Tag: 2025 NFL Draft

Packers way too early 2025 draft preview: PFF’s top 10 safeties

In a way too early look ahead at the 2025 NFL draft for the Packers, here are PFF’s top 10 draft-eligible safeties.

Now wrapping up my way to early look ahead to the 2025 NFL draft for the Green Bay Packers, we’ll examine the safety position, with 10 names to keep your eyes on during this upcoming college football season.

Pro Football Focus has recently gone through all 11 positions and picked the top 10 draft prospects from each. Here is who they chose at safety. For more details on each player, click here.

Malaki Starks, Georgia
Kevin Winston Jr., Penn State
Xavier Nwankpa, Iowa
Xavier Watts, Notre Dame
Rod Moore, Michigan
Keon Saab, Alabama
Hunter Wohler, Wisconsin
Aubrey Burks, West Virginia
Sonny Styles, Ohio State
Malachi Moore, Alabama

As we sit here about 10 months out from the 2025 NFL draft, it’s a bit reckless on my part to sit here and speak with any sort of certainty about how the Packers are going to approach those three days, especially with the numerous curveballs that GM Brian Gutekunst has thrown us during his tenure.

However, having said that, it is extremely difficult to envision a scenario where safety is on the Packers’ radar. Perhaps late on Day 3, when positional need takes a back seat, and teams are looking for high-level traits to bet on, we could see the Gutekunst make an addition, but that’s the extent of it.

In just one offseason, the Packers overhauled this position group, investing heavily into this unit just one year after doing the exact opposite.

In free agency, the Packers would sign Xavier McKinney to a four-year, $67 million deal that will have him under contract through the 2027 season.

Then, in the draft, Gutekunst would use a second-round pick on Javon Bullard, a fourth-round pick on Evan Williams, and a fifth-round selection on Kitan Oladapo. On top of that, Anthony Johnson will still have two years remaining on his rookie deal.

With those five players under contract, the Packers will have to round out this position group with additional bodies for training camp. This could be done by re-signing players like Zayne Anderson or Benny Sapp, bringing in an undrafted rookie or two, or as already mentioned, using a late-round pick.

But right now, I can’t imagine it involving them spending an early or even mid-round pick on the position.

If you missed any of the other positional previews in this series, follow the links below:

Quarterback
Running back
Wide receiver
Tight end
Offensive tackle
Interior offensive line
Interior defensive line
Edge rusher
Linebacker
Cornerback

Steelers land playmaking WR in new 2025 NFL mock draft

Let’s take a look at the Steelers pick in this new mock draft.

It is hard to find much of anything to criticize with how the Pittsburgh Steelers have handled their business in the 2024 offseason. The team brought in three new quarterbacks, three new offensive linemen and several new starters on defense.

But one thing they didn’t do was replace wide receiver Diontae Johnson. So, unless the team trades for a top receiver at some point before the season, wide receiver will be a top need in the 2025 NFL draft.

NFL Spin Zone put out a new mock draft and they went wide receiver for the Steelers. With the top two left on the board, they gave Pittsburgh Arizona wideout Tetairoa McMillan. Here’s their breakdown of the pick:

The Pittsburgh Steelers have popped up this offseason as a team that could end up being interested in a blockbuster trade for someone like Brandon Aiyuk, and while trading for Aiyuk and drafting a receiver in the 1st round of the 2025 NFL Draft aren’t exactly the same, it wouldn’t be shocking if the Steelers took the first receiver off the board next Spring.

Pittsburgh is in a transitional state at quarterback. None of us knows how Russell Wilson is going to work out for that team in 2024, but the Steelers have to continue building around the QB regardless if the guy they build around is on the roster.

Right now, it feels like it’s a toss-up between Tetairoa McMillan and Luther Burden for WR1 status in the 2025 NFL Draft and someone else could always emerge along the way. But the Steelers get a big-play receiver here to hopefully pair up with George Pickens and Roman Wilson.

While we are fully on board with the Steelers selecting a wide receiver in the first round, if McMillan and Luther Burden are both on the board, right now I take Burden 10 times out of 10.

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Packers way too early 2025 draft preview: PFF’s top 10 CBs

Here is a way too early look ahead to the 2025 NFL draft for the Packers with PFF’s top 10 draft-eligible cornerbacks.

Next up in my way to early look ahead to the Green Bay Packers’ 2025 NFL draft, we’re taking a closer look at the cornerback position, with 10 names to keep your eyes on during the college football season.

Pro Football Focus has recently gone through all 11 positions and picked the top 10 draft prospects from each. Here is who they chose at cornerback. For more details on each player, click here.

Will Johnson, Michigan
Benjamin Morrison, Notre Dame
Travis Hunter, Colorado
Tacario Davis, Arizona
Jabbar Muhammad, Oregon
Denzel Burke, Ohio State
Sebastian Castro, Iowa
Dorian Strong, Virginia Tech
Quincy Riley, Louisville
Cobee Bryant, Kansas

On paper, cornerback shouldn’t be a pressing need for the Packers during the 2025 NFL draft. At that time, Jaire Alexander, Keisean Nixon, and Carrington Valentine will all still be under contract through the 2026 season. Kalen King will also have three years left on his rookie deal at that time as well.

However, depth and competition could be on GM Brian Gutekunst’s radar, depending on what happens with Eric Stokes, who is a free agent in 2025. If Stokes returns then an already potentially small need decreases even further.

But if Stokes ends up elsewhere, the Packers will have to add to the middle and back-end portion of that room, especially with Corey Ballentine slated to be a free agent as well.

This is a unit that does have some question marks coming into the upcoming season, but Matt LaFleur recently mentioned that he likes the depth that they have at this position, with Stokes healthy and Valentine bulking up during the offseason.

The fact that the only outside addition made at cornerback this offseason came in the seventh round of the draft tells us that, internally, the Packers are bullish about this group.

“I feel really, really confident with the group that we have,” said LaFleur during minicamp, “and there’s going to be some unforeseen things that happen but luckily we’ve got a lot of depth, in particular at that position.”

Last season, the Packers’ defense generated just seven interceptions, the second-fewest in football, and ranked in the bottom half of the NFL in yards per pass attempt allowed. Jeff Hafley’s vision-based defense that utilizes more press-man coverage than Joe Barry did should help put the cornerbacks in a position to make plays on the ball more often.

2025 NFL Draft first impression: Travis Hunter, CB/WR, Colorado

2025 NFL Draft first impression of Colorado CB/WR Travis Hunter, perhaps the best athlete in the draft class of 2025

Normally when I sit down to watch a prospect, I wind up fast-forwarding through half the game because the player isn’t on the field. That is not the case with Colorado athlete Travis Hunter.

Hunter plays both cornerback and wide receiver for the Buffaloes, and he does both at a high enough level to consider him a high draft pick at either position. Head coach Deion Sanders has not given a lean one way or the other on where Hunter will be more heavily utilized, and Hunter himself hasn’t publicly declared if he prefers to be a wideout or corner prospect.

That’s important in the evaluation process, because it forces the evaluation to focus more on the general athletic ability than technical skills. And Hunter certainly has a tremendous amount of athletic ability no matter where he lines up on the field.

The 6-foot-1, 185-pounder has instant acceleration and almost unreal lateral agility and flexibility on the move. He can cut hard at full speed and not lose much momentum. Hunter’s top speed and “chase gear” are both elite and he understands how to use each on both sides of the ball.

While I definitely see a potential high pick at wide receiver, my initial impression is that Hunter is a better prospect at cornerback. His innate ability to bait quarterbacks and make plays on the ball in the air is rare. It does bring to mind his Colorado head coach in his Prime as the best playmaking corner of his era.

Hunter uses his length and fluidity very well to match up against outside wide receivers. While he’s not that physical in coverage, he can effectively steer and disrupt with his quick reactions and length on the outside. There might not be a better corner in the country at reacting to and jumping comeback routes and double moves on shorter routes. The way in which Hunter controls his twitchiness is special.

He’s also a good tackler. A lot of times, speedy cornerbacks have a tendency to overrun the point of attack. That rarely happens with Hunter, who can break down and control his approach. He does tend to get a little tall in run defense.

Right now, I would consider Hunter more of an athletic project at wide receiver. Don’t mistake that for lacking skill or talent; his speed, body control and playmaking panache shine on offense, too. However, it’s easier to find other players who can offer what Hunter does on offense than what he brings at cornerback.

NFL teams typically eschew playing guys on both sides of the ball, but Hunter might make an exception. It’s easy to envision Hunter being a starting outside corner and also getting 10-15 snaps a game as a No. 3 WR or speed package player. He sure looks like a player who will be considered in the top 10 in the 2025 NFL Draft if he remains healthy and continues to progress his technical skills, especially at CB.

Alabama QB Jalen Milroe could be the top quarterback of the 2025 NFL Draft

Alabama QB Jalen Milroe could be the top quarterback of the 2025 NFL Draft

One of the most intriguing prospects in next years draft class has got to be the quarterback for the Crimson Tide, Jalen Milroe. Possessing just about everything teams are looking for in a ‘new era’ quarterback, Milroe’s ceiling as a player is through the roof, but his floor seems to be quite deep as well. With a cannon arm and excellent athletic ability, Milroe is a big play waiting to happen whenever he takes the snap.

Throughout the year Milroe showed flashes of greatness, alongside that he showed a natural progression of a quarterback improving with each week. While the early bumps of his season were downright brutal, towards the end of the year Milroe was mostly locked in and was clearly one of the best players on the field at any given game. While issues still persist within his mechanics and accuracy, the playmaking potential showed up more often than the errors in Milroe’s mechanics.

Milroe very clearly has things he needs to improve on going into the 2024 College Football season, but if he can really take in all his coaching and refine some of the more technical aspects of playing the position, he has shown enough to be catapulted to the top of a currently underwhelming quarterback draft class.

Packers way too early 2025 draft preview: PFF’s top 10 LBs

Here is a way too early look ahead to the 2025 NFL draft for the Green Bay Packers with PFF’s top 10 draft-eligible linebackers.

Continuing on with my way to early look ahead to the 2025 NFL draft for the Green Bay Packers, it’s time to examine the linebacker position, with 10 names to keep your eyes on during the 2024 college football season.

Pro Football Focus has recently gone through all 11 positions and picked the top 10 draft prospects from each. Here is who they chose at linebacker. For more details on each player, click here.

Harold Perkins Jr., LSU
Barrett Carter, Clemson
Danny Stutsman, Oklahoma
Jamon Dumas-Johnson, Kentucky
Smael Mondon Jr., Georgia
Jay Higgins, Iowa
Jaisahwn Barham, Michigan
Jason Henderson, Old Dominion
Collin Oliver, Oklahoma State
Jack Kiser, Notre Dame

The Green Bay Packers’ linebacker unit has some unknowns going into the 2024 season, and of course, poor play can drastically shift how a position group is viewed the following offseason.

Having said that, at this time it’s difficult to envision the Packers spending an early-round pick on this position group next April.

For one, the Jeff Hafley defense should help with some of the heavy lifting when it comes to putting the linebackers in a position to make more plays. The emphasis for the defense as a whole is on running and hitting rather than reading and reacting.

But on top of that, Quay Walker is still under contract through the 2025 season, plus the Packers will have the opportunity to pick up his fifth-year option for the 2026 season.

Green Bay also spent a second-round pick on Edgerrin Cooper in this year’s draft and a third-round selection on Ty’Ron Hopper.

Now, depth will likely be a need, but to what degree depends on what happens with the Packers’ current group of linebackers who are set to be free agents in 2025.

At the moment, Isaiah McDuffie, Eric Wilson, and Kristian Welch are all playing on expiring deals. Earlier this offseason, GM Brian Gutekunst mentioned that the shift to a 4-3 defense could require the Packers to carry additional linebackers compared to when they were utilizing a 3-4 scheme.

The Packers currently have seven official picks in next year’s draft, one in each round, and are projected to receive a compensatory pick for losing Yosh Nijman in free agency, which would give them eight selections in total.

Colts address linebacker in way too early 2025 NFL mock draft

In a very early 2025 NFL mock draft from Draft Wire, the Indianapolis Colts address the linebacker position.

Trying to accurately predict what the Indianapolis Colts are going to do in next April’s draft is an impossible task as we sit roughly 10 months out. Prospects will rise and fall down draft boards and team needs will change.

However, what mock drafts this time of the year can provide us with are some names to watch during the college football season.

Our friends over at Draft Wire recently put together a full first-round projection, and at pick No. 13, the Colts selected LSU linebacker Harold Perkins.

Perkins is listed at 6-1 – 220 pounds and has played over 1,300 snaps in the last two seasons while being asked to lineup all over. According to PFF, Perkins played 271 snaps along the defensive front in 2023, 244 from the box, and 255 in the slot.

In the LSU defense, Perkins has been asked to get after the quarterback relatively often, and he’s been effective at it, totaling 65 pressures during that span, including 41 in 2022.

In coverage, Perkins has held opponents to 9.0 yards per catch in his career, and has two interceptions along with three pass breakups. For what it’s worth, he ranked 171st among linebackers in PFF’s run-defense grade this past season.

For more on Perkins, here is a snippet of what Ian Cummings of Pro Football Network wrote in his early scouting report:

“Purely on talent alone, Perkins has Round 1 merit. At 6’1″, 220 pounds, he’s a rare athlete with hyper-elite speed, explosiveness, and bend capacity. With his tools, he can be a terror both as a pass rusher and a pursuit presence, and he has tangible coverage upside.

“Right now, however, most of Perkins’ discernable potential rests in his ability as a pass-rush threat and as a run-and-chase, attacking second-level defender with alignment versatility. There aren’t many reps of him patrolling and processing gaps — because that’s not the role Perkins has been asked to fill.”

At least where we stand right now, linebacker does seem like it will be a need for the Colts next offseason. At a minimum, that could just mean adding depth to the unit with EJ Speed, Ronnie Harrison, Cameron McGrone, and Grant Stuard all set to be free agents.

However, it could also become a top need with the Colts needing to find a running mate for Zaire Franklin if Speed leaves in free agency and they aren’t comfortable with handing the starting job to Jaylon Carlies.

The 2025 quarterback draft class is better than you think

Every year quarterback classes are slept on and this year is no different. These QBs could launch themselves into the first round.

Every year there seems to be whispers in the media and among fans that the following draft classes quarterback class is subpar or lacking in true talent. Barring the occasional draft featuring the likes of Caleb Williams, Andrew Luck, Trevor Lawrence, etc, each class is seemingly underplayed on how good it actually, and that seems to be holding true for the 2025 class as well.

While it’s true there is not currently a quarterback who would rank among the “elite” number one overall type prospects we have seen recently, the class is saturated with proven playmakers who can clearly be a teams golden ticket to the promised land.

One of the most talked about arms at the top of the class is Georgia’s signal caller, Carson Beck.

Beck showed massive improvement throughout the season and looked like a veteran leader on one of the most talented teams in the country. Beck’s arm elasticity and variety of throws puts him right up there with some of the quarterbacks that were taken at the top end of the first round last year, he certainly isn’t a far cry away.

Another name that just about everyone is familiar with is Colorado quarterback Shedeur Sanders. His tape is some of the more impressive of the class and he was consistently a top threat despite a severe lack of talent surrounding him. Social media controversies aside, Sanders looked every bit of a leader and a veteran quarterback during his breakout season with the Buffaloes.

From his top tier accuracy, excellent athleticism, and understanding of what is in front of him, Sanders is yet another player that likely would have been lumped into the top ten of the 2024 class, and only stands to go higher in 2025.

Two names that are not talked about enough that have the potential to take over the number one spot going into next year are Alabama’s Jalen Milroe and Texas A&M’s Conner Weigman. Both showed the flashes of greatness last season and both have plenty to work on, but if either of them can take a step into that next level and lock down on the finer parts of playing quarterback, could walk away as the number one overall draft pick.

This is all without mentioning Notre Dame transfer Riley Leonard or Texas veteran starter Quinn Ewers, who each have the tape and the physical attributes to back up first-round grades with 2024 seasons showing growth.

It’s a bit early to write off a draft class, and this one looks especially deep at the quarterback position, with a handful of potential first round grades. Only time will tell, but plenty of these players can launch themselves to the tops of teams’ draft boards at a position that is desperately needed at the next level.

Packers way too early 2025 draft preview: PFF’s top 10 edge rushers

Let’s take a way too early look ahead to the 2025 NFL draft for the Green Bay Packers with PFF’s top 10 draft-eligible edge rushers.

As I continue on with my way to early look ahead to the 2025 NFL draft for the Green Bay Packers, we arrive at the edge rusher position, with 10 names to keep your eyes on during this upcoming college football season.

Pro Football Focus has recently gone through all 11 positions and picked the top 10 draft prospects from each. Here is who they chose at edge rusher. For more details on each player, click here.

James Pearce Jr., Tennessee
Nic Scourton, Texas A&M
Abdul Carter, Penn State
Jack Sawyer, Ohio State
JT Tuimoloau, Ohio State
Ashton Gillotte, Louisville
Princely Umanmielen, Ole Miss
Mykel Williams, Georgia
Patrick Payton, Florida State
Kaimon Rucker, North Carolina

At least where we stand right now, edge rusher doesn’t look like it’s going to be a big need for the Packers in 2025, with the current top five players at this position group all under contract through at least next season.

Rashan Gary’s deal runs through the 2027 season. Lukas Van Ness’ contract goes through 2026, plus the Packers have a team option for the 2027 season. Preston Smith’s contract also goes through 2026, while Kingsley Enagbare and Brenton Cox are both under contract through 2025.

A potential wildcard that could alter the math on this equation is that Smith comes with a cap hit of $17.5 million in 2025, and if released, the Packers save $7.626 million in cap space.

However, in that scenario, Smith still leaves behind a dead cap hit of nearly $10 million. And until we see otherwise, my expectation is that he will still return next season with two years left on his deal at that time and someone who has been extremely durable, continues to be productive, and is a leader in the locker room.

We know this is a position that GM Brian Gutekunst values extremely highly. It’s also one under new defensive coordinator Jeff Hafley where depth is important, given the attacking play style of this group and the heavy rotation we are expected to see each week.

So those factors, coupled with Enagbare and Cox being in the final year of their deals in 2025, could leave the door open for an addition, but as of now, I don’t see the Packers spending an early-round pick at edge rusher next April.

The Packers currently have seven official picks in next year’s draft, one in each round, and are projected to receive a compensatory pick for losing Yosh Nijman in free agency, which would give them eight selections in total.