After 257 picks, the 2025 NFL Draft is officially featured in the book.
The draft began on Thursday, and the Browns did something crazy and the Browns ended on Saturday with the Browns doing something crazy too. The first round started with a blockbuster trade between Cleveland and Jacksonville, where Jaguar went up to the second overall spot from the fifth pick, allowing Travis Hunter to take him along.
Hunter came in second overall, but one of the players who had to wait longer than expected to get the draft was Hunter’s college teammate from Chedur Sanders in Colorado. Not only did he fall from the first round, but he fell into the fifth round before the Browns took him with his 144th overall pick.
In this draft, Sanders was both a winner and a loser. What should I do? Visit our full list of winners and losers and find out.
winner
Chedur Sanders. Sanders had to wait five rounds before getting the draft, but it could actually be a workout as he ended up doing what was undoubtedly the best situation for him. Sanders has a realistic chance to win the Browns starting quarterback job as he will be joining the QB room that includes Joe Flaco (Old), Kenny Pickett (still trying to figure things out) and Desshaun Watson (injury), and Sanders has a realistic chance to win the Browns starting quarterback job. In the best case scenario, Sanders beats everyone for the job. In the worst-case scenario, he starts the season on the bench and learns from veterans like Flacco. But the 40-year-old Flacco probably isn’t going to achieve that throughout the entire season as a starter, so while Sanders should definitely get the opportunity to play at some point in 2025, he needs to win it.
Jaguars general manager James Gladstone, Jaguars Mascot and Jacksonville all. In his first draft as general manager of the NFL, the 34-year-old pulled away from the most impressive moves of the night when he signed with the Browns, who gave Jacksonville his second overall pick.
Jaguar then turned around and used the pick on Travis Hunter. The jugs had to pay a large price to make a deal, but hunters are generational players and when they have the opportunity to land a generational player, they have to do so. Also, two of Jacksonville’s biggest needs to be involved in the draft were receivers and corners, and both needs were met with one player. It was a classic two bird, and with one stone movement, Gladstone became the winner of my book.
Not only did the Jug nail the picks along with the Hunter, he actually gave them the “A” grade of the first four picks. After taking Hunter, they got CB Caleb Ransaw and OT Wyatt Milum in the third round. He also gave Virginia Tech RB Bhayshul Tuten a “A” for his choice in the fourth round. Everyone, this may sound crazy, but I think a jug might be good for 2025. This is a flying team that should be fun to watch.
Come Ward. After taking ward on the first general pick, Titan tried his best to surround him with some weapons. In the fourth round alone, Titan chose two receivers (Chimere Dike, Elic Ayomanor) and tight end (Gunnar Helm). These three picks made the Titans their first team in 17 years, drafting three pass catchers in one round. Ward was also given permission from Warren Moon to wear his retirement No. 1 in Tennessee.
Oh, Titan also went out and signed Ward College WR1 Xavier Replipo as an undrafted free agent after the draft. After being drafted by the state of Tennessee, Ward hinted at the fact that he wanted to play at Restrepo, and the Titans clearly received a message.
Ohio State. The Buckeyes had a total of 14 players filmed in the draft. This is tied second in any school in the first seven rounds of the draft. Emeka Egbuka was the first Buckeye to leave the board when he came to 19th place for the Buccaneers. Then, after 166 picks, Wil Howard became the last Buckeye to leave the board when the Steelers selected Ohio QB on the 186th overall. The Cardinals and Steelers both drafted two Ohio State players each.
Robert Sale. Five years later, the former Jets coach returned to San Francisco as defensive coordinator, with the 49ers trying their best to help him in the draft. The 49ers used their first five picks in the draft defensive players, making their second mark in franchise history.
Saleh licks the chops at the idea of combining Mykel Williams with Nick Bosa. The 49ers have lost several key defensive players this offseason, including DT Javon Hargrave, DT Maliek Collins, LB Leonard Floyd, LB Dre Greenlaw, CB Charvarius Ward and S Talanoa Hufanga.
Tom Brady. In his first draft with the Raiders, it appears that the seven-inning Super Bowl winner is looking for the next Tom Brady. Of course, Brady was famously filmed in the sixth round of the draft. In what may be a coincidence, the Raiders acquired two quarterbacks in the sixth round on Saturday with Montana’s Tommy Melot and North Dakota’s Cam Miller. At NDSU, Miller has raised some enormous numbers, so it would be interesting to see what he’s doing in Las Vegas.
As for Melot, he’s hoping to switch to receivers, so he might be the next Julian Edelman. It is also worth noting that Brady had a solid draft along with Raiders GM John Spitek. I gave B+ or more on each of the first 8 picks.
Bear attack. The Bears may be the best team in NFC North. Okay, that might be a slight exaggeration, but this team is beginning to look scary, especially with offense. After drafting Colston Loveland in the first round, the Bears followed suit with receiver Luther Load III in the second round. New coach Ben Johnson has a creative mind. He’s probably going to enjoy calling plays in Chicago with these two new weapons. The Bears also continued their complete overhaul of the offensive line by getting an offensive tackle with Ozzy Trapilo on their 59th overall pick. They also added two more offensive players at the back end of the draft, running offensive tackle Luke Newman and Kyle Monangay in the sixth round. The Bears performed well from CBS Sports on both of these picks. Johnson and Caleb Williams are probably excited about how this draft turned out.
A long snapper. This is a normally undrafted position, but the Patriots changed it by taking Vanderbilt’s long snapper Julian Ashby in the seventh round. This marks the first time the team has chosen a long snapper in four years, and now Ashby heads to New England to compete with Joe Cardona for a spot on the roster.
Tyler Schaff. The Saints have not received QB in the first two rounds of the draft since 1971, but that drought ended Friday when New Orleans selected Shaff on their 40th overall pick. The reason Shough is the winner is because he stepped into what could be the most friendly situation for any rookie QB. Derek Kerr is dealing with a shoulder injury and may not be able to start the season. That means if the show wants to win the starting job in New Orleans, it will have to beat Spencer Latler, Jake Hayner and Bendinucci. If Shough can’t win that fight, he may not get it done as a starting QB in the NFL.
Falcons pass rush. The Falcons only had 31 bags in total last season. This was the second-least in the NFL. To fix that issue, they chose two edge rushes in the first round (James Pearce Jr. and Jalon Walker). They gave up a first round pick in 2026 to get Pierce – it was probably too expensive – but no one in Atlanta cares what the Falcons will give up if Pierce turns into a dominant pass rush. The Falcons have not had more than 10 bags of players (Vic Beasley) since 2016. This is the longest aggressive drought in the NFL.
Round 4 2025 NFL Draft Grade: The Giants win a “A” for Camscattebo. Chief and Commander steal in WR
Chris Trapaso
loser
Chedur Sanders. Yes, we list him as a winner, but he is also a loser, mainly because he lost about $13 million. Had Sanders been filmed on his 21st overall pick in the first round, he would have won a rookie contract worth around $18 million. Instead, he was taken in the fifth round and wins a four-year contract that is now worth around $5 million. He was also drafted by a team that passed him six times before actually deciding to take him.
It’s not too bad if he was the only QB the Browns drafted, but they actually took it before him when they chose Dillon Gabriel in 94th overall.
The Browns’ strange draft strategy. The Browns added quite a few picks after making their first round deal with the Jaguar, but if the Browns can actually hit, those picks are worth something, and Cleveland fans probably aren’t confident about it after the Browns drafted this year. The Browns became the first team in the modern draft era, winning two quarterbacks and two running backs in the first five rounds. This is one of the strangest draft plans in recent NFL history, and if it doesn’t pay off, some people in Cleveland could lose their jobs.
Quinn Ewers. If you think Shedeur Sanders has fallen in the draft with a painful drop, wait until you hear about Ewers. The former Texas quarterback, who may have been in college for another year, was predicted to be a mid-round pick, but that didn’t happen. Instead, he sat on the couch surrounded by deer heads for three consecutive days before the dolphins finally picked him in the seventh round with their 231st overall pick. Two kickers and one punter were all taken before Ewers left the board.
Ewers heads towards a QB-friendly system, but if you want to get a backup QB job in Miami, you will have to beat the previous first round pick (Zach Wilson). Ewers became the 13th quarterback behind two FCS quarterbacks, including Montana’s Tommy Melott.
Justin Tucker. The Ravens have notified Tucker by choosing Arizona’s Tyler Loop to draft a kicker for the first time in the history of the franchise. Not only is Tucker away from the worst season of his career, he also faces multiple allegations of sexual misconduct. After 13 seasons at Baltimore, Tucker’s time with the Ravens may finally be coming to an end. Tyler Loop in Arizona.
Abdul Carter. The former Pennsylvania star is just here because he can’t wear the number he needs in the NFL. Carter wanted to wear a 56, but that number retired for Lawrence Taylor, and Giants legend doesn’t seem to let Carter wear it. “Get another number,” Taylor said this week when asked about the situation. “I don’t care if it’s double zero or not, and I’ll make it famous,” Carter needs to talk to Taylor with Warren Moon.
Bengal, Charger, Saint, Eagles. These four teams have one thing in common. They were the only teams that did not score one “A” on any of the picks in the consistent grader drafts of CBS Sports (Pete Prisco, Josh Edwards, Chris Trapasso).
The Bengals gained raw talent in the first round (Shemer Stewart) and did not try to fill some other defensive needs, including corners, safety, defensive tackles. The Chargers won a “B+” for taking Tre Harris in the second round, which was the only pick our graders really love. The Saints began to get hot by winning Kelvin Banks Jr. in the first round. This is a pick that won a “B+” but our graders didn’t particularly like what comes afterwards. As for the Eagles, Howie Roseman wreaked magic early in the draft, especially in the first round, with a trade-up with Jihad Campbell, but our steady alumni really didn’t love what they did after the second round.
Round 1 2025 NFL Draft Grade: Jags wins “A+” in Travis Hunter Move, and Walter Nolen Pick gets “B”
Pete Prisco
Of course, our draft experts could be completely wrong, and all four draft classes could turn out to be great.
