2025 NFL Mock Draft: Abdul Carter Jumps To No. 1

With Super Bowl 59 officially in the books, the 2024-25 NFL regular season is over, and now all eyes turn to the NFL draft, which means that this is a good time to update my 2025 mock.

Here are previous versions.

• Version 1: Way-too-early version (May 2024)
• Version 2: Midseason version (Nov. 2024)
• Version 3: Two-thirds-through-the-season version (Nov. 2024)
• Version 4: Pre-college conference championship version (Dec. 2024)
• Version 5: Pre-Heisman version (Dec. 2024)
• Version 6: Pre-Round 1 CFB Playoff (Dec. 2024)
• Version 7: Pre-Round 2 CFB Playoff (Dec. 2024)
• Version 8: Pre-Round 3 CFB Playoff (Jan. 2025)
• Version 9: Pre-CFB Championship (Jan. 2025)
• Version 10: Post-CFB Championship (Jan. 2025)
• Version 11: Pre-Senior Bowl (Jan. 2025)
• Version 12: Post-Senior Bowl (Feb. 2025)

Over the past six years (since I started submitting mocks in competitions), I’m the No. 2 mocker for accuracy, and I'm a lifetime 484-424 (+102.6 units) betting on the draft.

Subscribe to our free Betting Life Newsletter for daily guidance, best bets, and more.

I plan to do more draft content moving forward, so be sure to check out our Fantasy Life NFL Draft Hub, where you can see my NFL prospect big board, Thor Nystrom's most recent mock, and his early thoughts on the top of the draft board at each skill position.

• Top-five QBs
• Top-five RBs
• Top-five WRs
• Top-five TEs

Updated 2025 NFL Mock Draft

Now that the 2025 NFL draft order is fully set, here's my post-Super Bowl mock, followed by notes.

"Must Include" Players in Round 1

Right now, there are 23 players I think are highly likely to go in Round 1 (unless something drastically changes in their evaluation between now and the draft).

• QB: Cameron Ward (Miami), Shedeur Sanders (Colorado)
• RB: Ashton Jeanty (Boise State)
• WR: Travis Hunter (Colorado), Tetairoa McMillan (Arizona), Luther Burden (Missouri), Emeka Egbuka (Ohio State)
• TE: Tyler Warren (Penn State), Colston Loveland (Michigan)
• OT: Will Campbell (LSU), Kelvin Banks (Texas), Josh Simmons (Ohio State), Josh Conerly (Oregon)
• OG: Tyler Booker (Alabama)
• EDGE: Abdul Carter (Penn State), Mykel Williams (Georgia), Jalon Walker (Georgia), James Pearce (Tennessee)
• DT: Mason Graham (Michigan), Kenneth Grant (Michigan), Walter Nolen (Mississippi)
• CB: Will Johnson (LSU)
• S: Malaki Starks (Georgia)

After them, I have strong Round 1 leans for another seven players.

• OT: Armand Membou (Missouri)
• EDGE: Shemar Stewart (Texas A&M, Mike Green (Marshall), Nic Scourton (Texas A&M)
• CB: Jahdae Barron (Texas), Benjamin Morrison (Notre Dame), Shavon Revel (East Carolina)
• DT: Derrick Harmon (Oregon)

And then I have three more guys right on the borderline of Rounds 1-2.

• EDGE: Jack Sawyer (Ohio State)
• LB: Jihaad Campbell (Alabama)
• S: Nick Emmanwori (South Carolina)

For this iteration, I ultimately settled on Emmanwori, because I'm yet to do a mock with two safeties and I want the practice.

Borderline Round 1 NFL Mock Draft Prospects

These are the guys I didn't include in my mock but whom I currently view as residing near the borderline of Rounds 1-2.

• QB: Jalen Milroe (Alabama)
• WR: Matthew Golden (Texas)
• OT: Aireontae Ersery (Minnesota), Jonah Savaiinaea (Arizona), Grey Zabel (North Dakota State)
• OG: Donovan Jackson (Ohio State)
• EDGE: Jack Sawyer (Ohio State), Landon Jackson (Arkansas), J.T. Tuimoloau (Ohio State)
• DT: Tyleik Williams (Ohio State), Shemar Turner (Texas A&M)
• CB: Azareye'h Thomas (Florida State)

The Perfect NFL Mock Draft

Here's what I like specifically about this mock.

• EDGE Abdul Carter: Carter has gotten a world of hype over the past month, and although he's still "just" No. 2 to go No. 1 overall (+200, FanDuel), I feel it's time to have a mock with Carter in the top spot. Titans President of Football Operations Chad Brinker has said that the team "won't pass up on a generational talent" at No. 1 … and with all apologies to QBs Cameron Ward and Shedeur Sanders, neither one is a once-a-decade prospect.
   
• WR/CB Travis Hunter: The Browns could go with a rookie as a replacement for QB Deshaun Watson (Achilles), but I think it's likelier that they'll go with a veteran via free agency, which means they could be in a position in the draft to go with the best player available at No. 2—and that's Hunter. In terms of talent, he decides to go ahead of both Round 1 QBs.
   
• QB Shedeur Sanders: Whether they trade up or stay at No. 6, it feels as if the Raiders are highly desirous to add a rookie QB, and Sanders is the one most often linked to them.
   
• WR Luther Burden: Veteran Tee Higgins seems highly likely to leave the Bengals via free agency, so they could look to add another WR in the draft. They're not regularly mocked with a WR at No. 17, but I believe that will become an increasingly popular team-position pairing as we progress into the offseason.
   
• TE Tyler Warren: By putting two safeties in this mock, I am logistically forced to bump Warren down to the Broncos at No. 20. On the one hand, I think he's likely to go higher than that in the draft. On the other hand, I absolutely love this team-player pairing. I believe that HC Sean Payton could see Warren as a Taysom Hill-esque all-around offensive weapon—except one that can actually serve as a high-level pass catcher.
   
• TE Colston Loveland: With Warren dropping down the board, Loveland also moves down a little, falling to the Chargers at No. 22, and I also love that pairing. The team needs a TE, and Loveland fits the draft range.
   
• OL & DL Late in Round 1: This class has great depth in the trenches on both sides of the ball. It feels right to close Round 1 with 7-of-8.

This being my first go at a version with Carter at No. 1 and two safeties, I think it's a good starting point.

And yet …

Still Not the Perfect NFL Mock Draft

No mock is perfect. Here are ideas I have for future versions.

• Patriots at No. 4: With Abdul Carter and Travis Hunter going in the top two, I had to pivot to OT at No. 4. Ideally, I'd like to get a WR to the Pats in Round 1, but No. 4 is just too high for Tetairoa McMillan.
   
• 49ers at No. 11: I'm still not enamored with a DT at No. 11, but that's a position the 49ers could conceivably address, I have four DTs I need/want to get into Round 1, and it's hard to find the ideal landing spots for all of them. This is basically an "it's good enough" position-team pairing. I imagine this will be a pivotal pick in many mocks.
   
• CBs Jahdae Barron, Benjamin Morrison, and Shavon Revel: After CB Will Johnson, I want to get all three of these CBs into Round 1 … but it's hard to find perfect landing spots for four corners, and I have little confidence on the order of these three players. In this iteration, I have Barron as the No. 2 CB, but he could easily be No. 4. As we approach the draft, I'm sure I'll have more clarity and conviction at CB, but right now the position is jumbled after Johnson.

Eventually, we'll find the perfect mock.