The 2025 NFL Draft has wrapped up and has been sensational. This draft’s effect, like the 2024 NFL Draft, will be felt in the NFL for years to come. However, what are some of the main points we should take away from this draft?
1. Quarterbacks Must Have Physical Upside To Be Selected High In The NFL Draft
In the 2025 Draft, there were two quarterbacks that were picked in the first round. Those two are the 1st overall pick Cam Ward and the 25th overall pick Jaxson Dart. The theme with both of these QB’s are that they have immense physical upside. Ward can throw the ball at every angle and speed that you could want while being fairly mobile. As for Dart, he has the best overall arm strength and deep ball in the class as well as having flashed the ability to move outside of the pocket.
In stark contrast, QB’s Sheduer Sanders and Dillon Gabriel are almost the exact opposite, and were picked later as well. Sanders was selected with the 144th pick and fell in a historic draft slide from once being projected as a 1st round pick, partly due to his lack of mobility and arm strength. Gabriel was picked earlier at pick 94, however suffers from the same problems as Sanders. This is the reality of the modern NFL, in which you must have physical upside of some sort in order to be picked high as a prospect.
2. Defensive Tackles Were By Far The Deepest Position In The 2025 NFL Draft
Before the 2025 NFL Draft had even happened, the consensus was that defensive tackle was by far the deepest position in this draft. Based on the numbers alone, that consensus was correct, with a whopping 30 defensive tackles taken in this year’s draft. That breaks the record for the most DT’s taken in a singular draft class. This goes to show how expansive it truly was this year.
In terms of tangible effects that will be felt from this, expect a large amount of new interior defensive lineman that will strengthen defensive lines across the league.
3. Wide Receiver Is Plentiful In Every Draft
In the NFL Draft, there are plenty of positions that fluctuate every year in terms of quality and quantity. Quarterback and Edge Rusher are two of the prime positions that follow this trend. For most if not all positions, the reason for this is simply due to the fact that there are only so many players that play these high impact positions in the NFL. There is, however, one definite exception to this trend, and that is Wide Receiver.
The reason for this is simply due to how many Wide Receivers are on college teams. This is also due to how reliant modern passing games are on having a large amount of good to great Wide Receivers. In 2023 there were 33 receivers picked and in 2024 there were 35 receivers picked. In 2025, there were altogether less receivers picked, with 17 receivers picked. However, for comparison, there were 26 Edge Rushers picked in the 2025 NFL Draft. This was considered one of the better edge classes in recent years, and is rarely this plentiful. So it is easy to see that even being in a down year for the position, it was still one of the more selected positions in the 2025 NFL Draft.
The takeaway here is that Wide Receiver is always plentiful. It will allow for NFL General Managers and Front Offices to draft and develop receivers. This allows for more financial resources to be spent on other key positions of need for NFL Teams.
4. Injuries Can Derail Players Draft Stock, Despite The Consensus Surrounding Them
In the 2025 NFL Draft, there were more than a handful of players that were selected far lower than they would have if they were healthy. This is despite whatever consensus surrounds them. This is exactly the case for Penn State Safety Kevin Winston Jr., who was hailed as a potential first round pick. However he was injured early in the 2024 College Football season. Nick Saban, former Head Coach of Alabama, said about Winston, “If he wasn’t injured and he could have played his whole career, he would have been a first round draft pick”. That is high praise coming from one of College Football’s greats, and goes to show how much injuries can destroy a player’s draft stock.
There is an upside to this in the draft. That takeaway altogether is that NFL teams can find great value down the draft board due to injury. Potential star players, such as Winston Jr., can be had later on by savvy NFL teams that pick wisely. The Tennessee Titans picked Winston Jr. with the 82nd overall pick, and were praised on draft day for it.
5. NFL Teams With Good Locker Rooms Can Take Risks Other Teams Can’t
In the 2025 NFL Draft, there were a handful of players that were picked far later than their ability suggests. One such player was former Missouri WR Luther Burden III, who was flagged by many as a potential character concern. I wrote an article about this you can click on here, but despite these concerns, he is a great prospect. The Chicago Bears thought this too, as they selected him 39th overall. This begs the question, why did the Bears select him there, while other teams passed on him?
The answer lies in how the Bears feel about their locker room. The Bears have a staunch amount of vets inside their locker room, as well as foundational pieces already in place. An example of one such piece being the 2024 1st Overall Pick QB Caleb Williams. The fact that they already have their franchise Quarterback and several vets surrounding him allows for the Bears to take some risks. The other teams that passed on Burden more than likely did so because they felt that their culture was not good enough to keep these concerns in check and support the young Wide Receiver.
The takeaway here is that players that have high upside but character concerns could be passed on by teams trying to establish a good locker room. However, teams with great locker rooms, and eventual great locker room culture can take bigger and bigger risks. This allows for these teams that have invested in their team’s foundation to take swings at guys that have potential and reap those benefits.
