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For some football fans, the NFL Draft is a year-long event. The moment that one draft ends, and before all the undrafted free agents are even signed, the next one begins. The “way too early” mock drafts are published, the summer scouting work begins, and the entire process starts over as fans and media analysts begin the search for the next No.
1 pick. For some other football fans, they will wake up on Thursday morning, remember that it is Draft Day, and will start paying attention. If you find yourself in that latter category, this piece is for you.
The starter’s guide to the 2025 NFL Draft. When is the 2025 NFL Draft? The NFL Draft is a three day event starting with the first round on Thursday, April 24 at 8 p.m.
ET. The second and third rounds will take place on Friday, April 25 at 7 p.m.
ET. Finally the draft wraps up on Saturday, April 26 for rounds four through seven, starting at 12 p.m.
ET. Where is the 2025 NFL Draft? Each year the NFL Draft changes cities with the 2025 Draft taking place in Green Bay, Wisconsin. What is the order for the first round? How is the draft order determined? Picks No.
1 through No. 18 are determined by win/loss record from the prior season, with the worst team in the NFL getting the highest pick. If one or more teams are tied on record a tiebreaker procedure is used including strength of schedule, and losing streak to close out the season.
Picks No. 19 to No. 32 are all teams who made the playoffs.
Their draft position is determined by the order they were eliminated in, with then the same tiebreaking procedure being applied. Who will be the No. 1 overall pick? Related The first pick this year will be Miami (FL) quarterback Cam Ward.
The Tennessee Titans honed in on Ward early in the process, and it’s somewhat of a controversial pick with many big boards not having Ward as the best player available. However, in football it’s all about the QB — which is pressuring the Titans to make this pick. Who are some other players to watch? The two players widely considered as the best in this class are Penn State edge rusher Abdul Carter, and Heisman trophy winner CB/WR Travis Hunter.
Hunter plays both positions, and could be the ultimate weapon in the NFL. Another player to keep an eye on is Colorado QB Shedeur Sanders. The son of Deion Sanders, Shedeur is very talented — but questions about his arm strength, as well as how much of a headache his father will be has pushed him down the board.
What are the major storylines? This is a draft class that is lacking high-end, elite NFL talent — but incredibly deep when it comes to great football players. There isn’t much of a difference between picking 9th or 29th, which has led to a lot of speculation teams may look to trade down and accumulate more picks. This means it could be fairly cheap to move up compared to past years, opening the door for teams to land the one player they believe in the most.
There are some fascinating positions groups in the draft. We can start with running back, and one of the most talented groups of ball carriers in recent memory. Ashton Jeanty is expected to be one of the first players drafted on Thursday night, and could come off the board as high as No.
5, which would make him the earliest running back selected since Saquon Barkley came off the board at No. 2 back in 2018. But Jeanty is not the only running back anticipated to be drafted on Thursday night.
North Carolina RB Omarion Hampton is another talented back to watch, and could be in the mix for the Denver Broncos at No. 20. The Ohio State duo of TreVeyon Henderson and Quinshon Judkins are likely Day Two picks, along with Iowa’s Kaleb Johnson, Arizona State ’s Cam Skattebo, and Dylan Sampson from Tennessee.
Miami RB Damien Martinez could sneak into Day Two as well. Pass rusher is another deep group, and while Carter leads the way we could see as many as seven or even eight EDGE defenders come off the board Thursday night. Other pass rushers to watch on Thursday night include Georgia’s Jalon Walker and Mykel Williams, Shemar Steward and Nic Scourton from Texas A&M , Mike Green from Marshall, James Pearce Jr.
from Tennessee, and Donovan Ezeiruaku from Boston College. Of course, quarterbacks always move the needle. As noted above Ward is the likely first-overall selection, with Sanders also expected to be drafted on Thursday night.
After that is anyone’s guess. As is tradition several other quarterbacks have been discussed as potential first-round picks, including Jaxson Dart from Mississippi, Jalen Milroe from Alabama, and Tyler Shough from Louisville. Positional value could push one or more into the first round, but you might see some waiting until Day Two.
Other quarterbacks to watch on Day Two or Day Three include Will Howard from Ohio State, Quinn Ewers from Texas, Kyle McCord from Syracuse, Dillon Gabriel from Oregon, and Riley Leonard from Notre Dame . Those looking for a real deep sleeper at the quarterback position should get to know Taylor Elgersma from Wilfrid Laurier University. WLU is a school in Waterloo, Ontario, and Elgersma led the Golden Hawks to an 8-0 regular season record and a spot in the Vanier Cup, the Canadian College Football Championship Game.
While Laurier lost that game, Elgersma won the Hec Crighton Trophy, Canada’s version of the Heisman Trophy. He earned an invitation to the Senior Bowl , becoming just the second U Sports player to receive an invitation. He completed 4-of-7 passes for 57 yards in the game.
If drafted Elgersma would become the first QB from a Canadian university drafted since the NFL went to a seven-round format in 1994. Who are the best players in the draft? As far as the best players in the draft, we have you covered here with JP Acosta’s big board, featuring his top 100 players in the 2025 NFL Draft. Leading the way? Hunter, the dual threat player from Colorado.
Abdul Carter, Ashton Jeanty, Michigan defensive tackle Mason Graham, and Georgia safety Malaki Starks round out the top five: 2025 Top 100 Big Board b Name Position School Year b Name Position School Year 1 Travis Hunter CB/WR Colorado Junior 2 Abdul Carter EDGE Penn State Junior 3 Ashton Jeanty RB Boise State Junior 4 Mason Graham DT Michigan Junior 5 Malaki Starks S Georgia Junior 6 Tyler Warren TE Penn State Senior 7 Jalon Walker LB/EDGE Georgia Junior 8 Shemar Stewart EDGE Texas A&M Junior 9 Will Johnson CB Michigan Junior 10 Will Campbell OL LSU Junior 11 Armand Membou OT Missouri Junior 12 Josh Simmons OT Ohio State Junior (RS) 13 Tetairoa McMillan WR Arizona Junior 14 Jihaad Campbell LB Alabama Junior 15 Mykel Williams EDGE Georgia Junior 16 Colston Loveland TE Michigan Junior 17 Donovan Ezeiruaku EDGE Boston College Senior 18 Mike Green EDGE Marshall Junior (RS) 19 Derrick Harmon DT Oregon Senior 20 Emeka Egbuka WR Ohio State Senior 21 Kenneth Grant DT Michigan Junior 22 Donovan Jackson OG Ohio State Senior 23 Luther Burden III WR Missouri Junior 24 Jahdae Barron CB Texas Junior 25 Shedeur Sanders QB Colorado Senior 26 Cam Ward QB Miami Senior 27 Azareye'h Thomas CB Florida State Junior 28 Shavon Revel Jr. CB East Carolina Junior 29 Kaleb Johnson RB Iowa Junior 30 Kelvin Banks OL Texas Junior 31 Tyler Booker OG Alabama Junior 32 Marcus Mbow OG Purdue Junior 33 Omarion Hampton RB North Carolina Junior 34 Matthew Golden WR Texas Junior 35 Walter Nolen DT Ole Miss Junior 36 Josh Conerly OT Oregon Junior 37 James Pearce Jr EDGE Tennessee Junior 38 Carson Schwesinger LB UCLA Senior 39 Tyliek Williams DT Ohio State Senior 40 Nic Scourton EDGE Texas A&M Junior 41 Trey Amos CB Ole Miss Senior 42 Maxwell Hairston CB Kentucky Junior (RS) 43 Darius Alexander DT Toledo Senior 44 Jaylin Noel WR Iowa State Senior 45 Omarr Norman-Lott DT Tennessee Senior 46 Xavier Watts S Notre Dame Senior 47 Alfred Collins DT Texas Senior 48 Aireontae Ersery OT Minnesota Senior 49 Charles Grant OT William and Mary Senior 50 Nick Emmanwori S South Carolina Junior 51 Jayden Higgins WR Iowa State Senior 52 Elic Ayomanor WR Stanford Senior 53 Landon Jackson EDGE Arkansas Senior 54 Treyveon Henderson RB Ohio State Senior 55 Tate Ratledge OG Georgia Senior 56 Jamaree Caldwell DT Oregon Senior 57 Tre Harris WR Ole Miss Senior 58 Grey Zabel OG North Dakota State Senior 59 Jonah Savaiinaea OG Arizona Senior 60 Gunnar Helm TE Texas Senior 61 Billy Bowman Jr. S Oklahoma Senior 62 Andrew Mukuba S Texas Senior 63 DJ Giddens RB Kansas State Senior 64 Jack Bech WR TCU Senior 65 RJ Harvey RB UCF Senior 66 Jalen Milroe QB Alabama Junior 67 Darien Porter CB Iowa State Senior 68 Ashton Gillotte EDGE Louisville Senior 69 Bradyn Swinson EDGE LSU Senior 70 Jalen Royals WR Utah State Senior 71 Jacob Parrish CB Kansas State Senior 72 Quinshon Judkins RB Ohio State Junior 73 JT Tuimoloau EDGE Ohio State Senior 74 Oluwafemi Oladejo EDGE UCLA Senior 75 Harold Fannin Jr TE Bowling Green Junior 76 Jalen Travis OT Iowa State Senior 77 Elijah Arroyo TE Miami Senior 78 Benjamin Morrison CB Notre Dame Senior 79 Mason Taylor TE LSU Junior 80 Danny Stutsman LB Oklahoma Senior 81 Princely Umanmielen EDGE Ole Miss Senior 82 TJ Sanders DT South Carolina Senior 83 Kyle Kennard EDGE South Carolina Senior 84 Tory Horton WR Colorado State Senior 85 Demetrius Knight Jr LB South Carolina Senior 86 Kain Medrano LB UCLA Senior 87 Kevin Winston Jr S Penn State Junior 88 Kyle Williams WR Washington State Senior 89 CJ West DT Indiana Senior 90 Quincy Riley CB Louisville Senior 91 Tyler Shough QB Louisville Senior 92 Devin Neal RB Kansas Senior 93 Terrance Ferguson TE Oregon Senior 94 Saivion Williams WR TCU Senior 95 Jonas Sanker S Virginia Senior 96 Jaxson Dart QB Ole Miss Junior 97 Damien Martinez RB Miami Senior 98 Ozzy Trapailo OT Boston College Senior 99 Josh Farmer DT Florida State Senior 100 Jordan Phillips DT Maryland Senior.
