The general consensus among draft experts is that there are two “blue-chip” prospects in the 2025 NFL Draft: Penn State edge rusher Abdul Carter and Colorado wide receiver/cornerback Travis Hunter.
Either player would be a great addition for the New England Patriots at No. 4 overall. But will either player still be available at No. 4?
That depends on what the Tennessee Titans, Cleveland Browns and New York Giants do with the first, second, and third overall picks, respectively. Miami quarterback Cam Ward seems like a strong fit for the Titans at No. 1, but would either the Browns or Giants be tempted to take Colorado QB Shedeur Sanders, guaranteeing that either Carter or Hunter makes it to No. 4?
The MMQB’s Albert Breer shared what he’s hearing from the NFL Owners Meetings, and it’s not ideal for the Patriots.
“It’s starting to feel to me like there’s less and less of a likelihood that Abdul Carter or Travis Hunter get to the Patriots,” Breer said Tuesday on Arbella Early Edition, via the video player above.
“The Browns and Giants have at least given off some signals over the last week or two that they could get position players — Carter at 2 and Hunter at 3 — and then double back on Day 2 and get quarterbacks.”
Cleveland and New York both need quarterbacks (despite the Giants’ addition of Russell Wilson and Jameis Winston). But as Breer explained, Sanders simply isn’t viewed as an elite QB prospect worthy of a top-three pick. In fact, Breer compared Sanders to Bo Nix, whom the Denver Broncos took at No. 12 in last year’s draft as the fifth QB off the board.
“So, ‘falling’ is not the right term,” Breer said of Sanders. “I just think some of us in the media are catching up to the way teams think of him.
“I look at (Sanders) a lot like Bo Nix last year in that, I think if you polled all 32 teams, there will probably be over 20 of them that do not view him as a first-round talent. He doesn’t have elite arm strength. He’s not a great athlete. He’s not overly big. There are a ton of flaws there.
“So the comparison to Nix here is, there are a lot of teams that felt that way about Bo Nix last year, so it had to be about fit for Nix. If Nix doesn’t go 12 overall to the Broncos, he might fall out of the first round altogether.”
There’s a silver lining in that comparison, however: Denver’s gamble on Nix paid off, as the Oregon product led all NFL rookies in completions (379), passing yards (3,775) and touchdown passes (29) while guiding the Broncos to a 10-7 record.
So, perhaps a team like Giants or Browns — or another QB-needy team that wants to trade up to the No. 4 pick — would talk themselves into Sanders if they believe he’s a good fit for their system.
“Denver… was a perfect fit for him,” Breer added of Nix. “The rest doesn’t matter. He winds up going top half of the first round and was a Rookie of the Year candidate.
“So for Shedeur, I think that’s where you’re at. He could go third overall; he could go 33rd overall. It’s all going to boil down to fit, because I don’t think he’s a consensus first-round talent.”
Check out more from Breer, Phil Perry and Trenni Casey in the video below:
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