• Quinn Ewers, Cam Ward big early risers in the quarterback class: Both quarterbacks built off their strong Week 1 performances to continue pushing their NFL draft stock in the right direction.
• It’s a great year to need a safety: No matter what your team needs at the safety position, this draft class will have talented prospects who can fill that role admirably.
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Estimated reading time: 7 minutes
Two weeks of college football are in the books, so it’s time to hit on some of the major topics for the 2025 NFL Draft.
Texas quarterback Quinn Ewers is making his way up the board
In a quarterback class that's still tough to figure out, Texas‘ Quinn Ewers is trending in the right direction.
As the No. 1 overall recruit in the 2022 recruiting class, Ewers has always flashed future NFL-level arm talent. His ability to flick his wrist and get the ball to rotate at top speeds with pace and distance is very impressive. However, his accuracy when doing so, especially deep down the field, left a lot to be desired in his first year as a starter in 2023. He also didn’t have a great feel for the pocket or pressure, as his passing grade dropped from 83.5 to 60.7 when pressured in 2023.
This year, he looks so much more comfortable and confident sliding around the pocket while keeping his eyes downfield and going through his progressions to make the right throw. He hasn’t been perfect, and he's still thrown a few YOLO balls this season, but his play-by-play consistency is more reliable than ever. It’s a joy to watch, especially against a defense like Michigan. Let’s hope he can keep it up as they get into SEC play.
It’s a great year to need a safety
I’ll be honest, last year’s safety class was tough. I only had one safety in my top 40 and only five in my top 100. This year, I already have four in my top 40 and eight in my top 60. Some guys have all the tools — such as Georgia‘s Malaki Starks and Penn State‘s Kevin Winston Jr. — while others have great movement skills and range — Oklahoma‘s Billy Bowman Jr. — big-time ball skills — Notre Dame‘s Xavier Watts — high football intelligence — USC‘s Kamari Ramsey and Texas‘ Jahdae Barron — and powerful play in the box or the slot — Iowa’s Sebastian Castro and Xavier Nwankpa.
The safety pickings felt slim when doing mock drafts last year. That is not the case this year.
A traits-y edge class is building on the horizon
There isn’t a clear-cut top edge rusher for the 2025 NFL Draft, but I wouldn’t use that to say it’s a down year by any means. We haven’t developed consistent sack masters, but there are a ton of players who have high-end traits for the pros. Penn State‘s Abdul Carter and Tennessee‘s James Pearce Jr. are smaller but so explosive and quick off the ball. You can put their best plays up against some of the best speed rushers we’ve seen over the last few years.
Georgia‘s Mykel Williams has the build that can really wreak havoc in the run-and-pass games, especially due to his crazy long arms. Texas A&M‘s Nic Scourton brings a unique pass-rush plan and finesse to rushing the passer at 280 pounds.
Nonetheless, we have some new names to bring to the table, too. Georgia‘s Jalon Walker and Texas A&M‘s Shemar Stewart are two five-star recruits from the 2022 class whose power and explosiveness do not come around very often given their frame and weight. And that’s not all. We keep finding more and more of these players as the year goes on. It might not be the most “Day 1” ready edge rush group, but we could have a lot of players from this class circle the league for years to come.
Texas offensive tackle Kelvin Banks Jr. passed a tough test
The title of OT1 in the 2025 NFL Draft is certainly far from settled. LSU‘s Will Campbell came into the season as the favorite to be the top tackle taken, but Texas’ five-star offensive tackle Kelvin Bank Jr. wasn’t going to go without putting up a good fight. His pass-blocking numbers in the Longhorns' opener against Colorado State were good, as he finished with an 84.7 grade, but his run-blocking score was in the 50.0s.
Against a much tougher opponent in Michigan, Banks was even better with pass-blocking and run-blocking grades in the mid-to-high 70s. Banks is a smooth-moving offensive tackle prospect whose footwork, balance and core strength make him easy to love for a first-round pick.
The question remains if he’ll be the first one off the board, but passing the Michigan test was a big step in that direction.
Miami QB Cam Ward showed that his performance against Florida wasn’t a fluke
Ward put the NFL draft world on notice – if he wasn't already there – in Week 1 when he led Miami into “The Swamp” and downright embarrassed Florida to the tune of 41-17. In it, Ward recorded his career-best single-game passing grade at 90.5 with four big-time throws and 385 passing yards. He followed it up with an even better 91.5 passing grade this past week against Florida A&M.
Consistency has long been Ward's issue, as he has flashed NFL ability since his days at Incarnate Word in the FCS. Miami will be at home against Ball State this weekend, but then the Hurricanes play a tough USF team the following week. That will be another test where many will be watching. If he can continue this high-level play, he’ll get more and more praise, and his projections will rise in a murky quarterback class.
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