2025 NFL Draft Grades: The Browns Get an A, The Lions Get an F

Here are my grades for the 2025 NFL Draft, in alphabetical order by team. I grade on a curve, so there will be “F”s in here!

To see each NFL team's selections (or to sort by school), the Thor 500 is fully updated with every pick, along with my ranking and player comp. Just filter by Team to pull up all 32 NFL squads. 

And for a deeper look at the fantasy value of the rookies, Dwain McFarland's Rookie Super Model is updated with post-draft positional ranks and scores.

NFL Draft Grades

Atlanta Falcons | Draft Grade: C+

I want to be clear: I loved the picks that Atlanta made, and I love the immediate-help talent they brought in at positions of pressing need. But I could not in good conscience grade them any higher than this after the reckless squandering of their 2026 first-round pick in order to acquire EDGE James Pearce Jr. (who, granted, is a perfect fit).

In that trade, the Falcons sent Nos. 46 and 242, along with their 2026 first-rounder, to the Rams for No. 26 and 101. 

Pearce’s calling cards are vicious acceleration and speed off the edge—he ran a 4.47 40 at 245 pounds wearing a performance hoodie at the NFL Combine!—with Gumby-like bend. The past two seasons, Pearce generated pressure on 107 of 500 pass-rushing snaps (21.4%). 

Pearce misses too many tackles—20.9% career missed tackle rate—and he lacks the sand in the pants to set a hard edge. You’re drafting Pearce to harass quarterbacks, and that’s exactly what Atlanta paid through the nose for him to do. Atlanta finished No. 31 in both sacks and pressure rate last season.

Pearce, of course, followed Atlanta’s 1.15 selection of hybrid LB/EDGE Jalon Walker. Walker comes to the NFL at the perfect time—a modern defensive answer to the continued spread-and-space evolution of offensive football. 

Walker has shown an exceptional prowess for getting after quarterbacks—the past two seasons, he was 96th percentile in PFF pass-rushing grade. He’s dangerous with his hand in the dirt as a DE, and also when sent as an off-ball blitzer.

As a pass-rusher, I didn’t see Walker’s “lack of size” hinder him much. He’s bendy and flexible, dipping low and using his shoulder pad as a shield to absorb the offensive linemen blow before turning the corner.

Walker is extremely sudden side-to-side and has proven to be an effective second-level spy, forcing dual-threat quarterbacks to think twice before running. Walker does take false steps in run defense, but often gets back on schedule and then some with a sharp veer and instant acceleration the other way. 

Atlanta also selected my two favorite safeties in the class – Xavier Watts and Billy Bowman. They complicate each other’s skillsets well. Watts is a centerfield FS, whereas I believe Bowman – a kamikaze with a nose for the ball – will be a nickel defender at the next level.

You see Watts’ past as a receiver at the catch point. Watts had an absurd 13 interceptions the past two seasons, easily leading the nation, while allowing zero TDs in coverage. He reads route concepts very quickly, with early jumps downhill onto the straight-line-path freeway. 

He plays more athletically than he tested, erasing distance quickly with the ball in the air. The past two seasons, Watts checked in the 92nd percentile in forced incompletion percentage and the 96th percentile in passer rating against on targets.

Watts is a willing, if inconsistent, run defender. He triggers quickly and flies downhill. He makes good use of his arms at contact, either wrapping the target or raking at the ball. But Watts has a kamikaze bent in this phase that can get him into trouble. 

Again: I really liked Atlanta’s haul. And the Falcons are indisputably better today than they were a week ago. But GM Terry Fontenot has put the organization right up there on the tight rope with him in sacrificing next year’s Round 1 pick. That was a steal-for-the-future measure from a man who won’t see it if Atlanta doesn’t contend next season.

Arizona Cardinals | Draft Grade: B+

I absolutely loved what Arizona did early. 

In the 1.16 hole, Arizona took DT Walter Nolen – a decision that looked all the more sage as the NFL subsequently got aggressive with the DT class. 

A former five-star recruit, Nolen’s game is led by a primo combination of quickness and country strength. What Nolen does best is simply get into the backfield—run or pass, you can count on him shedding and hunting quickly. 

Nolen is seen as a mercenary because he was enrolled at four different high schools, and he played at two different SEC schools. Perhaps because of that, Nolen does not get the credit he deserves for the evolution of his game these past few years.

Nolen’s work in run defense, in particular, grew by leaps and bounds in 2024. He finished No. 2 in the FBS behind the aforementioned Mason Graham in PFF positively graded run plays. There was play-in-play-out, havoc-wreaking consistency. Nolen was the only player in the nation to have 35-or-more pressures with a missed-tackle rate under 5%. This is a difference-making, three-down three-technique at the NFL level.

The next stanza, Arizona stopped the free-fall of CB Will Johnson. ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported that a knee issue led to Johnson’s precipitous drop. It was only the most recent lower-body injury that Johnson has dealt with. Last season, a toe injury limited Johnson to just six games (he also had a shoulder injury!). A hamstring injury prevented him from participating at the combine. 

If he stays healthy at the next level, however, Johnson is going to be a steal. He was one of the country’s very best lockdown boundary CBs for Michigan’s 2023 national title team, earning first-team All-American honors while allowing a microscopic 30.9 QB rating on targets.

Johnson’s not an elite athlete – lacking world-class speed – but he’s not a bum either. He’s coordinated and fluid, with a smooth backpedal. Johnson has oily hips and quick feet. He is rarely beaten over the top because he flips his hips and accelerates so seamlessly. 

Perhaps because of that blink-fast smoothness, Johnson is emboldened to take more risks than your average corner, looking to spring passing lanes. Over the last two years, Johnson picked off six balls while allowing zero TDs in coverage. 

During that span, he finished 97th-percentile or higher in PFF single-coverage grade on passes where the ball was out in three seconds or less and passer rating allowed. Johnson is willing in run defense, but one area of his game he can clean up is tackling technique. He had a career 15.7% missed tackle rate. 

I also liked Arizona’s picks of EDGE Jordan Burch, LB Cody Simon, and CB Denzel Burke with the next three picks. Not only did that trio continue Arizona’s emphatic mission statement of improving its defense through this draft, but they represented exceptional values in their slots. 

Baltimore Ravens | Draft Grade: A+

Another year, another dominant Baltimore draft.

That began with S Malaki Starks in Round 1 – a perfect fit. Starks’ skillset is extremely complementary to Kyle Hamilton’s… this is a fearsome young safety duo.

Starks is a Swiss Army knife defender with supreme versatility. An AI-learning processor of the field who has the picture of the play in his head a beat after the snap, Starks has a trigger so fast it can appear he’s cheating. 

Over the past two seasons, Starks was 90th percentile in PFF run defense grade. He is an exceptional tackler in space, a wrap-up disciple who hits the target square and drives through it. Starks had a 6.9% career missed tackle rate over 201 career tackles.

Starks’ testing metrics didn’t flatter him during the pre-draft process, but his foot quickness on film is undeniable. Starks is at his best in coverage playing downhill, with his eyes on the quarterback. Starks jumps passing lanes by hitting his NAS button trigger before the ball has left the quarterback’s hands. He’s a ball-hawk who makes legitimate plays on the ball.

Moving Starks into the nickel got him closer to the ball, which he is a magnet to. You just don’t want to leave him isolated one-on-one in coverage with a speedy slot receiver. Fortunately, that can be worked around. 

Next, Baltimore stopped the stunning slide of EDGE Mike Green, whose off-field concerns proved to be more concerning to the NFL than was reported. If nothing else, Green will enter a strong locker room culture where he will be held accountable. On the field, he’s a heck of a player.

A sawed-off 6-foot-3, 251-pounder, Green has eye-popping burst off the snap. One of the coolest aspects of his game is the instant speed-to-power nuclear reaction this leads to. He takes the lead in a rep early, and, when you force your hand to stop him, Green uses your movement against you to win in another way. 

Green was the only EDGE defender in the FBS to receive PFF grades higher than 90.0 as a pass rusher and in run defense last season. He finished 95th-percentile in PFF True Pass Rush Grade and 99th-percentile in Run Defense Grade. His furious first step sets the table for a cornucopia of pass-rushing moves—the dips, the spins, the humps, the chops. 

Green’s unorthodox game, borne out of necessity to overcome a small frame and a lack of length, feels like an echo through time to his high school days as a standout wrestler—the hand usage, core strength, and understanding of leverage are all upper-tier on their own as isolated traits. 

Green led the FBS with 17 sacks in 2024. He’s a better run defender than you’d think because of his ability to shoot gaps and pull the pin out of the play’s grenade before it has begun. Green is far more of a havoc-wreaker than an edge-setter, but his team will learn to live with that.

Over the next four picks, Baltimore continued to add to its infrastructure positions – and it continued to get strong slot values. The offensive line got developmental depth pieces in Emery Jones Jr. and Carson Vinson, while the defensive front-seven added EDGE Tyler Baron and LB Teddye Buchanan.

Buffalo Bills | Draft Grade: D+

This was a hit-it-down the fairway type class. It started with the NFL Combine’s fastest player – CB Maxwell Hairston – near the end of R1 to address the boundary cornerback need.

Hairston’s speed is all over his film. Nobody is faster than Hairston, and he knows it. He never panics, and he’s not grabby, staying sticky through the route break with footwork. 

When he’s playing downhill with the ball in the air, Hairston’s burst vaporizes distance in an instant, earning him extra invitations to the catch point party. Hairston is thin, but he possesses decent height and good length. 

Bigger, stronger receivers can paper-cut Hairston on the short stuff, seizing leverage through muscle. The lack of bulk hurts him in run defense—he’ll never be better than mediocre in this phase. 

The next pick, DT T.J. Sanders, was understandable in that he’s a toolsy, projectable interior player – a spot where Buffalo was crying out for depth. There were other options on the board I preferred at the time. 

Buffalo double-dipped with its next pick, taking elephantine DT Deone Walker. When Walker plays with a semblance of leverage, he can be unblockable. Too often, he pops up at the snap and invites offensive linemen into his pads. Can that be fixed?

I liked the value that Buffalo got on TE Jackson Hawes. Hawes was the best “third offensive tackle” inline blocker we had in this class. Last year, he finished No. 5 among all FBS tight ends in the PFF run-blocking grade.

Carolina Panthers | Draft Grade: B-

Carolina read the room correctly and scored strong values in the slots they picked in. That began with WR Tetairoa McMillan, who Carolina smartly prioritized before this meager receiver class summarily fell off a shelf.

McMillan’s ball skills are out of this world. Standing a shade over 6-foot-4, McMillan has a fisherman’s-net catch radius. His vice-grip hands ensure that no fish gets off the line.

McMillan is a problem downfield. The former basketball and volleyball standout is very comfortable in the air, and there is no defensive back getting higher than him. McMillan’s ball adjustments are a thing of beauty, using Gumby-like pliability to get the best of the positioning game.

McMillan forces defenders to go through his back to defend balls. He went 19-for-31 in contested situations last year—the second-most contested catches of any receiver in this draft class. He also finished No. 2 in the class in that category in 2023.

McMillan is dangerous in the intermediate area. It’s next-to-impossible to defend McMillan on a slant route in man coverage if you can’t impede his progress at the line. McMillan is an underrated runner after the catch, not slowing down when plucking the ball. He isn’t sudden, but when he gets moving, his giraffe steps chew up grass very quickly. His 4.48 forty was 80th percentile.

Tet knows what he’s doing against zone coverage. Arizona QB Noah Fifita instinctively looked his way against zone, expecting McMillan to be in vacated grass with his hands up. Against zone coverage, McMillan was charted as open on a ludicrous 94.3% of his targets. 

Against man, that plummeted all the way to 53.6%. McMillan finished 39th percentile in separation rate against single-man coverage. McMillan tends to create the small amounts of space that he needs to use his ball skills as a trump card. 

The next two picks were used on EDGEs Nic Scourton and Princely Umanmielen, and Carolina got good value on both. Particularly Umanmielen, a toolsy pass-rusher who broke out in 2024. His commitment has been questioned – proving that theory wrong will be the thing that ultimately determines his NFL destiny.

Scourton is a muscled-up, powerful, bully-ball edge defender with long arms. He sets a hard edge in the run game and uses speed-to-power machinations to win as a pass-rusher. Scourton a linear athlete who does not profile as a superstar, but rather a key cog. 

My favorite Day 3 picks were S Lathan Ransom and TE Mitchell Evans. Ohio State coaches swear by Ransom, who was overshadowed publicly last season by high-profile portal acquisition Caleb Downs. Meanwhile, Evans has proven to be a trusted blocking option inline, and he has good hands. Evans’ ceiling is capped by solid-but-not-elite athleticism. If he continues to develop as a receiver, however, Evans has a path to becoming an NFL starter.

Chicago Bears | Draft Grade: A-

Many pegged the Bears for an offensive tackle in Round 1 – that became non-viable at 1.10 after the class’ top-three consensus OTs went in the top-9. So Chicago audible to TE Colston Loveland, a decision that Caleb Williams will appreciate.

Standing a hair under 6-foot-6 with long arms and baseball-mitt-sized hands, Loveland’s catch radius is enormous. He maximizes every inch by extending to the ball, and meeting it at its highest point downtown.

His hands are strong and soft. Loveland had a strong 7.1% career drop rate, but he posted an elite 3.4% drop rate in 2024. He turns incompletions into completions spearing errant throws outside his frame. Loveland flashes late hands, delaying the defender’s reactions at the moment of truth.

Loveland is pliable at the catch point, with sudden adjustments and contortions to get himself into the best position to corral the ball. Loveland was 96th percentile over the past two seasons in yards per route run.

You can send him anywhere on the field running a receiver’s route tree. Loveland is a sleek athlete for his size, quick-footed and fluid. Loveland is difficult to impede off the snap, and he pushes the envelope immediately. He’s got the speed to get downtown, where he’s a problem for one defender—Loveland converted 7-of-7 targets 20-plus yards downfield in 2023.

Loveland has a natural understanding of angles and feel for leverage. He’s sudden at the route break and swift in transitions. Loveland’s hip swivel and lateral quickness are difficult to deal with underneath. He was 93rd percentile in separation rate the past two seasons.

As a blocker, Loveland is perfectly acceptable in the slot/boundary, where his length and feet are enough to wall. But Loveland is given fits by power when deployed inline—he’s not built to win the leverage or power game. Per PFF, Loveland finished with a meager 18th-percentile career positively graded run-block percentage. 

Loveland turned 21 a few weeks before the NFL Draft. His skillset makes him a potential matchup nightmare in the NFL, with too much size and catch radius for defensive backs, and too much athleticism for linebackers.

WR Luther Burden was taken in Round 2 to address Keenan Allen’s departure. They are both slot receivers, but couldn’t be more different. With the ball in his hands, Burden looks like a star running back—he’s extremely sudden, with a NAS acceleration button.

The issue is getting it there. The Tigers would use the boundary receiver on Burden’s side to pick/rub Burden’s man, or send him out on dummy clear-out patterns to create space for Burden. These various “clear-out” concepts were designed to get Burden the ball with one tackle to break for an opportunity at an explosive play. He’s always a threat to do so because of his skill with the ball in his hands.

The thing Burden doesn’t do is create throwing windows for his quarterback—those need to be generated for him. Over his three-year career, Burden had 192 catches—84 of them came behind the line of scrimmage (43.7%!). By contrast, Burden had only 48 catches 10-plus air yards down the field (25%). His career aDOT was 15th percentile.

Burden is very much like Percy Harvin in that his north/south explosion not only chews up yards quickly, but it converts into an element of power that gives him a little tackle-breaking juice. When Burden gets chugging, he’ll bounce off off-angle attempts from defensive backs.

Burden could be a flammable third banana in this offense. After his selection, Chicago got to work on the trenches. That began with OT Ozzy Trapilo, the son of former NFL OL Steve Trapilo. 

A nimble skyscraper who uses his length to great effect in pass-pro, he has electric hands and wins initial salvo in skirmishes. Finished 87th percentile or above over the last two seasons in PFF pass-block grade, true pass set grade, and pass block grade without play-action. 

Because of Trapilo’s stretched-out build, he struggles to fire low in the run game. By the numbers, he was roughly an FBS-average run-blocker the past two seasons.

Especially in the aggressive defensive market we saw this weekend, Chicago managed to get exceptional value on DL Shemar Turner, a former five-star recruit with untapped potential. 

Cincinnati Bengals | Draft Grade: D-

I understand the thought-process behind drafting Shemar Stewart at 1.17, but I thought it was a reach. I believe Stewart is misunderstood as a prospect. He is forwarded as a boom-or-bust type with a huge ceiling. I don’t think that’s true. I believe he’s a high-floor, medium-ceiling prospect.

A top-10 overall recruit in 2022, Stewart posted a perfect 10.0 RAS score during the pre-draft process and was unblockable at the Senior Bowl over the first two days of practices. His athletic composite this spring suggested an all-time freaky athlete. 

That is most certainly true north/south – not east/west. Stewart ducked the agility drills during the pre-draft process. His lack of suddenness side-to-side in part explains his feeble pass-rushing output in college (4.5 career sacks over three seasons). 

A breakthrough isn’t as close as was commonly depicted during the pre-draft process. Last year, Stewart finished a mediocre 54th-percentile in pressure rate on true pass sets. Pass-rushing limitations lower the ceiling, and that’s reflected in where I ultimately ranked Stewart.

But there’s an extremely-high embedded floor here with Stewart because he’s an incredible run defender. Last season, Stewart graded positively on 23.8% of reps and was 99th-percentile in PFF run defense grade. 

More front-seven help was added in Round 2 with LB Demetrius Knight, the cousin of former NFL CB DeAngelo Hall. Knight is a late-bloomer who was a reserve and special-teamer over his first four seasons at Georgia Tech. Knight broke out in 2023 at Charlotte (First-Team All-AAC) before his true coming-out party in 2024 for South Carolina. 

Knight has the grit and body armor for dirty work between the tackles—he’s fearless coming downhill and is happy to scrap with offensive linemen. He’s an explosive, violent finisher, accelerating to the doorstep and kicking down the door with a firm base under him while uncoiling through the target. Last season, Knight finished 87th percentile in PFF run-defense grade.

He’s also strong in coverage due to his combination of athleticism and football IQ. Over his two full seasons as a starter, Knight picked off four balls while allowing only one TD. He surrendered a QB rating against on targets lower than 66.0 both campaigns.

Knight scares the analytics community due to his late breakout and older age. However, Knight’s size, athleticism, instincts, and level of play in the SEC last season strongly suggest he’s going to be an effective NFL player.

I didn’t like the value that Cincy got in its three slots after that. Having said that, I do believe they got a long-term interior starter with Georgia OG Dylan Fairchild. 

I am, however, highly intrigued by the selection of RB Tahj Brooks in Round 6. Brooks was one of my favorite sleepers in this RB class – he’s a physical bowling ball with good agility who excels between the tackles. Brooks is also one this class’ best backs in pass-pro. He’s an ideal complement to Chase Brown.

Cleveland Browns | Draft Grade: A

GM Andrew Berry channeled his inner Sonny Weaver Jr. during a wild 2025 draft – beginning with a shocking trade out of the Travis Hunter Jr. pick. Early on, it appeared the car could careen through the guardrails – but Berry’s vision ended up coalescing in a strong class that includes the acquisition of Jacksonville’s 2026 R1 pick.

Mason Graham ended up being the pick in the 1.5 hole – I ranked Graham No. 5 overall on my big board. Graham is a two-way bully of a three-technique. He gets after the quarterback and is a disruptive force against the run. Graham was utterly dominant the past two seasons, finishing 96th percentile or higher in all six of these categories: Pass Rush Grade, True Pass Rush Grade, Pass Rush Grade w/o Play Action, Pass Rush Win%, Run Defense Grade, and Run Stop%.

The high school wrestler knows how to grapple, and he always wins the leverage game. Graham has violent hands and rock-em-sock-em shock-absorbing core strength. He gets nitpicked for small hands and short arms. In his defense, Graham’s wingspan is longer than Byron Murphy, Jer'Zhan Newton, and Braden Fiske from the last class.

Cleveland’s rare quarterback two-step began with the shocking decision to take Oregon’s Dillon Gabriel over Shedeur Sanders in Round 3 – only to circle-back to Sanders two rounds later.

Gabriel is a pint-sized left-handed timing passer who’ll run your scheme for you. A 2024 Heisman Trophy finalist, Gabriel ranks No. 2 all-time in FBS passing yardage behind Houston’s Case Keenum. His processing, accuracy, and ability to follow a passing script and stay on time gave him the look of a long-term QB2 in the type of West Coast-type system that Cleveland runs.

Gabriel has the high floor. Sanders has the high ceiling. Sanders’ accuracy is an elite trait. He can put the ball wherever he wants it, to any sector of the field, shielding it from defenders and leading his receivers into space. Sanders maneuvers his receivers to clean catch points through placement, leading to primo YAC opportunities.

Last season, Sanders’ 81.8% adjusted accuracy percentage—five points ahead of Cam Ward’s 76.3%—ranked No. 2 amongst FBS quarterbacks, per PFF. Sanders was also 97th percentile in avoiding negative throws/dropback, per PFF. Last season, he ranked No. 3 in turnover-worthy play rate (1.2). 

If Sanders shows up humbled, he could press for playing time immediately – he is clearly the most gifted quarterback on the roster. If he shows up defiant, his NFL career will be short-lived. The NFL seemed pretty intent to deliver that messaging.

With the first pick Friday night, the Browns took UCLA LB Carson Schwesinger. Schwesinger was a rotational reserve and core special-teamer until last season, when he entered the lineup and exploded, earning First-team All-American honors.

Schwesinger processes information quickly and thus tends to threaten blocking schemes faster than superior athletes. Schwesinger has a bag of tricks to breach the moat and storm the gates, timing his entry into the gap and contorting through cramped quarters to free himself into daylight. He’s not an upper-echelon athlete, but Schwesinger is a fluid one, an economy-of-movement type whose appendages are connected to his eyes and processor. 

Out in coverage, Schwesinger’s fluidity and brains stood out. In instances where the offense gets him isolated in space, Schwesinger typically stomps out brush fires with a swift tackle. Over 33 receptions allowed in 2024, Schwesinger had 14 PFF-charted “stops”— constituted as a loss for the offense based on down and distance— against only four missed tackles.

Three slots later, the Browns kept RB Quinshon Judkins in the state of Ohio. Judkins immediately becomes the team’s bellcow running back. Judkins runs with short choppy steps and has a herky-jerky style, creating indecision in defenders coming downhill. Judkins can string together extremely sudden micro-cuts.

Judkins is blessed with explosive acceleration, including out of cuts, allowing him to burst through direction changes. The trait of Judkins’ that his coaches fixate on is his vision. If a cutback lane opens, he’s going to see it. He instantly reacts to defenders' movements in his peripheral vision. Over his three-year career, Judkins forced 197 missed tackles, good for 81st-percentile missed tackles forced/attempt. 

Judkins’ burst is sufficient to steal the corner. At the combine, Judkins finished tied for No. 2 among RBs with a 1.51 10-yard split. The 6-foot, 221-pounder also opened eyes with a 4.48 40-yard dash. Judkins’ 38.5-inch vertical was top 5 at the position, and his 11-foot broad jump led the group.

Over his career, Judkins caught 59 balls with only three drops, posting a strong 4.8% drop rate. His route portfolio did not consist of much more than checkdowns and swings, but he’s adequate in those departments.

I liked Cleveland’s Round 3 idea of pairing undersized Bowling Green TE Harold Fannin Jr. with David Njoku. Last season, Fannin shattered single-season FBS records for the TE position in both receptions (117) and receiving yards (1,550). He also set three different PFF-era records: yards after contact (868), missed tackles forced (32), and receiving grade (96.5). 

Bowling Green pounded Fannin with targets short and intermediate to leverage his after-the-catch skills. He outruns linebackers, and safeties need help getting him to the ground. Fannin’s career 2.99 YPRR number is more than a half-yard higher than any other tight end in this class. 

Fannin flashed skills in traffic in 2024, catching 54.5% of contested balls. Fannin is a zone-coverage killer who posted an outrageous 4.4 YPRR against zone last year. He’s also a threat up the seam who has shown a natural ability for tracking balls over his shoulder. For his career, Fannin only dropped 2.2% of his catchable targets, an incredible number for the volume of targets he received.

Dallas Cowboys | Draft Grade: B

Dallas got aggressive in selecting OG Tyler Booker at 1.12. With the top three OTs already off the board, that pick set the tone for a ferociously aggressive offensive line market over draft weekend.

Booker is a young powerhouse with a well-proportioned, made-in-a-lab frame. He has the second-longest wingspan of in the iOL class. I really like Booker’s work in the run game when he’s coming forward in a phone booth—he’s springy off the snap and uncoils into a forklift on contact. 

Booker tested poorly at the NFL Combine, and is a bit heavy-footed. He’s is not as good when asked to go east-to-west to hit his mark. In pass pro, similar story—Booker’s length stakes him to leads in the rep, and his anchor can neutralize even nuclear power. But gap-shooting, twitchy three-techniques who can counter can get the elephantine Booker on teetering stilts.

Dallas hit a pair of home runs on Day 2, stealing EDGE Donovan Ezeiruaku and CB Shavon Revel.

Ezeiruaku has worked very hard to add bulk, but is likely now maxed-out in that capacity. Though Ezeiruaku has a sawed-off frame, he does have one genetic quirk that has proven very helpful in his vocation: Of my top-30 ranked edge defenders, Ezeiruaku is tied for the third-longest wingspan.

Ezeiruaku almost always gets his hands on his man first, and his superb hand usage generally stakes him to a big lead in the rep from there. Last year, his 1.38 sacks per game led the FBS, 

Ezeiruaku has natural limitations holding his ground to set a clean edge against hulking power tackles. I still like his run defense work—he’s extremely active, he’s always in the backfield, and he rarely misses tackles. He’s going to accumulate plenty of TFL in run defense as a 3-4 OLB in the NFL.

CB Revel, a former track star, is tall and springy. Revel uses his 94th-percentile wingspan as a weapon in press coverage, jolting receivers off the line. You see Revel’s track background when his assignment goes deep. Revel runs upright, with long strides that chew up large swaths of grass. 

ECU had implicit trust in Revel in one-one-one press coverage. He is active in Cover 3 coverage when playing forward, with his instincts and anticipating having a force multiplier effect on his north/south athleticism. 

Revel gets after it in the run game, flying downhill like a safety. He’s a really good tackler—a wrap-up form-tackler with long arms—who had a stellar 5.6% missed tackle rate in college. 

Considered a surefire Round 1 pick heading into the fall, a torn ACL in September complicated his evaluation. Revel, however, is expected to be fully cleared in advance of training camp.

Amongst the six picks made from No. 149 on, I most appreciated the effort to form a thunder/lightning RB duo on the cheap with Texas scattback Jaydon Blue and 234-pound Clemson sledgehammer Phil Mafah.

Denver Broncos | Draft Grade: C-

The Broncos stunned the draft community by bypassing RB Omarion Hampton – believed to be the apple of their eye – for CB Jahdae Barron. They made the right decision, selecting the superior prospect at a more-valuable position. Barron is a destructive tone-setter in a zone scheme.

In 2022-2023, Barron played the nickel role in the base defense. Texas would then shift him all over the place—most commonly to the boundary or into the box as a dime LB. In 2024, Texas moved Barron to the boundary CB1 role in the base defense. But interestingly, the Longhorns continued to use Barron as a chess piece, shifting him to nickel or into the box as needed. 

Barron is a die-on-the-sword kamikaze in run defense, dogged in pursuit and a sure form tackler in space. He’s a gnat off the line, getting his hands on the receiver and funneling him. He’s instinctive and active, deciphering offensive intentions immediately and springing into action. 

Barron is a maestro in zone coverage, making sure that everyone who enters his area gets a chaperone. He likes to play forward and read the quarterback’s eyes—Barron gets great jumps on the ball and gets his hands on plenty. He reminds me so much of Devon Witherspoon.

Over the last two seasons, Barron was 99th-percentile in PFF coverage grade on the boundary. Overall, in 2024, Barron allowed no touchdowns and 272 yards on 65 targets with five interceptions. Only one opponent (Kentucky) generated 35 receiving yards against him in 2024. 

According to PFF’s Wins Above Average metric, Barron was the most valuable defender in FBS football last season. He won the Jim Thorpe Award as the nation's best defensive back. Denver had bigger needs at the time of the pick, but you can’t go wrong picking the best player.

I was one of the media’s most bullish on UCF RB RJ Harvey – it turns out Sean Payton was even more bullish than me. Harvey is a home run hitter with 4.40 speed. He runs low to the ground, and, when he gets going, he runs with more power and authority than you’d expect.

In 2024, Harvey posted strong broken tackle (69), elusive rating (122.2), and yards after contact (3.88) metrics. He runs through arm tackles and bounces away from off-angle attempts. I love his bouncy lateral agility behind the line of scrimmage. He smoothly swerves from danger, punches the gas, and reaches top gear in a few steps. 

Harvey is a skilled and proven receiver. He’s one of three FBS running backs in this draft class to catch at least 19 balls with at least 1.25 YPRR each of the last two years. In space, he’s slippery as a banana peel and has a NOS button when he needs it. He’s going to a star in Denver.

While I loved Denver’s first two picks, I wasn’t as big of a fan of the rest of their class. I thought the Broncos reached on a low-ceiling prospect in WR Pat Bryant, and I thought they too aggressively pulled up EDGEs Sai’vion Jones and Que Robinson based on projectable traits.

Detroit Lions | Draft Grade: F

GM Brad Holmes has gotten the last laugh in the past for his draft classes, which have often been criticized in the moment. I begin with that caveat as a means to say: he’s given himself another opportunity for more of that.

Holmes' machinations during the draft confused me. His team, desperate for help on the EDGE, eschewed multiple quality prospects at that position in order to make the most shocking pick of Round 1, DT Tyliek Williams.

Williams is a wide-bodied, quick-footed interior player who is an awesome run defender. I understand the vision. I did not see the pass-rushing profile I need to see for a first-round prospect at that position.

The next pick of OG Tate Ratledge was contextually defensible from a value perspective because of the draft-long aggression teams had with the offensive linemen in this class, sucking them up the board. Ratledge also addresses a primary team need with a potential early contributor.

All spring long, I pounded the table for WR Isaac TeSlaa as a sleeper in a down receiver class. He opened my eyes at the Senior Bowl with his ability to make plays downtown – TeSlaa gets off the carpet and extends to the ball at its highest point. 

Boy did Holmes get aggressive to secure TeSlaa, hopping a full round over where I ranked TeSlaa – and I was one of the highest in the media on him. One of the few receivers in this class with 10-inch hands, TeSlaa additionally did not drop a ball last season. 

TeSlaa is a big-slot with one of the best size/athleticism combinations in this class. Caught in a bad situation at Arkansas, TeSlaa made the most of his opportunities, finishing 99th percentile in PFF receiving grade last season and 85th percentile in separation rate against single-coverage.

Holmes clearly saw his Day 3 targets differently than I did. The only pick I could get on board with from a value perspective was late-R7 WR Dominic Lovett, who has the skillset to hang as a depth piece.

Green Bay Packers | Draft Grade: D-

The Packers, who played host to this year’s draft, used the occasion to let their hair down. After years of eschewing receivers in the first round in defender to infrastructure positions, the Packers took WR Matthew Golden at 1.23. They weren’t done, double-tapping WR Savion Williams two rounds later.

Golden blazed a 4.29 forty at the NFL Combine, the eighth-fastest showing by a receiver since 2013. Golden proved in college that he could win at all three levels from either the slot or boundary. Over his three-year career, Golden was 85th percentile in separation rate, per PFF. 

In 2024, Golden was 89th percentile in receiving grade against single-coverage. Of the consensus top-5 receivers in this class, only Arizona’s Tetairoa McMillan had a higher target share in the middle and deep sectors of the field than Golden in 2024. 

Golden shoots off the line with a dealer’s-choice cornucopia of releases, and creates indecision up the route stem with upper-body deeks and false cuts. He toggles speeds like a jet ski and disguises when breaks are coming.

Golden is better deep than you might think from his physical package. He caught 13-of-22 targets 20+ yards downfield, going 7-of-10 on contested situations en route to a 124.1 passer rating on deep targets. Golden gets off the carpet and attacks the ball in the sky, with kinetic body contortions.

Golden’s 17% career target share is on the low end for first-round receiving prospects—especially since he spent two-thirds of his career in the G5. However, there is context to consider here.

Tank Dell led the WR room during Golden’s true freshman season at Houston—Dell was justifiably pounded with targets en route to 109 receptions. Dell was gone in 2023, but that was the season when the injury bug bit Golden hard. 

In 2024, at Texas, Golden started out behind fellow transfer Isaiah Bond in the pecking order. And Texas looked to leverage QB Quinn Ewers’ strength in short/intermediate concepts with RBs and TEs a major part of the game plan (TE Gunnar Helm and RBs Tre Wisner and Jaydon Blue combined for 146 receptions). Despite these factors, the cream ultimately rose to the top—Golden had 19 more receptions and 447 more yards than any other Texas receiver. 

Golden needs to clean up the concentration drops. I’m bullish in that department, because the progress he has already made—Golden’s 6.5% drop rate last year was a strong showing and easily a career-best. Still, he entered 2024 with a career drop rate north of 10%, a red-flag region.

Golden projects as a premium WR2 on a contender—somebody who will lick single-coverage, make plays for you at all three levels, and naturally shift between the boundary and slot as needed.

WR Savion Williams is the love child of Cordarrelle Patterson and Laviska Shenault. He’s an elite athlete with great burst and speed, and he runs with power. But Williams utterly lacks route-running feel and ball skills. You must manufacture his touches close to the line of scrimmage.

In 2023, TCU miscast Williams as a stretch-the-field (12.2 aDOT) boundary receiver. In 2024, Williams had a 6.7 aDOT as nearly one-third of his snaps came the slot or in the backfield. TCU peppered Williams with screens, touch passes, and drags/slants in 2024. The Horned Frogs also brought Williams into the backfield for handoffs and direct snaps.

Around those picks, Green Bay hit the offensive trenches and the defensive front-seven. That was the correct strategy, but I disagreed on the prospects that were selected. OT Anthony Belton has huge power, but he might have to kick inside due to heavy feet. I also didn’t like the value of the Day 3 picks.

Houston Texans | Draft Grade: D+

The Texans entered the festivities in desperate need for offensive line help. It had to be a nightmare watching six offensive linemen go in the top-24. Minnesota’s selection of Ohio State OG Donovan Jackson one slot ahead of Houston’s pick may have been the final straw in the Texans’ ultimate decision to bail its slot.

That certainly was not the preferred outcome heading in – but credit Houston for at least acknowledging the situation it was in and taking strong value via trade as opposed to reaching for the next-best option on its iOL board. 

Houston picked up No. 99 pick and a 2026 third-rounder from the Giants – who took QB Jaxson Dart – in exchange for sliding down nine slots to No. 34. In that slot, the Texans began their aggressive efforts to fix the receiver room via WR Jayden Higgins. In Round 3, they reunited Higgins with his collegiate teammate Jaylin Noel.

Higgins is a crafty boundary receiver and a fluid mover on film. Rangy and broad-shouldered with long arms, Higgins has a bloated catch radius. His 80-inch wingspan is the biggest of my top-15 ranked WRs. 

Amplifying the effect, Higgins regularly spears balls outside of his frame, and it’s rare to see him drop a ball placed within it. Over 350 targets across a four-year career, Higgins had a microscopic 3.0% drop rate—and he finished his career with three consecutive seasons of a drop rate of 2.2% or less! 

One area for work is the diversification of his release package. Higgins isn’t super sudden off the line, and his releases are fairly straightforward. Physical NFL press corners are going to make him prove it before they back off.

Jaylin Noel was a steal in Round 3. Noel was an extremely productive slot receiver in the Big 12, catching 60 or more passes each of his last three seasons. Noel’s best traits are instant acceleration and body control. He attacks off the line with burst, and his movements are controlled-by-a-joystick precise from there. 

In this way, Noel consistently creates separation. That’s always been a staple of his game. Where Noel has improved is in his hands and his ability to finish plays in traffic. Noel slashed his drop rate from 10% in 2022 all the way to 4.8% last season. He also converted 51% of his career 39 contested opportunities, a tremendous showing for his size. Noel profiles as a high-volume starting NFL slot.

Dismayed by the run on offensive linemen in Round 1, the Texans did well to get strong value at the position in Round 2 with Minnesota’s Aireontae Ersery. He’s a dancing bear with an enormous frame and light feet. Ersery drops a cruise-ship anchor in pass-pro. He’s extremely effective zone-run blocker with the mobility to hit his spots and pick off linebackers. 

Needs to continue working on technique and leverage. Long-legged body type makes it naturally harder to play low, making this pursuit all the more important. I assume Ersery is headed inside initially to compete for immediate playing time at guard.

While I loved Houston’s first three picks, I thought they aggressively reached on the USC Trojans they took with their next two picks. S Jaylen Reed, however, was a worthy Round 6 flier. And TE Luke Lachey, taken a round later, might hang around. Lachey lives up to his Iowa pedigree with his blocking technique, but needs to fill out his rangy frame with more muscle and improve play strength before being trusted to regularly tango with war-daddy power ends.

Indianapolis Colts | Draft Grade: B+

The Colts telegraphed all spring that they were going to use the 1.14 pick on a tight end – they were thrilled that Tyler Warren fell. Warren is an offensive chess piece who plays with a fiery, die-on-the sword ethos. 

You can line Warren up anywhere on the field. Your only mandate is to get him the ball. Warren is an absolute berserker with the rock. He wore the No. 44 at Penn State because he grew up idolizing John Riggins. Warren runs fearless, with a violent bent. He is a menacing Wildcat quarterback in short-yardage situations. Last season, Warren averaged 8.4 YPC as a runner—with 5.0 after contact. 

At the snap, Warren detonates off the line. When sent up the seam, you’d see him blow by a creaky-hipped linebacker, or draw a strong safety whom he dwarfed. The former basketball player has a natural gift for boxing out and playing above the rim—he meets the ball at its highest point and brings it down.

The improvement in Warren’s hands was one of the most striking things about his 2024 breakout. In 2023—Warren’s first as a starter—he had a troubling 15.0% drop rate on 49 targets. In 2024, he slashed that all the way down to an exceptional 2.8% drop rate over 135 targets. 

One area to continue the improvement: While Warren shows admirable extension on downfield throws, he has a weird habit of sometimes trapping balls on short throws while he’s on the move, seemingly more focused on the run after the catch. That nonchalance didn’t cost him in 2024, but we saw him flub freebies the previous two years.

Warren’s route-running has steadily improved the past three years— remember, he didn’t start learning the position until he arrived at Penn State. The big, long-legged moose doesn’t have snappy natural agility, and there is rounding at route breaks. 

But he seems to have a good feel for the defender’s point of view, baiting his man with upper-body deeks that mimic the initial movement of routes run earlier in the game. Another area where Warren’s football IQ shines through is against zone coverage, which he deciphers quickly.

Warren isn’t a great blocker. He needs to work on his technique because his arms aren’t getting any longer. His arms are strangely short—the shortest of my top-20 ranked TEs. In hand-to-hand combat scenarios against defensive ends, Warren’s man almost always got hands on him first. 

Warren’s rapid development the past few years portends additional growth to come—that’s a scary thought, considering how special he already is with the ball in his hands. He is crucial to the effort of salvaging Anthony Richardson.

Indianapolis had an up-and-down Day 2. The pick of EDGE JT Tuimoloau made sense, and it came at an acceptable price point. I was surprised by the selection of Minnesota’s Justin Walley in Round 3. A lack of measureables may prevent his game from translating apples to apples to the NFL.

On Day 3, I liked the developmental shot on Iowa State OT Jalen Travis, my favorite sleeper OT in this class. Travis is enormous and athletic, and he has length for days. His technique needs a lot of work – but you can’t ask for a more tantalizing ball of clay to work with.

Indy got sensational value on RB DJ Giddens, who opened eyes at the NFL Scouting Combine with a 4.43 forty. You can see this juice on tape. Last year, Giddens finished No. 4 in breakaway yards and No. 2 in breakaway rate. Giddens, Ashton Jeanty, and Kaleb Johnson were the only three backs in the country last year to average more than 4.0 yards after contact per attempt with above a 50% breakaway rate. 

He’s not a thumper, but Giddens is a strong runner between the tackles, averaging more than 5 YPC between the guards last year. Giddens has good patience and vision—especially for a guy who didn’t start playing football until his sophomore year in high school—and he’s bouncy with sudden footwork in a phone booth. Giddens doesn’t have much present utility in the passing game – but his value as a runner more than justified the cost of his acquisition.

QB Riley Leonard is a poor man’s Daniel Jones. He’s a good athlete, a tough runner, and adept in the short passing game. But Leonard utterly lacks arm strength, and can’t be trusted throwing over the middle downfield. He will need to show more as a thrower to have a chance to be an NFL QB2.

Jacksonville Jaguars | Draft Grade: A

Thursday’s Round 1 turned into a more tepid affair on the whole than we thought we were going to get – with the Jaguars’ stunning trade up to No. 2 to take Travis Hunter Jr. being a notable exception.

Jacksonville’s new administration traded Nos. 5, 36, 126, and a 2026 first-rounder to Cleveland for Nos. 2, 104 and 200. Using trade charts, many have argued that the Jags overpaid. I’m here to tell you they got a bargain.

Travis Hunter would have been the WR1 or CB1 in this class if he was isolated to either position – the Jaguars just got a star-caliber starter at both spots, which were acute areas of need heading in. 

Hunter’s ludicrous ball skills are all over his tape, on both sides of the ball. Last year, on defense, he defended 11 passes and only allowed 23 completions. Hunter’s PFF coverage grade spiked from 74.7 to 90.3. His QB rating against was a microscopic 39.9, and he allowed a minuscule 17.1 YPG receiving in coverage.

This guy is a touched-by-God athlete. On offense, Hunter keeps a dizzying speed in and out of cuts. It tricks your eyes. On defense, Hunter has all the athleticism he needs to stay with the feet, propulsion, and route-running of any receiver. 

He has a knack for triggering at the opportune time to get involved at the catch point—the ball rarely beats him to the spot. Hunter erases the efficiency of the receiver across from him. Beating him short or intermediate is exceedingly difficult.

He plays bigger than his 6-foot, 188-pound bill as a receiver. Hunter’s wingspan is solidly above-average for NFL cornerbacks, and is only one inch south of pterodactyl Arizona WR Tetairoa McMillan. Hunter is an acrobatic contortionist at the moment of truth, turning poorly thrown balls into completions. He’s a contested-catch virtuoso and a downfield assassin. Last season, he went 11-for-18 in contested situations. 

We haven’t seen anything quite like Travis Hunter enter the NFL over the past decade. He will be a two-way player in the NFL. He was the best prospect in this class, and worth the price paid to acquire him.

I appreciated Jacksonville’s adherence to slot value from there. DB Caleb Ransaw is an athletic nickel defender with all-day starter traits. OL Wyatt Milum – most experienced and decorated offensive linemen in this entire class.-- projects as a future starter at guard. The collegiate tackle lacks the length to stick there in the pros. A solid athlete who plays hard and smart, Milum is a strong run-blocker who finished 90th percentile the past two seasons in PFF positively graded run-blocking plays.

RB Bhayshul Tuten is an Isiah Pacheco clone with breakneck speed and a breakneck style. His 4.32 forty matched the time of De’Von Achane, who Tuten outweighed by 18 pounds. Tuten's vertical and broad jumps were both 96th percentile. Tuten is a home run hitter who finished No. 8 in the FBS in breakaway yards last fall. 

Tuten’s hard cuts in space at high speeds make him a tough target to square up. Tuten runs low to the ground and is fearless, building up to a speed-to-power element that snaps arm tackles early in runs and usually leads to extra yards at the end of them. Tuten’s biggest question as a runner is ball security—over the past two seasons, he fumbled nine times. 

Round 6 Navy S Rayuan Lane III was on my shortlist for top special teams sleepers in this class. He’ll be a core special-teamer immediately. 

Round 7 C Jonah Monheim has extremely short arms (30 ⅛), but he’s a good athlete who takes out second-level defenders in the run game. Monheim is bendy for a big fella and generally wins the leverage game. His kryptonite is war-daddy nose guards who can bully him with power.

Kansas City Chiefs | Draft Grade: C-

Kansas City was the perfect team to take OT Josh Simmons. Simmons, coming off a season-ending knee injury suffered against Oregon in October, would have gone higher had he finished the season healthy.

He’s a smooth operator with quick feet. Simmons allowed only one sack over 601 pass-blocking reps during his time at OSU. He has a good feel for angles and winning the space game in pass-pro. Simmons has the athleticism for second-level blocking, but he lacks violence and pop in the run game.

The Chiefs generally finish higher in my post-draft grading methodology, but they were ultimately dinged for what they did on Friday. 

DT Omarr Norman-Lott had a sect of maniacal fans in the draft community this spring – and it turned out the Chiefs front office was amongst their ranks. If he could translate his per-snap numbers in 2024 over a full workload, why didn’t Tennessee give him one? I also wasn’t high on the picks of EDGE Ashton Gillotte and CB Nohl Williams in the slots they were made. 

I did like what the Chiefs did on Saturday, getting strong value on WR Jalen Royals and LB Jeffrey Bassa.

Royals is sleek, with easy acceleration and speed. He’s a strong route-runner with good feet—he slams on the breaks, cuts clean angles, and accelerates back to top speed in a few steps.

Royals’ ability to win separation in the intermediate area and run after the catch forces defenders to play up on him. But he’s also good deep, with wheels and a feel for racking-and-stacking.

Royals could continue working on his release package. Because of his suddenness and strength, Royals didn’t face much resistance in the Mountain West. He’ll want to add more variety for the next level.

Las Vegas Raiders | Draft Grade: B

There was heavy steam in the 48 hours leading up to Round 1 that Ashton Jeanty would be a top-5 pick – gone before the Raiders picked. Ultimately, that didn’t happen, and HC Pete Carroll begins his Raiders tenure with his Marshawn Lynch.

In my decade doing NFL Draft work, I have never seen a college player who is more difficult to tackle than Jeanty. Jeanty has the contact balance of the spinning top at the end of Inception. He is barely fazed by first contact. Defenders slide off Jeanty like they’ve hugged an electrical fence. 

Jeanty easily led the nation for the second straight year in yards after contact per attempt, with 5.25. His 151 missed tackles forced led the nation by 50 (Cam Skattebo was second with 101)! Jeanty’s 1,970 yards after contact shattered the single-season CFP-era record, and was more than 250 yards higher than any other RB had … in total! Three-quarters of Jeanty’s rushing yards last season came after contact.

Jeanty has a deep bag of tricks to deal with oncoming defenders, including a tornado spin move. In college, Jeanty posted a career missed tackles forced rate of 37.1% with 4.78 yards after contact per rush. Jeanty parries flurries of cuts together in space, painting a herky-jerky mirage for defenders – he is capable of immediately making 90-degree direction changes, or flipping directions violently repeatedly while retaining speed and body control.

In the beat after contact, and immediately out of cuts, Jeanty has an instant-acceleration button to get himself back into space. Jeanty has solid long speed, but it’s not elite. The elite trait is Jeanty’s ability to access top speed in a few steps. 

Jeanty gleefully screws with pursuit angles by toggling speeds, sometimes throttling down to a near jog to allow downfield blockers to wipe out threats before re-punching the gas. This is where you see his hand-above-the-chessboard genius, maneuvering himself like he’s playing a video game and can see all 11 defenders simultaneously. 

He is keenly aware of where the first-down line and end zone are, and you’ll see even more gritty contortionism out of him when he has a shot to cross either. In 2024, 31% of Jeanty’s runs ended in either a first down or a touchdown. 

He’s also a great receiver. In 2023, 65 of Jeanty’s 516 offensive snaps came in the slot or out wide. Jeanty caught 44-of-48 targets in 2023 for 578 yards and 5 TD—with zero drops—good for an elite-elite 91.6 PFF receiving grade. Jeanty was an all-district receiver as a junior in Texas’ highest level of high school football.

Jeanty is the best running back prospect to enter the NFL since Saquon Barkley. He will be a star from Day 1.

Jack Bech, who I comp to Eric Decker, will start immediately in the slot. Bech has really good ball skills, extending to the ball and greeting it with soft hands. Bech is exceedingly comfortable with company at the catch point, creating space with the ball on its way with his hands and contorting to give himself the best of it. He’s always been strong in contested situations.

Bech played three-quarters of his snaps on the boundary last season. He was a big slot earlier in his career, and that may ultimately end up being his destiny in the NFL.

Las Vegas double-dipped at the position on Day 3 with WR Dont'e Thornton. Thornton made a statement at the NFL Combine, becoming the first receiver taller than 6-foot-4 since 2003 to run a 4.35 or faster. He’s a one-trick-pony deep-ball guy, posting a hilarious 26-661-6 receiving line (25.4 YPC) in 2024. 

I’m intrigued by the Round 3 gamble on Darien Porter, an athletic freak with plenty of experience on special teams who is raw as a corner. Porter, though, perfectly fits the archetype of a Pete Carroll cornerback – he’s got an imbedded floor due to the special teams utility, and he could turn into one of the steals of the draft if the Vegas staff can complete his developmental arch.

Los Angeles Chargers | Draft Grade: F

Omarion Hampton is a hard-charging north/south runner who does not mess around behind the line. The fact that HC Jim Harbaugh fell in love with him this spring is the least surprising thing that has ever happened. I felt it was a reach in a potentially historic running back class.

Hampton has a disciplined running style, never out over his skis, consistently keeping a sturdy base beneath him as he travels his north/south path. The downside to this style is a lack of evasion. It’s not what Hampton is trying to do, and he doesn’t have the wiggle to try. 

One of Hampton’s most impressive traits is his contact balance. Hampton is a banger, and his style requires a fortified center of gravity—he’s got it. He brings a hammer into contact, trying to blast his way to a few extra yards.

Hampton logged a stellar 4.35 yards after contact per attempt, good for the 89th-percentile. Hampton has all the body armor he needs for grunt work, with a rocked-up physique he built through maniacal weight room work. 

Hampton could stand to run with more patience and more tempo. He can miss opportunities by not allowing them to develop, or by not seeing alternate lanes open up when he’s become the locomotive on tracks.

The Tar Heels’ goal with Hampton in the receiving game was simply to get him into space to let him do damage—extended handoffs behind the line of scrimmage. Hampton is skilled in the screen game, he has the fluidity for swings, and he’s a reliable last-resort dumpoff option. He’s not going to run routes past the line of scrimmage.

Speaking of the passing game, the Chargers double-dipped at the receiver position, with WR Tre Harris in Round 2 and WR KeAndre Lambert-Smith about 100 slots later. Lambert-Smith is a field-stretcher with 4.37 wheels.

Harris is a linear-moving boundary receiver. Harris’ routes at Ole Miss were radically skewed to keep him moving north/south, whether he had the ball or not. Unfortunately, Harris was limited to eight games due to a lower-body injury. He still put up a 60-1030-7 receiving line, averaging 128.8 YPG receiving. Ole Miss’ offense was heavy on first-read concepts, and Harris, when healthy, was very clearly that for the Rebels.

Harris derived a chunk of his production from empty-calorie concepts. Of Harris’ 79 targets, 40 (50.6%) came on either hitches or screens. A hitch route is a tiny hook—you turn around five yards upfield and park against off-coverage for uncontested freebies.

You play off Harris because he’s very good downtown, and Ole Miss regularly sent him deep—21 of his targets last year came on either posts or go routes (26.6%).

Opposing defenses threw a ton of press coverage at Harris, knowing how often he was the primary read and attempting to throw a wrench into timing. The work Harris has put into his release package to ensure he wouldn’t get snared off the line is clear—he has a deep bag of tricks.

Harris isn’t going to beat you at route breaks with agility, but he has other tricks to gain separation. His favorite is confusing defenders with speed changes along his path. Ala Higgins, Harris’ NFL route tree needs to be pared down a bit to leverage what he’s best at.

The Chargers deferred their need along the defensive trenches until Day 3. I didn’t love the values they got on either DT Jamaree Caldwell or EDGE Kyle Kennard. S RJ Mickens, however, has a real shot to outperform his draft slot.

Los Angeles Rams | Draft Grade: C+

This spring, the Rams were one of the most difficult teams to project in the first round of mock drafts. Turns out that we didn’t have to worry about that, as Los Angeles traded out of Round 1 in a shocking trade with the Falcons.

The Rams took advantage of desperate Falcons GM Terry Fontenot, sending out Nos. 26 and 101 in exchange for Nos. 46 and 242 and a 2026 first-rounder. If the Falcons flat-line in 2025, this will go down as one of the best trades in franchise history. Either way, the Rams handily won the trade.

I liked the decision to take Oregon TE Terrance Ferguson once the Rams finally made a selection. A smooth mover with prototypical size, Ferguson stole the show at the NFL Combine, besting the TE group with a 4.63 40, 1.55 split, and 39-inch vertical. Ferguson has been contributing since his true freshman season, logging 2,050 career snaps. He split his time between inline and slot with the Ducks.

Ferguson is a strong route runner, quick off the line and sudden in his route breaks. He uses his body well at the catch point. Ferguson has good ball skills. He has reliable hands, and endears himself to quarterbacks by spearing balls outside his frame. Ferguson posted a strong 5.0% drop rate over 183 career targets. Ferguson is one of the more well-rounded tight ends in this class.

The Rams prioritize on-field athleticism metrics over pre-draft testing more than any organization in the NFL. The selections of Round 3 EDGE Josaiah Stewart and Round 5 LB Chris Paul Jr. fit that ethos snuggly.

Stewart is an undersized, unorthodox EDGE rusher who was extremely effective in college. The Rams staff should be able to figure out a way to squeeze value out of him. LB Chris Paul Jr. was a star linebacker in college who lacks size and athleticism. If he works out, the media will call him the front office’s defensive answer to the famous Kyren Williams pick.

Speaking of Williams – and his backfield mate Blake Corum – mid-round pick RB Jarquez Hunter is an interesting complementary option. There are kinks to work out in Hunter’s game, but his film is speckled with intriguing flash plays.

Miami Dolphins | Draft Grade: C-

The Dolphins badly needed offensive line help, particularly after the retirement of Terron Armstead. But after the class’ top-three consensus offensive tackles all went in the top-9, and after Alabama OG Tyler Booker went No. 12 to the Cowboys, the Dolphins audibled to the defensive trenches with DT Kenneth Grant.

Grant is a 331-pound load with a nearly 7-foot wingspan. In pre-draft testing, he posted an 82nd-percentile 10-yard split and 81st-percentile vertical jump. Grant is an interesting evaluation in that his size/athleticism combination screams 0- or 1-technique—ie, between the guards—but his play style evokes more of a three-technique.

Grant has the quickness to shoot gaps, and the pursuit speed and length to short-circuit plays. The last two seasons, Grant was 81st-percentile in PFF pass-rushing grade, a superb showing for a player his size. Over that same span, Grant was 80th percentile in PFF run-defense grade. 

In the run game, Grant is more of a hunter than an occupier, looking to shed and make the play himself, not plant himself like an oak for everyone else to have fun. His flash plays are some of the flashiest in this entire position group. He just needs to play with more consistency—Grant starts to play higher and higher the more tired he gets, making him easier to block.

Miami circled back to the offensive line in Round 2 with Arizona’s Jonah Savaiinaea. Savaiinaea will likely kick inside to guard at the next level – fortunately, he had almost one thousand career snaps at guard in college. 

He’s got the body of a nightclub bouncer—wide, thick, and barrel-chested—with quick feet and long arms. When Savaiinaea sets back on his heels in pass-pro, he makes an outside path to the quarterback non-viable. You’ve got to crash the gates inside on him, and that’s where he had help. Over the last three seasons, Savaiinaea finished 83rd percentile or higher in pass-blocking grade on true pass sets, 3-step drops, and 5-7 step drops.

The area Savaiinaea needs to work on is run-blocking. Over his career, he was 13th-percentile in positively graded run plays. He doesn’t have elite play strength, and can get stonewalled on gap responsibilities in particular. Savaiinaea is a much better fit for a zone scheme. But though he has the athleticism to consistently reach his destination, Savaiinaea has a tendency to arrive high and come in a bit hot. 

After that, Miami didn’t pick again until Round 5. I liked the swing on Maryland DT Jordan Phillips, one of the class’ youngest players. I also liked the idea of adding big grinder RB Ollie Gordon to a running back room that had all kinds of speed but lacked physicality. 

When QB Quinn Ewers declared for the draft in January, I said he was making a mistake. This weekend, Ewers got confirmation that he should have auctioned his services off in the transfer portal. He took a step backwards in 2024.

The No. 1 overall recruit in the 2021 class, Ewers has an adaptable throwing style, with his arm slots running the gamut from true sidearm to near over-the-top. Ewers’ unshakable confidence in his arm is likely why he’s never perfected his lower-body mechanics. 

Ewers has a habit of starting to sling right when a decision has been made, skipping over the beat it would have taken to set up a proper throwing platform beneath him. This is maddening in clean pockets, because it puts to chance accuracy and placement. 

Ewers delivers a tight spiral and a catchable ball, and has shown a feel for touch and layered passing in the intermediate area. This is an area of Ewers’ game that will translate—playcallers around the league will recognize this skill on tape and appreciate it.

My issue with Ewers’ game is what we’ve seen when the primary looks are taken away and he has to create. I see a mechanical thinker whose effectiveness wavers the further he goes down the progression line. The 2024 regular-season game against Georgia provided the most extreme example of this. 

When Ewers was being hailed as the best high school player in the country, he drew ubiquitous comps to fellow Texan Matthew Stafford because of their mutual side-winding deliveries. But Ewers didn’t have nearly the juice in his arm that Stafford had at Georgia. 

The acknowledgment of this can be seen in Texas’ shift in aerial philosophy during Ewers’ tenure. The percentage of deep balls Ewers attempted as a senior in 2024 was slashed more than 5% from his first year as a starter in 2022. Ewers’ all-arm throwing style doesn’t help him in this area. Balls flutter when he tries to push it too far downfield. In 2024, Ewers completed 38.2% of throws 20+ yards downfield.

Minnesota Vikings | Draft Grade: D

Last spring’s trades that ultimately led to EDGE Dallas Turner were largely built with equity from this draft. GM Kwesi Adofo-Mensah entered with a league-low four picks and a league-low in total draft equity. 

We saw this manifest early with the pick of OG Donovan Jackson. I saw Jackson as a late first-rounder, others saw him as an early second-rounder. But with the consensus top-three OTs, Tyler Booker and Grey Zabel, and the class’ consensus top-4 DTs all off the board before 1.24, the board had fallen poorly for the Vikings.

Adofo-Mensah had no choice but to stick-and-pick the last sure-thing trench option for immediate help. He appeared to be vindicated minutes later when Hosuton bailed out of its slot, presumably because Jackson was no longer available.

In my opinion, Jackson is the best pure guard in this class above Tyler Booker. He will start immediately at LG. Jackson has a premium combination of length—with the longest wingspan in the iOL class—and power in an athletic package. He’s a hammer in the run game. 

Jackson deserves huge credit for sacrificing for the team and shifting from LG to LT to replace injured LT Josh Simmons in October. He was sensational in the College Football Playoff, allowing zero sacks and two pressures over four games, including a date with stud Tennessee EDGE James Pearce. 

Donovan Jackson is the infinity stone to the top-3 NFL offensive line that the Vikings now boast, capping a stunning offseason transformation of an interior offensive line that had been problematic for years

After Jackson, the Vikings didn’t pick again until 3.97. They traded that pick along with No. 187 to the Houston Texans for Nos. 102 and 142. The Vikings chose Maryland WR Tai Felton at 3.102 – a nod to the team’s precarious receiver depth with a suspension for WR Jordan Addison looming. 

Felton has 4.37 speed and both YAC juice and the ability to get downtown. He’s stick-thin, though, and lacks play strength – he will need to prove he can get off the line against press-cover bullies, and he needs to clean up his ball skills. Felton dropped eight balls last year, and particularly seemed to have an issue when jostled at the catch point. 

There’s long-term starter ceiling in Felton’s profile, but it comes with risk. The same could be said of fourth-round EDGE Tyrion Ingram-Dawkins. Ingram-Dawkins is an eye-of-the-beholder ball of play. He’s young, he’s athletic, and he has a rangy frame. If you squint, you can see a long-term starting 3-4 defensive end. If you want to see the glass half-empty, you’ll perceive him as an unfinished product with a tweener profile – two years away from being two years away. 

The Vikings traded back from their fifth-round pick, multiplying it into Nos. 201 and 202 via trade with the Rams. With the first of those picks, Minnesota took LB Kobe King, who I ranked closer to the slot they had traded down from. Quietly, the Vikings had a lack of linebacker depth, with little on the roster proven behind the starters. King should provide quality depth.

The Vikings’ depth at the TE position was also precarious, so it wasn’t a surprise that the other selection was used on a tight end. I think it was a mistake to take Pittsburgh’s Gavin Bartholomew over Nebraska’s Thomas Fidone II, who went shortly thereafter. 

Adofo-Mensah told the media over the weekend that, in the circumstance that he was in, hitting it down the fairway was the best course of action. That’s what he did, adding an immediate starter at LG while fleshing out the roster’s depth. 

New England Patriots | Draft Grade: C+

Will Campbell is a superb athlete who plays with a revved-up motor. He has very strong hands, throwing with bad intentions but refined technique. Plays with good core strength and knee bend. 

People-moving power in the run game, but can come into the point of attack too hot and slip off blocks. Shortest arms (32 5/8 inches) of my top-20 ranked OTs—there is zero precedent for standout NFL offensive tackles with shorter than 33-inch arms. 

The past two seasons,  at left tackle for LSU, Campbell was 56th percentile in PFF pass-block grade. I believe he’s a guard or a center in the NFL. For those reasons, this pick felt like a reach.

Ohio State RB TreVeyon Henderson, taken in the 2.38 slot, is a perfect complement to Rhamondre Stevenson – Henderson can continue to be deployed the way he was last year at Ohio State, while Stevenson will be used for the between-the-tackles dirty work that Quinshon Judkins handled for the Buckeyes. 

Henderson runs with his torso upright and his knees bent like coiled springs. He can accelerate from 0-60 in a blink, and is bursty through holes. A track star in high school, Henderson ran a 4.43 40 at the NFL Scouting Combine.

Henderson doesn’t have juke-machine agility—he has a little hip stiffness—but he’s extremely sudden laterally when he needs to be. That springy lower half of his has teleportation qualities east/west—Henderson can pull out the reverse Uno card with a hard foot in the dirt when confronted by immediate penetration and hit the gas down the line the other direction.

Many backs with Henderson’s athletic profile are finesse air/space archetypes who dance/evade and toggle speeds. Not Henderson. Henderson’s north/south explosion juices him with legitimate speed-to-power electricity, and he’s fearless running downhill, accelerating into contact. 

Henderson’s appetite for contact can also be seen on his blocking tape. There are flashes of beautiful violence, where Henderson immediately spots the free rusher, steps up, squares, and flattens the guy. A gifted receiver, Henderson has good hands—he had 45 catches with only two drops the past two seasons. More impressively, on the topic of hands, Henderson had zero career fumbles on 667 touches.

The Patriots got the class’ best pure center in Round 3 with Georgia’s Jared Wilson. He’s a ridiculous athlete—98th-percentile RAS while completing every test of importance except the 3-cone—in a prototypical frame. Wilson boasts an 80” wingspan, the longest of my top-8 ranked centers. 

A Duke Manyweather pupil with a polished game, Wilson’s hand use is extremely advanced for his experience level. Last season, Wilson finished No. 1 among centers in this class with a minuscule 1.4% pressure rate allowed (five pressures over 511 pass-pro snaps). He allowed zero sacks and finished 98th percentile in pass block grade on true pass sets. Wilson needs to keep improving his play strength for additional gains in the run game. He declared after his third year and is on the younger side—there is plenty of potential to be untapped here.

I believe that Round 3 WR Kyle Williams will start immediately. Williams had the best release package of any receiver at the Senior Bowl.  He is extremely sudden off the line, with blur-fast feet working towards a purpose.

Williams has mediocre measurables. But he manages to create opportunities for his quarterback thanks to the reliability with which he gets off the line and into his route, and the separation he tends to gain through the route-break phase. Williams’ sublime 4.39 YPRR against man-coverage and 88th-percentile PFF separation percentile against single-coverage tell the tale of his down-in, down-out reliability.

New England did slick work on Day 3. I couldn’t believe the back-to-back values that the Pats got on DT Joshua Farmer and Bradyn Swinson. Both have the tools to develop into NFL starters.

New Orleans Saints | Draft Grade: C

I loved what New Orleans did on Days 1 and 3, and thought they went off the grid on Friday night. Add it all up, and they came out with a true middle-of-the-road “C” in my curve grading.

The correct decision was made to take the last of this class’ big-three offensive tackles with OT Kelvin Banks at 1.9, a former five-star recruit and the reigning Lombardi winner. Banks allowed only three sacks in his college career. He’s a nimble athlete with one of the longest wingspans of any tackle in the class. Over the past two seasons, Banks was 96th percentile in true pass set pass-pro grade. 

I saw Round 2 QB Tyler Shough as a fourth-rounder. 

He was a colossal bust over three years at Oregon, and a colossal bust over three injury-plagued seasons at Texas Tech. In Lubbock, Shough had a 20/11 TD/INT rate while dealing with a different serious injury in all three campaigns—a broken collarbone in 2021, a re-injured shoulder in 2022, and a broken fibula in 2023.

Shough transferred to Louisville in 2024 and had a resurgent final season for HC Jeff Brohm, an underrated quarterback whisperer who previously sent Mike White, David Blough, Aidan O’Connell, and Jack Plummer to the NFL. 

Shough is an above-average athlete in a big frame. He’s got arm talent, and has shown the ability to win in the quick game and also beat defenses downfield. Shough is a creative thrower who uses multiple arm angles. He throws a catchable spiral.

My two-fold concern with Shough is that he didn’t break out until his seventh season in college, and that he had significant durability issues in college. He’ll be 26 as a rookie. I felt the fourth-round grade was fair, all things considered. I saw New Orleans’ pair of third-rounders – DT Vernon Broughton and S Jonas Sanker – as fifth- and fourth-rounders, respectively.

New Orleans got its act together on Saturday with one of the very best Day 3’s we saw. LB Danny Stutsman and CB Quincy Riley were both “my guys” all process. I think both are underrated, and I love the way each of them play. Stutsman is a tackle machine, Riley stays in your hip pocket off the bus.

Speaking of “my guys,” New Orleans next took my favorite RB sleeper with Kansas’ Devin Nea. Neal is an instinctual slasher in a big package. His feet are elite—choppy, blur-fast, and precise. In space, Neal is slippery, and hard to square up. 

He adds to the illusion by toggling speeds, messing with defenders’ angles. Neal runs with vision and patience, staying on schedule behind his line. If a cutback lane opens, he’s going to find it. 

Neal caught 51 balls the past two years. The Jayhawks should have been more creative with his usage. Neal’s career 0.5 aDOT tells that story. He brings untapped potential as a receiver to the NFL.

New York Giants | Draft Grade: A+

The Giants needed a transformative draft and they may have gotten it.

That started with doing the right thing and staying parked in the 1.3 slot to select Penn State EDGE Abdul Carter – a relentless, explosive, fire-starting force off the EDGE. Carter spent his first two years as an off-ball linebacker. He was utterly dominant in 2024 after shifting to the EDGE, leading the FBS with 22 TFL. 

Carter finished 97th-percentile or higher in PFF Pass Rush Grade, True Pass Set Rush Grade, Pass Rush Grade w/o Play Action, and Pass Rush Win %. Carter has slingshot propulsion off the snap, and he bends neater corners than Marie Kondo. 

Carter becomes a T-800 Terminator in pursuit, closing with ferocity and finishing with abject violence. This, of course, applies to his work in run defense as well. Carter is the ever-rare EDGE defender who can legitimately say he has a sideline-to-sideline impact in the run game. 

On multiple occasions, I saw him shed, get flat down the line, and chase down and finish a running back around the line of scrimmage outside the opposite tackle. A third-year declaree who just turned 21, it’s scary to think of the potential Carter has left to untap. His education as an EDGE defender has only just begun.

The Giants made a second splash in Round 1, sending Nos. 34 and 99 along with a 2026 third-rounder to the Texans to move up nine spots for Dart. Dart has the pedigree, statistical profile, and physical tools of a first-rounder. He checks all seven of Bill Parcells' QB criteria boxes. 

Dart became a master of Lane Kiffin’s shotgun-spread system. He has the quick hands for Kiffin’s patented RPO game. Kiffin simplifies things post-snap, with schematic garnish juicing the odds of success for the initial reads. Dart went to the first one a lot. 

Between that, and the preponderance of quick-hitters and screens in the playbook, 34.2% of Dart’s attempts went to wide-open receivers, ranking No. 11 in the FBS, per ESPN. Dart can, at times, be a bit mechanical in his thinking post-snap—sticking to the pre-snap script instead of taking advantage of the post-snap coverage look. 

Dart throws from multiple arm slots, with a smooth, repeatable motion and a quick release. Dart’s arm shines brightest in the intermediate area. He knows how to spin it. Dart consistently beats defenders to the spot with fastballs into tight windows, big-boy NFL throws. Dart ranked No. 1 in this draft class in both intermediate and over-the-middle completion percentage.

Dart doesn’t have a downfield howitzer—deep balls flutter on him when his eyes get bigger than his stomach. But when Dart stays within his means, he has the touch and placement to confidently challenge single coverage. One area for development is footwork. Dart’s feet can have a mind of their own, a habit that can skew his accuracy down to the layups.

I absolutely loved the value that the Giants got on DT Darius Alexander, RB Cam Skattebo, OL Marcus Mbow, and TE Thomas Fidone II.

DT Alexander starts out each rep with a head start thanks to a long first step that erases distance and the defibrillators attached to his long arms. Alexander is an angular long-strider, and thus not as sudden or quick side-to-side in a phone booth—he’s looking to win with power, not agility.

Alexander has developed a nifty swim move to free himself from offensive linemen who get their cleats planted too deep out of respect for his power. Over the past two seasons at Toledo, Alexander posted an impressive 87 pressures and was 96th percentile in PFF pass-rush win rate. During that same timeframe, Alexander’s 27.7% positively graded run-play rate ranked No. 9 in the country, while his PFF run-defense grade checked in at 89th percentile. Developing a deeper reservoir of counter moves to play off his power will only elevate Alexander’s game more at the next level.

RB Skattebo has a classic bowling-ball build, short and dense. He runs low to the ground, with one of the surest centers-of-gravity of this running back class. Skattebo lacks speed. But he is extremely quick, accelerating to his top gear in a few steps. 

Skattebo has quick feet and can change directions suddenly with a hard cut. You also can’t get lower than him when he goes into his battering-ram routine and loads up behind his shoulder pads. Skattebo is a tackle-breaking machine who finished No. 2 in the FBS behind Jeanty last year in forced missed tackles.

Skattebo is a value-add in the passing game due to his receiving utility. Arizona State gave Skattebo bell-cow work as a runner, and Skattebo also finished No. 2 on the team in receptions. He led this RB class with 1.92 YPRR. New York no doubt is envisioning that Skattebo will play David Montgomery as Tyrone Tracy plays a poor man’s Jahmyr Gibbs.

OL Marcus Mbow overcomes his lack of bulk and play strength with movement, brains, and technique. Mbow is an extremely good zone-run blocker who needs to keep improving in pass protection. In the NFL, Mbow’s pass-pro will play up on the inside, where his movement and technique will carry the day on assignments he can physically handle, and he can get a hand when matched up with power.

TE Thomas Fidone II was an inspired Round 7 dart throw. Fidone is a former top-40 overall recruit who was the No. 1-ranked tight end in the 2021 recruiting class. He had a snake-bitten start to his career, missing his first two seasons with separate ACL tears. 

Fidone has an ideal blend of size and athleticism. Fidone has plenty of inline experience. He’s a scrappy blocker who wins his share of reps through length and footwork. He’s still working out the kinks with his technique, and needs to play lower. Fidone has the frame to add muscle, and that’s exactly what he should be doing as he works on his blocking and route-running technique during a redshirt rookie season in the NFL.

New York Jets | Draft Grade: B-

The Jets’ roster still has miles to go – but at least the Jets can now cross “offensive tackle” off the needs list for the next decade. Armand Membou was picked to take over at RT as the bookend for last year’s first-round pick, LT Olu Fashanu. 

Membou started at right tackle all three years he was on campus at Missouri. He’s a little sawed-off, but Membou has the long arms and athleticism to hang on the boundary at the next level. 

Membou has very smooth feet – it’s very difficult to beat him with movement. Membou was utterly dominant in 2024, allowing zero sacks en route to a 96th-percentile PFF pass-blocking grade last season. Membou is still only 20 years old, with upside left to untap. His selection will have both short- and long-term stabilizing effects on the offensive line.

The Jets, rumored to be interested in Tyler Warren or Colson Loveland at 1.7, instead saved that position for Round 2 in the form of LSU’s Mason Taylor, the son of Hall of Famer Jason Taylor and the nephew of Hall of Famer Zach Thomas. 

Taylor has plenty of experience, a three-year starter. He’s an above-average inline blocker for this class, and he has plenty of experience in the slot. He gives you a hard chip off the line before getting into his route on play-action concepts. Taylor was as reliable as it gets, dropping only one ball on 79 targets. 

Over his career, around 70% of Taylor’s catches came within five air yards of the line of scrimmage. That usage should have led to strong after-catch yardage numbers … but it didn’t. Taylor broke a mere four tackles and averaged a meager 4.6 YAC in. 

I liked the Round 3 value that the Jets got on CB Azareye'h Thomas, who fell because of long-speed questions. But he’s a big, skilled boundary corner with length who plays a physical brand of press coverage.

The Jets paid a premium for WR Arian Smith’s speed in Round 4. Smith’s viability in the NFL will be determined by two things: 1) Can he stay healthy? 2) Can he clean up his issues with drops?

Philadelphia Eagles | Draft Grade: A-

Philadelphia assumes their annual spot near the top of these rankings. This year, they added an Alabama defender to their defensive room full of former Georgia Bulldogs. 

LB Jihaad Campbell fell a little due to injury questions in the pre-draft process, but encouraging news from his doctor the week of the draft assuaged Philadelphia’s concerns. If Campbell is indeed healthy, the Eagles may have gotten a steal.

Campbell is former five-star 3-4 OLB recruit who wound up starting the past two years at off-ball. He logged a tick over 10% of his career snaps off the EDGE. Campbell spent the pre-draft process training exclusively as an EDGE defender at Exos.

I was surprised by how natural Campbell looked in zone coverage. He’s smooth and efficient backpedaling to appropriate depth, and he has a clear understanding of his responsibilities on each concept. Campbell is a bursty, sideline-to-sideline athlete. He’s a wrap-up tackler who keeps a base under him into contact (95th-percentile missed tackle rate the past two years). Campbell was 83rd percentile in PFF coverage grade the last two seasons.

Round 2 S Andrew Mukuba was one of this class’ best centerfielders in coverage, while Round 4 DT Ty Robinson is athletic, productive and experienced – he fell because of short arms. The same was true of Round 5 C Drew Kendall, the most underrated interior OL prospect in this class. 

Kendall’s father, Pete, is a former first-round pick of the Seahawks (1996) who played 13 years in the NFL. Drew Kendall is a good athlete in a rangy frame who plays with an NFL veteran’s know-how. He’s an angle-player, both in a phone booth with depth positioning, and coming forward with his pursuit angles. He tied for No. 2 in this center class in pass-pro efficiency last season. I think he’ll develop into an NFL starter.

QB Kyle McCord is a potential late-round gem. He is an aggressive pocket passer with average arm strength. He has a compact motion and a quick release. McCord is accurate, and his placement and touch hold to the third level. 

McCord had a redemptive final season at Syracuse after getting pushed out at Ohio State. He finished No. 3 among quarterbacks in PFF’s Wins Above Average metric while leading the FBS in big-time throws. 

OT Cameron Williams, once considered a first-round possibility, free-fell to No. 207, where Philadelphia stopped his fall. He’s a one-year starter who could have used another season in college. He’s shown tantalizing high-level flashes against premier competition, but remains raw and inconsistent, with sloppy technique.

Pittsburgh Steelers | Draft Grade: A-

Pittsburgh may come to rue the decision to bypass Shedeur Sanders in Round 5 only to take Will Howard in Round 6. That said, the Steelers got strong slot values with the prospects they actually took.

First-round DT Derrick Harmon played in the 320-330 pound range at the beginning of his career for Michigan State. Harmon’s pass-rushing effectiveness spiked at Oregon in 2024 after he cut to 310 pounds.

Harmon led all FBS interior defensive linemen with 39 hurries and 55 pressures in 2024, while finishing 99th percentile in PFF pass-rush win rate. Harmon is long-legged and naturally plays a bit high, but his length and strength are formidable weapons in helping him stand his ground in the run game. You can line him up nearly anywhere on the line. 

And say this for the pick: Pittsburgh recognized that interior defensive linemen were flying off the board on Thursday night, and secured themselves the final of the top-four consensus iDLs in this class.  

I think the Steelers got a future star out of their Round 3 pick in Iowa RB Kaleb Johnson. Johnson is an exceptional zone back.

While Johnson ran only a 4.57 40 at the NFL Combine, he hit a max speed of 22 mph on that run, the same top speed that Iowa’s GPS tracking system clocked him at last season. Johnson’s 40 was killed by a 7th-percentile 1.62 10-yard split. 

Johnson is able to mitigate the lack of explosion and give himself a runway to access his high-end top speed on stretch-zone concepts. These are the runs where Johnson looks like Le’Veon Bell, a player Johnson studies and admires – and who Johnson will now attempt to follow in the footsteps of.

Johnson baits and switches second-level defenders, forcing them to declare first, sucking them into a muck of bodies as he escapes into space. This gives him a higher preponderance of clean holes through which to build up speed. When Johnson has a head of steam, he’s a speed-to-power locomotive. 

Johnson is a threat to take it to the house when he gets into the third level. He did this plenty in 2024, finishing 90th percentile in breakaway rate. Johnson assumes an upright sprinter’s stance with open grass in front of him, his legs close together. 

Johnson doesn’t go down on first contact, and he has very good feet. Last season, between the guards, he had 131 carries for 839 yards, good for 6.4 yards per carry. Johnson finished with an identical 6.4 YPC over 240 total carries. Johnson has filthy contact balance, particularly for his angular running style. Per PFF, Johnson was 94th percentile in yards after contact per attempt. 

Pittsburgh continued to pound the defensive front with their next two picks, getting really good values on both EDGE Jack Sawyer and Johnson’s collegiate teammate DT Yahya Black, a huge occupier.

Hilariously, I comped QB Will Howard to Mason Rudolph. My biggest issue with Howard’s NFL evaluation was sloppy lower-body mechanics for an older prospect (24 as a rookie). Howard’s accuracy and placement had always suffered because of that. 

San Francisco 49ers | Draft Grade: D+

San Francisco made 11 selections, the first five on the defensive side, beginning with EDGE Mykel Williams. 

Williams has a made-in-a-factory frame – including the second-longest wingspan of my top-30 ranked EDGE defenders – and high-octane athleticism. He’s a spectacular run defender who finished 97th-percentile in PFF Run Defense Grade last season. Williams consistently sets a hard edge, and he funnels the ball back inside to help when he can’t make the play. 

His pass-rushing needs work, but he’s shown tantalizing flashes, including a two-sack (would have been three but a penalty negated his third) showing in his return to full-time action following a serious ankle sprain suffered in September. 

I’m a fan of Round 2 DT Alfred Collins. He has a ridiculous frame, rangy, wide, and well-proportioned, with the longest wingspan in this iDL class (over 7 feet!). Only four FBS iDL had PFF overall and run defense grades above 85.0 with 27-or-more run stops: Mason Graham, Walter Nolen, Darius Alexander, and Collins. 

I was also a huge fan of Round 4 DT CJ West, a fearsome run defender because he never loses the leverage game. You can’t move him. Between those two picks and Walked, San Francisco’s run defense has improved in a major way.

I wasn’t as big a fan of other picks, with San Francisco taking multiple prospects with shaky measurables. 

I did appreciate the Round 7 flier on QB Kurtis Rourke, who can be stashed on IR as a rookie. Rourke played through a torn ACL in 2024 while leading Indiana to a 11-1 regular season. He elected to hold off surgery until after the season. The Oakville, Ontario, native has a hockey player’s toughness.

Rourke is an experienced pocket passer with the arm to make every throw. Rourke has proven especially proficient at attacking the intermediate sector between the hashes. This is where he first caught my eye—it’s an area that the NFL greatly values. He modulates throwing speeds to fit the occasion, and has a pool shark’s touch when he needs it.

Rourke’s brother Nathan got a cup of coffee in the NFL and is now in the CFL. Kurtis is bigger, and he has a stronger arm. He’ll be given a chance to win a backup job in 2026 camp.

Seattle Seahawks | Draft Grade: B+

Seattle had 11 picks, and they made them count. By my metrics, the Seahawks spent the 11th-most draft equity and acquired the seventh-most talent.

The first pick – NDSU’s Grey Zabel – addressed an interior offensive line that for years has desperately been in need of help. I expect Zabel, a collegiate OT with short arms (32”), to kick inside at the next level. 

In 2024, Zabel finished 98th percentile in PFF pass-block grade, 97th percentile true pass set grade, and 91st percentile in positively graded run block rate. At the Senior Bowl, coaches moved Zabel between OT, OG, and C. Zabel didn't lose a single rep in one-on-ones, earning Practice Player of the Week honors from NFL executives. 

I was lower on S Nick Emmanwori than the rest of the media, but Seattle got him at a perfectly acceptable price range. Emmanwori was a first-team All-American in 2024 who went on to light up the NFL Combine with a 4.38 forty and 43-inch vertical at linebacker-size.

Emmanwori is a sideline-to-sideline mutant in run defense. He had a team-leading 88 tackles while missing only 7.2% of attempts last season. Emmanwori took 413 snaps in the box last season—the next-highest total amongst my top-15 safeties had 358 (Jonas Sanker). 

Emmanwori will tangibly improve your run defense and will have flashy field-flipping plays in pass defense. But since I don’t feel I can trust him in man or playing deep, and since I can’t count on down-to-down consistency in the lower-leverage coverage role I’ll be assigning him to, there are pass-down limitations reflected in my grade.

TE Elijah Arroyo is an overlap in skillset with Noah Fant, which is not good news for Fant. Arroyo is an athletic big slot. He had a breakout season in 2024—posting a career-best 35-590-7 receiving line. He entered the year with a mere 11 career receptions. After functioning as a reserve as a freshman in 2021, a torn ACL limited Arroyo to 11 games over the next two seasons combined.

I like what I’ve seen from Arroyo down the field and in the red zone—and acknowledge the value of that. But Arroyo’s struggles blocking defensive ends means he’s a big slot, and I’m concerned that at present he’s a bit of a one-trick pony in that capacity. He also has a history of knee injuries.

While I saw that pick as a gamble at a steep price point, I saw the next – QB Jalen Milroe – as a gamble at an extremely reasonable price.

Milroe has the same kind of twitchy, elastic arm strength that Michael Vick did. Milroe’s rainbow deep balls are a thing of beauty. Over the last two years, Milroe accumulated an utterly ridiculous 36/4 TD/INT rate on +20-yard throws, with 42 big-time throws against only one turnover-worthy play on 123 attempts. Milroe also flexes his arm-strength muscles with outside-the-hash lasers down the sidelines. 

Milroe is a truly exceptional rushing threat. His skill set is a nightmare to defend when he’s connecting down the field. You can keep two deep safeties on the field to prevent him from getting one-on-one looks. But if you do, it’s difficult to spy Milroe, or to send extra pressure at him. 

He’s built thick and strong, and he runs with rugged power. He ran a 4.4 forty during the pre-draft process and has legitimate angle-erasing speed on the field. Milroe ran for 806 yards in 2023, and 879 yards in 2024. 

Milroe’s future hinges on whether he can improve in the short and intermediate games. At present, Milroe is a one-speed thrower. Between the hashes, Milroe struggles with rhyming his drop to receiver breaks on timing concepts, and he’s often late because he wants to see the receiver open. Milroe posted an unsightly 13/13 TD/INT rate the last two years on throws within 19 yards of the line of scrimmage. 

Milroe is a high-variance, boom-or-bust prospect – at that position, you happily risk the 3.92 pick.

I loved the Day 3 picks of RB Damien Martinez and WRs Ricky White III and Tory Horton.

Horton is a wiry, quick-footed boundary receiver. He had back-to-back 1,000-yard seasons at CSU in 2022-2023 before a season-ending knee injury in October 2024 snapped that streak. He returned to run a 4.41 forty at the NFL Combine.

Horton is a slick route-runner with a diverse release package. He sells a bill of goods to the defender along his route path. The past two seasons, Horton was 91st percentile in separation rate, per PFF. Horton has very strong hands, logging a strong 5.6% drop rate. Precious little of his production came from manufactured touches. Over the past three seasons, Horton had more targets 30+ yards downfield (43) than screen targets (41).åΩ

RB Martinez is a big, physical back with sweet feet.For a bigger back, Martinez is extremely fluid. The violence of Martinez’s one-cut direction changes can surprise defenders. Martinez runs with power, snapping arm tackle attempts. He’s extremely effective between the tackles. Martinez runs with good tempo and patience, allowing his offensive line to work for him.

I love Martinez’s leg-drive through contact—the play isn’t over until you have him dead to rights. Martinez profiles as an early-down grinder, and I think he’s going to be a good one.

WR White was a productive collegiate receiver who fell to Round 7 because of poor athletic testing numbers. That’s fair – and his athletic profile does set a relatively-low ceiling – but White’s exceptional special teams ability alone was worth picking at least one round higher.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers | Draft Grade: C

I didn’t love Tampa Bay’s pick of WR Emeka Egbuka at 1.19, but I thought the Bucs had strong showings on Days 2 and 3. Egbuka is a fine player – just an odd fit in this crowded receiver room, and an odd priority over the acute defensive needs. 

A well-built slot at 6-foot-1, 202 pounds, Egbuka is a smooth operator. In the past three seasons, Egbuka was 95th percentile in separation percentage. Egbuka has this class’ quickest zone-coverage processor—he gets one snapshot of defender movement post-snap and he’s got the whole picture. 

In man coverage, it’s all angles, spatial manipulation, and leverage. Ohio State’s elite boundary receivers afforded Egbuka the intermediate spacing that he thrives in. Space is an ocean, and, with enough of it, Egbuka will drag your nickel into depth to drown.

Egbuka is a composer out there, with the guitar riffs of unpredictable tempo changes playing over the relentless drumbeat of his quick feet. Egbuka’s hands are strong and reliable. His 5.5% drop rate (per PFF) on 205 career receptions was stellar.

Egbuka doesn’t run with much power, and he doesn’t deploy many open-field pyrotechnics, but his YAC is adequate because of his acceleration and vision. The first helps him get into space, and the second improves his odds of staying there.

While I believe he projects as a strong long-term starting NFL slot receiver – and that’s where I think Jalen McMillan profiles best. It’s also where Chris Godwin is best deployed. And even though I liked the Round 7 value on WR Tez Johnson, the stick-thin 154-pounder only has a shot at sticking in the slot at next level.

Slot receiver madness aside, the Bucs did very well in their middle picks with strong values on the defensive side of the ball. CB Benjamin Morrison will be a steal if he’s over his hip issues while CB Jacob Parrish brings nickel help. EDGE David Walker is an unorthodox disruptor, while EDGE Elijah Roberts is a power end.

Tennessee Titans | Draft Grade: D

In the Titans’ shoes, I would have acquired a veteran starting quarterback earlier this offseason so that I could have taken Travis Hunter Jr. at 1.1 – or explored my trade-down possibilities.

Cam Ward has a high-voltage right arm, and there isn’t a throw in this world that he doesn’t think he can make. Ward is a full-field reader, and he trusts what he sees implicitly. He has an elastic, twitchy arm, shooting the pill out from unorthodox sidearm slots. 

This is a useful trick under duress, but the extra arm action and non-repeatable upper-body mechanics do have slightly deleterious effects on his overall accuracy and placement. He modulates speeds well, and has feathery touch when he needs it. 

Ward’s pocket work took a huge step forward in 2024, where his pressure-to-sack ratio improved from 24.9 to 16.4. He’s difficult to sack because he senses pressure and is a twitchy short-area mover with the feet to evade and escape. 

Ward hates to check down, and he doesn’t like to throw the ball away. He generates explosive plays this way. But it’s also where you see wanton recklessness. Ward can be fooled by coverage looks, and he walks himself into unforced errors.

I wasn’t high on what Tennessee did on Day 2. UCLA EDGE Oluwafemi Oladejo is a raw convert from off-ball linebacker with projectable traits – but he’s got work to do, and I thought there were better players on the board at the time of his selection. 

It appears the NFL shared my trepidation on Penn State S Kevin Winston Jr.’s evaluation – there’s upside there if his instincts improve, but that’s no sure thing after having lost his final collegiate season to injury.

On Day 3, Tennessee got to work on some pass-catching help for Ward in the form of WRs Elic Ayomanor and Chimere Dike, and TE Gunnar Helm. 

Ayomanor is a late bloomer from Canada with intriguing upside. He famously lit up Colorado CB Travis Hunter in 2023, finishing an upset win with 13 receptions for 294 yards and three TDs. Ayomanor is a bully of a boundary receiver, with good play strength and a feisty style. Ayomanor is a lunchpail blocker who gets after it. 

But Ayomanor isn’t a physically-limited fighter—he’s a strong athlete and former track star. Ayomanor blazed a 4.44 in the 40-yard dash at the NFL Combine with a 38.5-inch vertical and a 10-foot-7 broad jump. He’s still working on his release package, which remains rudimentary. But what Ayomanor does have is lower-half suddenness, driving hard off the line and winning inside leverage on crossers and slants.

Ayomanor is more of a possession receiver with stretch-the-field utility. Dike is a pure field-stretcher with 4.34 speed. Helm, on the other hand, is a physically limited grinder. 

Helm is reliable in the short and intermediate areas. What he lacks in route-running pizzazz he compensates for with efficiency to his spot and a feel for body positioning.Helm has plenty of experience inline, but needs more work on his technique. He fritters away the leverage battle by popping up at the snap, and doesn’t have a great idea of what he’s doing with his hands.

Washington Commanders | Draft Grade: C+

The Commanders hit it solidly down the fairway with this five-man class. That began at the end of Round 1, where the Commanders were boxed out of their preferred two-way EDGE defenders with run defense utility. Washington ultimately did not select a player at that position.

Instead, Washington audibiled to OT Josh Conerly right before the offensive tackle class fell off a shelf. A former five-star recruit, Connerly began his high school career as a running back. Play strength is a question, but Conerly is an extremely gifted pass-protector. Over 1,091 career pass-pro reps—nearly all of them at left tackle—he allowed only two sacks. 

Connerly had an impressive showing against Penn State’s Abdul Carter in the Big 10 title game, allowing no hurries or pressures over 35 pass-pro reps. The lack of pop shows up in run blocking—Conerly was 35th-percentile in gap run-block grade the past two seasons—but he’s got the movement to develop on zone concepts.

With Washington’s lone Day 2 pick, the Commanders stopped the fall of CB Trey Amos, who had late Round 1 steam. Amos’ addition might allow Washington to move the undersized Mike Sainristil off of the boundary.

With the next two picks, Washington added speed merchants in WR Jaylin Lane – who needs polish but who tested like Tyreek Hill this spring – and LB Kain Medrano. Medrano is a good athlete who flies around the field – but he misses tackles in bunches. If he can clean up his haphazard technique, Washington will have unearthed a late-round gem.

RB Jacory Croskey-Merritt got absolutely hosed by the NCAA last year, with an erroneous eligibility issue wiping out his final season. He’s never shown anything in the pass game, but he’s a shifty runner with feel who could see the field as a rookie.