4 bold predictions for the 2025 NFL Draft

From Ashton Jeanty’s draft spot to some big trades, here are some bold predictions for the 2025 NFL Draft

Well, we made it friends.

Draft Day is here, and in just a few hours every “bold prediction” made in this piece will either look like a brilliant bit of forecasting, or just another handful of spaghetti thrown at the pre-draft wall.

Here’s hoping we get at least one of these right.

Ashton Jeanty comes off the board at No. 5

The NFL is, if nothing else, a copycat league.

Something works for one team on their way to a Super Bowl, and soon enough 31 teams are trying to emulate that blueprint. Case in point? Some of the discussion about the Philadelphia Eagles coming out of Super Bowl LIX, and how that has framed the thinking among teams heading into the 2025 NFL Draft.

One such team is the Las Vegas Raiders, who sit at No. 6 and have been linked to Boise State RB throughout the pre-draft cycle. Here is what their new general manager, John Spytek, had to say about the position just days ago:

We just saw Saquon Barkley just change the Eagles in one year. Now they had a great team around him and it was adding an elite player. I think when you sit where we sit, I mean the idea is to add elite players at any position. I don’t try to devalue any certain position. ... There [are] certain ways to build a team, and I don’t know where we got to a place where we don’t feel like running backs are valued. I come from the University of Michigan to my core, and those guys were certainly really valued there, so it’s hard for me to get away from that.

However, he might not get the chance to turn that card in.

The Jacksonville Jaguars sit at No. 5, and if you are a team looking to add Jeanty — and there are a few — getting to No. 5 might be the only way to guarantee you can draft Jeanty.

A team will make that move. Best guess sitting here just one day before the draft? That team is the Chicago Bears. There have been rumblings of Ben Johnson looking to recreate what he had in Detroit with Jahmyr Gibbs and David Montgomery, in Chicago with Jeanty and D’Andre Swift.

A move to No. 5 would guarantee that.

Of course, many believe that Jacksonville themselves might draft Jeanty at No. 5. Peter Schrager in his only mock draft of the season put that scenario out into the world.

We thought Jeanty was going at No. 6, but now No. 5 seems the spot.

Round 1 has more RBs and TEs than QBs and WRs

In recent years, quarterbacks and wide receivers have moved the needle.

But this year might be different.

Questions linger about the quarterbacks throughout this draft class. Cam Ward is expected to go first overall to the Tennessee Titans, but after that, the questions begin. When will Shedeur Sanders come off the board? Will any quarterbacks — Jaxson Dart, Jalen Milroe, or Tyler Shough for example — join him in the first round?

There is a chance we see just the two QBs in the first on Thursday night.

Then there are the wide receivers. While this is a deep group, we might also see just a pair of WRs on Thursday night in Tetairoa McMillan and Matthew Golden. After that? There seem to be a lot of solid Day Two options.

Turning to tight ends, three are likely to come off the board in the first round: Tyler Warren from Penn State, Colston Loveland from Michigan, and Mason Taylor from LSU. There is even a chance that a player like Elijah Arroyo from Miami will join them.

As for the running backs, Jeanty is a first-round lock, and it seems Omarion Hamption is as well (we’re looking at you, Sean Payton). Ohio State teammates TreVeyon Henderson and Quinshon Judkins are both knocking on the first-round door as well.

When the first round ends on Thursday, chances are we have more RBs and TEs taken than we do WRs and QBs.

Cleveland Browns trade out of the second overall pick

Since the NFL combine, the Browns have seemed to be locked into selecting one of four prospects with the second overall pick. QB Cam Ward is going to be gone, QB Shedeur Sanders doesn’t fit the valuation, which leaves DE Abdul Carter and WR/CB Travis Hunter.

GM Andrew Berry has usually said nothing about anything related to his team and roster. This year, Berry has been effusive in his praise of a few prospects and seemingly signaled that the team is drafting Hunter with the second overall pick (as well as hinting at wanting to draft QB Jalen Milroe later). Many have wondered why the sudden change of tactics.

Building up the hype around Hunter and making Cleveland’s plans clear only ups the possible trade package leverage. Over at Dawgs By Nature, we proposed a potential trade down with the Jacksonville Jaguars that could help fulfill multiple goals for the Browns as rumors have started to swirl.

A team picking early Round 2 moves back up into Round 1

Circle the Giants or Browns for this bold prediction, because I think one of those teams is jumping back up. Neither is going to pick a quarterback with the 2nd or 3rd pick, but get into the 20s and suddenly the quarterbacks start to look a lot better.

Minnesota at No. 24 is an obvious partner. It would allow either the Browns to jump in front of the Rams at No. 26 for Jalen Milroe, or the Giants to land Tyler Shough who they seem to be enamored with. More importantly: Getting either of these guys in the 1st round rather than the 2nd allows them to get the 5th year option, which is critical for a quarterback.

I think one, maybe both are going to jump up to grab they guys.