter's father put a squat rack in their rowhouse living room. Bad for feng shui but good for raising NFL prospects.
4. New England Patriots - Jalon Walker (ED/LB - Georgia)
No Carter, no matter. There's still a massive need for pass rush to the Patriots, and Walker has been higher on the league's radar than the internet's all spring. A Sam linebacker with edge rush bend isn't usually a top-ten pick, but this isn't a usual draft at the top end.
5. Jacksonville Jaguars - Mason Graham (DT - Michigan)
This is a boring chalk pick, and everything in my nature is screaming to find a better fit. But Graham fits value and need, and sometimes the boring pick happens. Other possibilities include Tyler Warren and Tetairoa McMillan, but those feel like long shots. Tune in for mock 4.0 to see if I imagine something different.
6. Las Vegas Raiders - Will Johnson (CB - Michigan)
Johnson has been under the radar all draft season due to a hamstring injury, but he has workouts scheduled for April 14, the date this mock will be published. It's not hard to imagine this player living up to his film, and the Tom Brady-Raiders-Michigan connection makes it a smooth decision for all involved.
7. New York Jets - Tyler Warren (TE - Penn State)
The Jets have a choice at 1.07: take the lineman or the pass catcher. While a RAS demon like Armand Membou is very tempting, if the team goes down that road, they will lack any real targets besides Garrett Wilson. I prefer they go pass catcher in the first round and right tackle in the second, but other Jets fans feel differently.
8. Carolina Panthers - Tetairoa McMillan (WR - Arizona)
This feels like the ceiling for McMillan rather than a floor. I grade him more as a late first. Still, the Panthers want to support quarterback Bryce Young, and a jump ball/bad ball specialist like McMillan should be able to start at X and produce immediately.
9. New Orleans Saints - Shedeur Sanders (QB - Colorado)
Sanders could slip further than this, but Vegas has installed him as the favorite for the ninth pick. With news of Derek Carr's shoulder injury and Spencer Rattler as his only backup, the Saints don't have many other plausible options. If they passed on Sanders for a player like Loveland, they'd have to trade back into the round.
10. Chicago Bears - Ashton Jeanty (RB - Boise State)
Another Vegas odds favorite, the thinking behind Jeanty to the Bears is that Ben Johnson needs his version of Jahmyr Gibbs. And while many thought Gibbs going 12 overall was too high, his success and the Super Bowl run of Saquon Barkley have inflated the value of running backs high enough to justify this selection.
11. San Francisco 49ers - Armand Membou - (OL - Missouri)
Careful observers will note that I'm the offensive line specialist and I'm not projecting either Membou or Campbell in the top ten in this mock. Sorry, I see both players as somewhat undersized for tackle, and neither are Quenton Nelson level guards. But Membou could be a star in the San Francisco outside zone scheme.
12. Dallas Cowboys - Matthew Golden (WR - Texas)
There's a scenario where Carolina takes the speedy Golden at 1.08, leaving McMillian to the Cowboys at 1.12. Picks like this often come down to the personal preferences of decision-makers. I favor Golden's skillset over McMillian's, but I don't get a draft pick.
13. Miami Dolphins - Will Campbell (OL - LSU)
The Dolphins lost Terron Armstead this offseason to retirement. And even though Campbell's arm length isn't ideal, he's a technician who played a ton of left tackle in the SEC. Campbell is the Vegas odds favorite to be the first lineman drafted over Membou. If available, the Dolphins wouldn't think about the pick too much.
14. Indianapolis Colts - Colston Loveland (TE - Michigan)
It's not hard to imagine Loveland going higher than this, for example, to New York at 7 or New Orleans at 9. He's an exceptional prospect with a first-round range from 7 to 22. For the Colts at 14, it's the perfect match between player and need.
15. Atlanta Falcons - Mykel Williams (ED - Georgia)
In recent news reports, Williams has real top-ten buzz, linked to Carolina at 1.08. There's also a real possibility that Atlanta will trade this pick to Cincinnati for veteran defensive end Trey Henrickson. However, assuming they stick, players like Williams, Mike Green, or Shemar Stewart remain strong possibilities.
16. Arizona Cardinals - Shemar Stewart (ED - Texas A&M)
The Cardinals need impact players along the defensive line, and they aren't hiding this fact. Besides Stewart, the team has entertained top 30 visits with Walter Nolen, Kenneth Grant, James Pearce Jr., and the Georgia rushers. With this draft board, they opt for Stewart, the freakiest athlete available.
17. Cincinnati Bengals - Kelvin Banks (OL - Texas)
The Bengals are desperate to replace Cordell Volson on the interior. Banks isn't the perfect height for tackle, but that isn't a problem for the Bengals, who want to keep Joe Burrow upright. Gray Zabel and Josh Simmons are also possibilities here, but Simmons' knee situation sounds severe enough to keep him out of the round.
18. Seattle Seahawks - Nick Emmanwori (DB - South Carolina)
The Seahawks could go in several directions here, including offensive and defensive line. But it's fun to imagine Emmanwori going to Seattle and doing his best Kam Chancellor impersonation. This is my mock, and I run a no-nonsense mock, so that's what we're going to do.
19. Tampa Bay Buccaneers - Malaki Starks (S - Georgia)
Defensive help is the order of the day in Tampa Bay. Emmanwori, Jihaad Campbell, and several cornerbacks visited the team. But Bucs GM Jason Licht has often used these visits as a feint and could be secretly hoping for a centerfield player like Starks.
20. Denver Broncos - Emeka Egbuka (WR - Ohio State)
As running back is a huge need, this is Omarion Hampton's chalk territory (or Jeanty's floor if he somehow fell). But if Sean Payton decides to bolster the wide-out corp before the running backs, Egbuka offers the precise running route he values for his offensive system.
21. Pittsburgh Steelers - Jaxson Dart (QB - Mississippi)
With or without Aaron Rodgers, the Steelers don't have a long-term plan at quarterback. Jalen Milroe is another real possibility here, but there's more smoke between Dart and Pittsburgh, who have met with him at the Combine and brought him in for a Top 30 visit.
22. Los Angeles Chargers - Kenneth Grant (DT - Michigan)
Is it lazy to project Jim Harbaugh to draft a key player who helped him win a national championship? Maybe. But with a mercurial talent like Grant (who could go higher, but some worry about his effort level), Harbaugh benefits because he's already solved that puzzle.
23. Green Bay Packers - James Pearce Jr. (Ed - Tennessee)
Pearce is one of a bevy of edge rushers the team has brought in for Top 30 visits. Pearce is incredibly productive and athletic and was the SEC sack leader in 2023. Defensive help is the Packers' early draft priority, and it's probably too early for Shavon Revel Jr.
24. Minnesota Vikings - Derrick Harmon (DL - Oregon)
Harmon led all draftable defensive tackles with 55 pressures last season, which is simply an obscene number. This player has been coasting on athletic ability and will need to learn how to be a pro, but he should have at least a season to do that behind Jonathan Allen.
25. Houston Texans - Gray Zabel (OL - North Dakota State)
Josh Simmons has been a popular mock draft target here, but there isn't a track record of linemen returning from patellar tendon injuries. Zabel rocketed up boards during the Senior Bowl, and while he's more of a wall-off blocker than a dominator, he can start right away at all three interior spots.
26. Los Angeles Rams - Jalen Milroe (QB - Alabama)
A fundamental part of my brain says this feels off: Milroe should go to the AFC North Steelers, and Dart should go to Southern California. But the Rams have brought in this player for a Top 30 visit, and their offensive coaches are known for their creativity. The league has invited Milroe to their green room, and that's usually a good sign.
27. Baltimore Ravens - Nic Scourton (ED - Texas A&M)
The Ravens would seriously consider Mike Green, as that type of sack production is hard to ignore, but the team did not bring Green in for a visit. However, they did bring in Scourton, known for his motor, power, and fit for the 3-4 scheme.
28. Detroit Lions - Mike Green (ED - Marshall)
The Lions had Aidan Hutchinson playing nearly every snap before he got injured, and no other defensive lineman had over fifty-five percent share. As Hutchinson broke down, that clearly can't continue. Green is a beastly pass rusher with off-the-field concerns. The Lions are strong enough as a program to take a risk.
29. Washington Commanders - Josh Conerly Jr. (OL - Oregon)
The Commanders traded for left tackle Laremy Tunsil, but Sam Cosmi tore his ACL in the playoffs. Assuming Brandon Coleman takes over at right tackle, the options to replace Cosmi include Trent Scott, Andrew Wylie, and Cornelius Lucas. They can't afford for that wound to fester. Conerly starts at guard and eventually bumps outside.
30. Buffalo Bills - Shavon Revel Jr. (CB - East Carolina)
Revel is an absolute beast of a human specimen. If it were not for his injury, he'd be a sure-fire top-15 pick. As it stands, he'll be drafted anywhere from 20-32 in the real event. Some playoff team will probably get a CB1 steal at the end of the round.
31. Kansas City Chiefs - Omarion Hampton (RB - North Carolina)
With Kareem Hunt and Isiah Pacheco both entering contract years, the temptation for Andy Reid to take the best available player in Hampton could prove too significant. Both Super Bowl teams, the Chiefs and Eagles, are firm favorites to trade out of the round, as is tradition.
32. Philadelphia Eagles - Donovan Ezeirauku (ED - Boston College)
As a local of nearby Williamstown, NJ, the Eagles don't have to spend an official Top 30 visit on Ezeirauku. This player is highly productive, and the defense isn't scared to employ slightly undersized edges. Again, they probably trade out to round two, but in this mock draft, they draft Ezeiauku to replace Brandon Graham.