2025 NFL Draft: Colorado’s Travis Hunter, Penn State’s Abdul Carter finish atop final prospect rankings – CBS Sports
2025-04-23T14:04:00Z
The projected No. 1 overall pick, Miami quarterback Cam Ward, checks in at No. 3 overall
The 2025 NFL Draft is now one day away. The NFL Scouting Combine, all-star events, Pro Days and 30 visits all led to this moment. The work done to evaluate eligible prospects is complete and all that is left is to make the picks.
In an effort to pull back the curtain and provide fans with an early glimpse at when those players may come off the board, CBSSports.com has compiled its prospect rankings one final time. The big board below is a compilation of individual prospect rankings by Ryan Wilson, Chris Trapasso, Mike Renner and I.
1 Travis Hunter CB Colorado 2 Abdul Carter EDGE Penn State 3 Cam Ward QB Miami 4 Mason Graham DL Michigan 5 Tetairoa McMillan WR Arizona 6 Will Campbell OT LSU 7 Jalon Walker EDGE Georgia 8 Armand Membou OT Missouri 9 Kelvin Banks Jr. OT Texas 10 Ashton Jeanty RB Boise State 11 Mike Green EDGE Marshall 12 Colston Loveland TE Michigan 13 Jihaad Campbell LB Alabama 14 Luther Burden WR Missouri 15 Walter Nolen DL Ole Miss 16 Josh Simmons OT Ohio State 17 Will Johnson CB Michigan 18 Malaki Starks S Georgia 19 Nick Emmanwori S South Carolina 20 James Pearce Jr. EDGE Tennessee 21 Jahdae Barron CB Texas 22 Matthew Golden WR Texas 23 Tyler Booker IOL Alabama 24 Mykel Williams EDGE Georgia 25 Derrick Harmon DL Oregon
The presumptive No. 1 overall selection, Miami quarterback Cam Ward, is the No. 3 overall prospect in the final rankings. Colorado’s Travis Hunter has been forecast as both a cornerback and wide receiver. The league has not seen a player capable of playing positions on both sides of the ball at a high level. Penn State edge rusher Abdul Carter is the oft-mentioned prospect in line with Hunter when discussing the blue-chip talents available in this draft class. The other prospect that is held in similar regard is Boise State running back Ashton Jeanty; the one and only running back prospect in the top-25 overall. Positional value may not carry him into the Top-5 overall, but there is a small sampling of prospects better at their respective positions than Jeanty.
It is interesting that the 2025 NFL Draft is not regarded as being particularly strong at offensive tackle and yet three found their way into the top-10 overall. One of the other interesting takeaways is that Missouri wide receiver Luther Burden was able to combat the public narrative that he is sliding down boards. Burden is the second highest rated wide receiver behind Arizona’s Tetairoa McMillan and ahead of Texas’ Matthew Golden, Ohio State’s Emeka Egbuka.
The most well-presented group are the edge rushers with five. Notably absent were Colorado quarterback Shedeur Sanders and Penn State tight end Tyler Warren.
26 Maxwell Hairston CB Kentucky 27 Grey Zabel IOL North Dakota State 28 Shedeur Sanders QB Colorado 29 Emeka Egbuka WR Ohio State 30 Tyler Warren TE Penn State 31 Josh Conerly Jr. OT Oregon 32 Shemar Stewart EDGE Texas A&M 33 Shavon Revel CB East Carolina 34 Benjamin Morrison CB Notre Dame 35 Nic Scourton EDGE Texas A&M 36 Kenneth Grant DL Michigan 37 Trey Amos CB Ole Miss 38 Omarion Hampton RB North Carolina 39 Donovan Jackson IOL Ohio State 40 Donovan Ezeiruaku EDGE Boston College 41 Tyleik Williams DL Ohio State 42 Darius Alexander DL Toledo 43 Jayden Higgins WR Iowa State 44 Aireontae Ersery OT Minnesota 45 Carson Schwesinger LB UCLA 46 JT Tuimoloau EDGE Ohio State 47 Deone Walker DL Kentucky 48 Azareye’h Thomas CB Florida State 49 Kevin Winston Jr. S Penn State 50 Jaxson Dart QB Ole Miss
One consideration is that, with a limited supply of prospects with first-round grades, there is more variation among prospect rankings from one team or one media outlet to the next. Ole Miss quarterback Jaxson Dart and Sanders are the two other quarterback inside the top-50 overall.
The second group is noticeably light in regards to the skill positions. North Carolina’s Omarion Hampton is the only running back. Warren is the only tight end. Iowa State’s Jayden Higgins and Egbuka are the only wide receivers. There is no shortage of cornerbacks (5), edge rushers (4) or defensive linemen (4), however.
Why is understanding the depths of each position and where the runs could potentially occur important? A team may have needs at offensive tackle and edge rusher or defensive line. If they know the latter could be adequately addressed on Day 2, then it could inform their decision to take an offensive tackle on Thursday night.
51 T.J. Sanders DL South Carolina 52 Landon Jackson EDGE Arkansas 53 Jack Sawyer EDGE Ohio State 54 Harold Fannin Jr. TE Bowling Green 55 Wyatt Milum OT West Virginia 56 Omarr Norman-Lott DL Tennessee 57 Jonah Savaiinaea OT Arizona 58 CJ West DL Indiana 59 Jared Ivey EDGE Ole Miss 60 Mason Taylor TE LSU 61 Bradyn Swinson EDGE LSU 62 Darien Porter CB Iowa State 63 Logan Brown OT Kansas 64 Isaiah Bond WR Alabama 65 Alfred Collins DL Texas 66 Jalen Royals WR Utah State 67 Charles Grant OT William & Mary 68 Ozzy Trapilo OT Boston College 69 Cameron Williams OT Texas 70 Tre Harris WR Ole Miss 71 Jack Bech WR TCU 72 Tai Felton WR Maryland 73 Princely Umanmielen EDGE Ole Miss 74 Jared Wilson IOL Georgia 75 Vernon Broughton DL Texas 76 Marcus Mbow OT Purdue 77 Bilhal Kone CB Western Michigan 78 Emery Jones Jr. OT LSU 79 Sai’vion Jones DL LSU 80 Joshua Farmer DL Florida State 81 Xavier Watts S Notre Dame 82 Elijah Arroyo TE Miami 83 Oluwafemi Oladejo EDGE UCLA 84 Terrance Ferguson TE Oregon 85 Elic Ayomanor WR Stanford 86 Treveyon Henderson RB Ohio State 87 David Walker EDGE Central Arkansas 88 Kyle Williams WR Washington State 89 Quinshon Judkins RB Ohio State 90 Josaiah Stewart EDGE Michigan 91 Jalen Travis OT Iowa State 92 Bhayshul Tuten RB Virginia Tech 93 Jaylin Smith CB USC 94 Jalen Milroe QB Alabama 95 Kyle Kennard EDGE South Carolina 96 Jacob Parrish CB Kansas State 97 Jaylin Noel WR Iowa State 98 Miles Frazier IOL LSU 99 Will Howard QB Ohio State 100 Zah Frazier CB UTSA
The rest of the top-100 overall is heavy on the edge rushers (9), offensive tackles (9) and wide receivers (8). Those three positions account for nearly 50% of spots 51-100. There were two other quarterbacks, Alabama’s Jalen Milroe and Ohio State’s Will Howard, ranked among the top-100 overall.
The run on running backs is expected to occur on Day 2. After two were among the top-50 overall, an additional three were among the top-100 overall, but many others are expected to hear their names called Friday night.
To recap the top-100 overall, there were 11 prospects from non-Power 4, and former Pac-12 schools. Recently, I explored the impact of institution of Name, Image and Likeness (NIL) and the transfer portal on the production of small school draft prospects.
101 Aeneas Peebles DL Virginia Tech 102 Tory Horton WR Colorado State 103 Kaleb Johnson RB Iowa 104 Shemar Turner DL Texas A&M 105 Tate Ratledge IOL Georgia 106 RJ Harvey RB UCF 107 Quinn Ewers QB Texas 108 Kyle McCord QB Syracuse 109 Gunnar Helm TE Texas 110 Andrew Mukuba S Texas 111 Jarquez Hunter RB Auburn 112 Demetrius Knight Jr. LB South Carolina 113 Anthony Belton IOL NC State 114 Brashard Smith RB SMU 115 Jordan Burch DL Oregon 116 Denzel Burke CB Ohio State 117 Tyler Shough QB Louisville 118 Tyler Baron EDGE Miami 119 Que Robinson EDGE Alabama 120 JJ Pegues DL Ole Miss 121 Nohl Williams CB California 122 Elijah Roberts EDGE SMU 123 Jordan Hancock CB Ohio State 124 Zy Alexander CB LSU 125 Justin Walley CB Minnesota 126 Danny Stutsman LB Oklahoma 127 Clay Webb IOL Jacksonville State 128 Chris Paul Jr. LB Arkansas 129 Ajani Cornelius IOL Oregon 130 Jonas Sanker S Virginia 131 Damien Martinez RB Miami 132 Barryn Sorrell EDGE Texas 133 Cameron Skattebo RB Arizona State 134 Savion Williams WR TCU 135 Ty Robinson DL Nebraska 136 Quincy Riley CB Louisville 137 Ashton Gillotte S Rutgers 138 Tez Johnson WR Oregon 139 Lathan Ransom S Ohio State 140 DJ Giddens RB Kansas State 141 Alijah Huzzie CB North Carolina 142 Jaylin Lane WR Virginia Tech 143 Jah Joyner EDGE Minnesota 144 CJ Dippre TE Alabama 145 Jack Kiser LB Notre Dame 146 Dylan Sampson RB Tennessee 147 Jaylen Reed S Penn State 148 Isaac TeSlaa WR Arkansas 149 Dylan Fairchild IOL Georgia 150 Tahj Brooks RB Texas Tech
The 2025 NFL Draft is to take place from April 24-26 at Lambeau Field in Green Bay, Wisconsin. More draft coverage can be found at CBSSports.com, including the weekly mock drafts and a regularly available look at the eligible prospects.
Auto-posted from news source
About The Author
