The NFL draft is two sleeps away. Rumors are running wild, mock drafts are being shared left and right, and we're dreaming of the ideal landing spots for 2025's best rookies. 

We've rounded up a trio of the finest football analysts around—Dwain McFarland, Ian Hartitz, and Matthew Freedman—to dive into what the perfect landing spot for the buzziest names in the draft.

What is your perfect landing spot for Ashton Jeanty?

Dwain: Jeanty is the fourth-best RB prospect in the Rookie Super Model, which dates back to 2018. Only Saquon Barkley, Leonard Fournette, and Christian McCaffrey rank higher. Jeanty is a complete prospect that can handle 300 touches on the ground and never leave the field on passing downs. The Boise State product is capable of taking over the backfield immediately on 26 of 32 teams. 

San Francisco, Indianapolis, Atlanta, Detroit, Baltimore, and Philadelphia are the teams with backs good enough to keep Jeanty in a reserve or committee role early, so avoiding those spots is the more important topic of conversation in my eyes. However, the Raiders, Bears, and Cowboys are my favorites in the top 12 picks of the draft. 

Each of those teams should improve on offense versus last season, and their depth charts offer zero competition for a back of Jeanty's caliber. All five of his historical comps in the model notched a top-six RB fantasy finish within their first three seasons—Jeanty has a legit shot to do that in Year 1 in Las Vegas, Chicago, or Dallas.

Ian: Jeanty will be a consensus top-12 option at the position almost regardless of where he gets drafted, but there is one possibility that might only be possible in Draft Day: The Denver Broncos.

Now, Sean Payton and company will almost assuredly be out of the Jeanty sweepstakes if they stay pat at pick 20, but that doesn’t mean this wouldn’t be the absolute nut landing spot for the former Boise State Bronco should GM George Paton attempt to trade up.

  • Opportunity: This is a barren depth chart that offers arguably less competition than any other RB room in the league.
  • Scheme: Sean Payton knows a thing or two about enabling high-end fantasy RBs. The position also regularly gets featured in his passing game: Denver backs rank first in total targets since Payton took over in 2023.
  • Offensive line: The Broncos finished last season with PFF’s second-ranked group up front.
  • Scoring upside: The Bo Nix-led Broncos finished 2024 as the league’s 10th-ranked scoring team.

Will this happen? Probably not, but you could imagine what it’d be like if it did.

Freedman: The perfect spot for Jeanty would be the Chiefs—but he's not falling to No. 31, so I'll try to think of this as “perfect landing spot, within reason.”

With this mindset, I think Jeanty would be great with the Browns. They won't select him. They seem locked in with WR/CB Travis Hunter. But they desperately need an RB, as right now they have only Jerome Ford and Pierre Strong at the position on the roster, and neither of those guys is a true lead back.

The Browns have a good OL and a strong offensive playcaller in two-time HCOY Kevin Stefanski. With strong support and limited competition for backfield touches, Jeanty could average 100 yards per game with the Browns right away.

Where is the best landing spot for Shedeur Sanders?

Dwain: The path for Sanders to erupt into a high-end fantasy asset is fairly narrow. Of my top-four QB prospects (Cam Ward, Sanders, Jaxson Dart, and Jalen Milroe), he offers the lowest rushing floor. When evaluating ceiling outcomes for NFL signal callers, those with rushing upside offer more ceiling in the Fantasy Life boom/bust models. 

For example, a poor passer like Justin Fields offers a ceiling similar to an elite passer like Joe Burrow. For Sanders, that means he must 1) hit as a passer (hard to do) and 2) land on a team willing to make passing a priority with 3) exceptional weapons around him. Based on that criteria, here are my favorite landing spots for Sanders:

  • Giants: Malik Nabers alone can ignite a pass game.
  • Saints: Kellen Moore plus Chris Olave and Rashid Shaheed isn't a bad starting point.
  • Steelers: Arthur Smith is a scary proposition, but DK Metcalf plus George Pickens can capture the imagination.
  • Rams: Sanders would have to wait in the wings, but Sean McVay is a mastermind who can unlock a pure pocket passer, and they have a young stud WR in Puka Nacua.

In a league exercising less and less patience with Round 1 passers, if Sanders doesn't nail his landing spot, he could be a forgotten name within two seasons—especially if he falls in the NFL Draft, but these landing spots give him a fighting chance.

Ian: Vikings head coach and noted QB whisperer Kevin O’Connell once said, “I believe that organizations fail young quarterbacks before young quarterbacks fail organizations.”

Under this idea, Sanders’ truthers should probably hope for a bit of a draft-day fall. The Browns are the Browns, and neither the Giants nor the Saints exactly offer a pristine offensive environment at the moment. Those teams, along with the Steelers, would probably yield the best 2024-specific fantasy returns, albeit maybe not the best career-long trajectory.

With this in mind, the Los Angeles Rams present Sanders with his best long-term landing spot thanks to:

  • Sean McVay’s perennial ability to set his QB and passing game up for success.
  • Learning under 37-year-old veteran Matthew Stafford for a year before taking over as QB1 in Los Angeles sounds like a deal the Sanders family could get behind.
  • Puka Nacua and Davante Adams should be on anyone’s short list of the league’s best WR duos.

Maybe concerns over Sanders’ middling arm strength and athleticism would win out anyway, but teaming up with McVay and company in L.A. would seemingly give Prime Jr. his best chance at success in the long term.

Freedman: I like the idea of Sanders with the Saints. Draftniks knock Sanders because of limited arm strength, but in New Orleans, he'd benefit from playing in a pristine domed environment, and he'd have a good quartet of pass catchers in WRs Chris Olave, Rashid Shaheed, and Brandin Cooks and RB Alvin Kamara.

If he's not ready to play right away, Sanders could learn on the sideline behind starting QB Derek Carr, and when he finally does play I trust offensive playcalling HC Kellen Moore to put him in a position to succeed, given Moore's positive work with QBs Dak Prescott, Justin Herbert, and Jalen Hurts.

Best Landing Spots For Tetairoa McMillan

Dwain: Including expected NFL Draft capital based on mock drafts, McMillan ranks as the No. 11 WR since 2018 in the WR Rookie Super Model (89). While the model sees him as slightly overrated for a potential top 12 pick, his historical comps have been highly productive within their first three seasons, with 80% becoming WR2s and 30% entering the top 12.

When you have a profile that strong, it means your landing spot probably doesn't matter that much. McMillan was dominant against man (29% targets per route run) and solid versus zone coverage (22%) while attacking all four levels of the field for Arizona. Some believe his best fit is as a big slot, while that could serve as a cherry on top when considering his landing spot, McMillan primarily played outside (77%) in college and can win from any alignment.

So really, all we need to look at to evaluate his best landing spots are the normal things: 1) QB quality, 2) depth chart strength, and 3) offensive scheme.

  • Jaguars: Brian Thomas is the locked-in No. 1, but the Jags don't have much behind him, and Liam Coen revitalized Chris Godwin's fantasy value from the slot last season. Trevor Lawrence has never lived up to expectations, but he is good enough to pepper McMillan.
  • Cowboys: CeeDee Lamb is the only high-end target and would likely keep McMillan from high slot usage, but the Cowboys are a quality offense when Dak Prescott is healthy.
  • Chargers: Ladd McConkey is the only proven receiving game in town, and Justin Herbert has the arm strength and willingness to fire BBs to big-bodied WRs in tight windows.
  • Packers: The Packers have a collection of mid WRs, and McMillan offers them centerpiece potential. He could be the No. 1 target that allows the rest of the receiving crew to complement his ability as a high-volume intermediate option.

Ian: We’re ideally looking for a team without a clear-cut No. 1 target-hog, quality QB, and respected offensive scheme/play-caller. There are a number of teams picking in the top 10 who check these boxes (Patriots, Raiders, Panthers), others picking later who have enhanced target competition BUT better offensive environments (Chargers, Broncos, Seahawks, 49ers, Dolphins), and two squads who really profile as great fits, but accordingly might be picking too late to get the chance to snag the draft’s near-consensus WR1 (Bills, Packers).

Ultimately, it’s the latter squad that I would be most down to clown with. Green Bay’s WR room is full of good-not-great talents, and more help is needed with Christian Watson (knee) likely starting the season on the PUP list. Adding McMillan to Matt LaFleur’s offense would present Jordan Love with a true contested-catch artist capable of finally giving this passing game a true difference-maker who needs to be accounted for on each and every snap.

Freedman: I say this somewhat selfishly as a Cowboys fan, but I think he'd be a great fit in Dallas.

Outside of WR CeeDee Lamb, who is best in the slot, the Cowboys don't have a pass catcher who dominates targets. Playing on the perimeter, McMillan could free up Lamb to work the middle of the field, and McMillan could benefit from soft coverage on the outside as defenses focus their attention on Lamb.

And with veteran QB Dak Prescott, McMillan would have a good passer to get him the ball. I don't think McMillan has the stuff to be a true No. 1 WR, but in Dallas, he could develop into a strong No. 2 option.