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No two draft classes are built the same, and the 2025 NFL draft could be a case where elite talent is scarce for teams near the top of the board.
ESPN’s Matt Miller reported Tuesday that “scouts are down on this class due to the lack of elite skill at premium position groups, specifically quarterback and left tackle.”
“One AFC college scouting director I spoke to said they have only eight players with true Round 1 grades,” Miller said. “That number is normally closer to 15. Another NFC area scout remarked that his team would have lowest number of first-round grades he had seen in his 10-plus-year career.”
He added that teams may find good value at running back and edge-rusher, however.
Bleacher Report’s 2025 big board bears out those concerns. Ten players received a grade of 8.5 or higher, which equates to a first-round prospect. Colorado’s Travis Hunter is at the top of the heap with a 9.2 overall grade.
To be fair, the 2024 draft class wasn’t significantly better by the same standard. Eleven players were graded at 8.5 or better, though Marvin Harrison Jr. (9.7), Brock Bowers (9.3) and Drake Maye (9.3) were all above Hunter.
To Miller’s point, the quarterback position is where you see the biggest gulf in perceived quality.
Miami’s Cam Ward and Colorado’s Shedeur Sanders are eighth and ninth respectively on B/R’s big board, and they’re the only two in the top 30. Alabama’s Jalen Milroe (No. 37) and Georgia’s Carson Beck (No. 44) were the only others in the top 50.
There’s going to be movement once the season ends and the pre-draft process begins. Seemingly every year at least one quarterback shoots up the board either because he possesses raw physical tools or teams believe he can hit the ground running as a rookie. Bo Nix was that player last year.
Talent evaluators will have to work overtime to discover the true standout candidates.
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