Round 1 of the 2025 NFL draft went down Thursday night at Lambeau Field in Green Bay, Wisconsin as 32 players heard their name called to join the NFL ranks. The draft started off with a bang as Jacksonville made a big swing to move up and select Travis Hunter 2nd overall, eventually settled in for a stretch, then saw a flurry of late first round trades to conclude the evening.
When all was said and done, here’s who ended up where on Thursday evening:
NFL Draft first-round results
1. Tennessee Titans: Cam Ward, QB, Miami
2. Jacksonville Jaguars (via Cleveland Browns): Travis Hunter, CB, Colorado
3. New York Giants: Abdul Carter, EDGE, Penn State
4. New England Patriots: Will Campbell, OT, LSU
5. Cleveland Browns (via Jacksonville Jaguars): Mason Graham, DT, Michigan
6. Las Vegas Raiders: Ashton Jeanty, RB, Boise State
7. New York Jets: Armand Membou, OT, Mizzou
8. Carolina Panthers: Tetairoa McMillan, WR, Arizona
9. New Orleans Saints: Kelvin Banks Jr., OT, Texas
10. Chicago Bears: Colston Loveland, TE, Michigan
11. San Francisco 49ers: Mykel Williams, EDGE, Georgia
12. Dallas Cowboys: Tyler Booker, OG, Alabama
13. Miami Dolphins: Kenneth Grant, DT, Michigan
14. Indianapolis Colts: Tyler Warren, TE, Penn State
15. Atlanta Falcons: Jalon Walker, LB, Georgia
16. Arizona Cardinals: Walter Nolen, DT, Mississippi
17. Cincinnati Bengals: Shemar Stewart, EDGE, Texas A&M
18. Seattle Seahawks: Grey Zabel, G, North Dakota State
19. Tampa Bay Buccaneers: Emeka Egbuka, WR, Ohio State
20. Denver Broncos: Jahdae Barron, CB, Texas
21. Pittsburgh Steelers: Derrick Harmon, DT, Oregon
22. Los Angeles Chargers: Omarion Hampton, RB, North Carolina
23. Green Bay Packers: Matthew Golden, WR, Texas
24. Minnesota Vikings: Donovan Jackson, OG, Ohio State
25. New York Giants (via Houston Texans): Jaxson Dart, QB, Ole Miss
26. Atlanta Falcons (via Los Angeles Rams): James Pearce Jr., EDGE, Tennessee
27. Baltimore Ravens: Malaki Starks, S, Georgia
28. Detroit Lions: Tyleik Williams, DT, Ohio State
29. Washington Commanders: Josh Conerly Jr., OT, Oregon
30. Buffalo Bills: Maxwell Hairston, CB, Kentucky
31. Philadelphia Eagles (via Kansas City Chiefs): Jihaad Campbell, LB, Alabama
32. Kansas City Chiefs (via Philadelphia Eagles): Josh Simmons, OT, Ohio State
Winners & Head Scratchers
Winners: AFC West Running Backs
After essentially being relegated to an afterthought in recent drafts, the impact of Saquon Barkley and Derrick Henry (who finished 1st and 2nd in rushing yards in 2024) on their new teams apparently has GMs rethinking their rankings this spring.
Both the Raiders and the Chargers selected running backs in the first round, taking Ashton Jeanty and Omarion Hampton to address their backfield issues. On deck is a slew of other RBs who are likely to hear their names called in round 2 as well, including Cameron Skattebo (Arizona State), TreVeyon Henderson (Ohio State), Quinshon Judkins (Ohio State), and Dylan Sampson (Tennessee) amongst others.
We haven’t seen 3 running backs taken in the first round since 2018 when Barkley, Rashaad Penny, and Sony Michel came off the board, so seeing two come off the board in the top 25 could signal that the times are slowly changing.
It also makes one wonder how much Denver will prioritize securing some backfield help on Day 2 when they look around the division and see Jeanty/Raheem Mostert (LV), Isiah Pacheco/Kareem Hunt (KC), and Hampton/Najee Harris (LAC) forming dynamic one-two punches. As it currently stands, Denver features Jaleel McLaughlin, Audric Estime, Tyler Badie, and Blake Watson at the position, which isn’t exactly a murderer’s row in the always competitive AFC West.
After further shoring up their defence by selecting DB Jahdae Barron out of Texas, don’t be surprised if GM George Paton selects a RB on Friday at pick number 51.
Head Scratcher:
As much as Cowboys fans were likely praying that Ashton Jeanty fell into their laps at 12th overall, that never materialized, so the team will need to address their anemic run game in another way. Given the fact that Tyron Smith and Zack Martin are now both retired, Dallas had needs along their offensive line.
So the selection of Alabama guard Tyler Booker wasn’t a bad choice, but it did have many wondering whether it was the right choice. Most scouting services had Booker ranked somewhere towards the back end of round 1, so in terms of maximizing value, he was a reach in terms of where he was selected.
Could the Cowboys have traded back, accumulated some more assets, and likely still gotten their guy? Probably. But clearly Jerry Jones & Co. wanted to ensure someone else didn’t swoop in and grab Booker, so they pulled the trigger at 12th overall.
In terms of skillset, here’s what Dane Brugler had to say about the Crimson Tide product ““In pass protection, you want your guards creating the depth of the pocket by answering and anchoring, which Booker does at a high level. In the run game, you want your guards driving and creating room with the intent of dominating their man, which Booker also does consistently. The next step for him is to continue developing his savviness to counter/reach high-end athleticism and blitzes that cross his face. Overall, Booker is built like a bull, with the play strength and finishing mentality to match. His average foot quickness, however, might not be ideal for every scheme. He projects as an immediate starting guard with the tools and competitive character that are easy to bet on.”
The fact that he played at Alabama likely boosted his stock a bit for a guard only lineman who doesn’t bring the positional versatility that some of his peers do. But the selection feels incomplete until we see what Dallas does with their messy backfield situation.
Booker’s best attributes are in run blocking situations. But with Javonte Williams, Miles Sanders, Deuce Vaughn, and Malik Davis currently penciled in as the Cowboys tailbacks, one has to wonder if those skills will be wasted in 2025 blocking for an uninspiring running back group.
Winners: GM’s Who Like To Trade
More often than not, there’s a draft day trade that happens which gets universally panned as an overpay, a reach, or just flat out bad asset management. That doesn’t appear to be the case with round 1 on Thursday, as each team likely walks away from draft night happy with the assets they were able to secure.
The Giants managed to have their cake and eat it too, not only drafting Abdul Carter who they coveted all along, but then also trading back into the first round to select their QB of the future in Jaxson Dart. Russell Wilson and Jameis Winston will be fun stories to watch in the Big Apple this year, but they’re placeholders at best. Giants fans are hoping that Dart to Malik Nabers becomes Eli Manning to Odell Beckham Jr. 2.0. We’ll see if the Ole Miss to LSU connection can bear fruit once again.
Cleveland gets a consensus top prospect in Mason Graham, while also securing a future 1st rounder in the process. Meanwhile, Jacksonville is hoping that Travis Hunter can become the Jaguars version of Shohei Ohtani, playing on both sides of the football, and generating optimism in Duval in Liam Coen’s first season as head coach.
As always, Eagles GM Howie Roseman was his usual aggressive self, moving up one spot to secure the top linebacker in the draft in Jihaad Campbell out of Alabama. Roseman made 8 trades in 2024, so he’s likely far from done working the phones this weekend. Kansas City is happy to secure an additional late round pick, while still addressing their biggest offseason need (offensive line) by selecting Josh Simmons out of Ohio State.
The one deal you can pick nits over is the Atlanta & Los Angeles trade which saw the Falcons give up a future first rounder to take edge rusher James Pearce Jr. out of Tennessee. While that’s a stiff price to pay for a late round selection, especially with the uncertainty of which direction Atlanta could go this year with (essentially rookie) QB Michael Penix Jr. under centre, anyone who has watched the Falcons pass rush (or lack thereof) over the last few seasons can’t be totally upset about double dipping on assets to chase opposing QBs around the field.
Here’s the full list of 1st round deals that went down Thursday night:
Falcons get: Nos. 26 and 101
Rams get: Nos. 46 and 242 and a 2026 first-round pick
Giants get: No. 25
Texans get: Nos. 34 and 99 and a 2026 third-round pick
Jaguars get: Nos. 2, 104, 200
Browns get: Nos. 5, 36, 126, first-round pick in 2026
Eagles get: No. 31
Chiefs get: No. 32, and 164
Head Scratcher: What’s Pittsburgh’s Plan For QB?
When the Pittsburgh Steelers were put on the clock Thursday, everyone moved forward in their chairs a bit to see if they’d be the ones to pull the trigger on Colorado QB Shedeur Sanders. That didn’t materialize, with the club opting to go with Oregon DT Derrick Harmon.
Harmon is a nice prospect at 6’4″, 313lbs who projects as a “plus starter” according to the NFL’s combine scouting report. His combine results had him ranked as the 4th DT on the board, so he’s certainly no slouch at his position.
While defence may win championships, you still need to score points to hoist trophies at the end of the day. And the two biggest areas of concern in Steel-Town these days are who will be throwing the football, and running the rock. Two things that seem kind of important to offensive success in the sport…
As it currently stands heading into Day 2 of the draft, Pittsburgh features Mason Rudolph and Skylar Thompson under centre, and Jaylen Warren, Kenneth Gainwell, Cordarrelle Patterson, Jonathan Ward, Aaron Shampklin, and Evan Hull in their backfield. That’s a lot of names for not a lot of production on a roster that has championship aspirations.
Many would have loved to have seen Omarion Hampton in black in gold, but alas, he went 1 pick later to the Chargers. With Ward and Dart off the board, that leaves Sanders, Jalen Milroe (Alabama), Will Howard (Ohio State), Quinn Ewers (Texas), Kyle McCord (Syracuse), Tyler Shough (Louisville), Dillon Gabriel (Oregon), Riley Leonard (Notre Dame), and Kurtis Rourke (Indiana) as the more prominent names at the position.
But it also throws the door back open on the ongoing Aaron Rodgers saga which, depending which Steelers fans you ask, could be a god send or a nightmare this season.
No matter which way you slice it, it looks like Pittsburgh is banking on winning some more low scoring ugly football games in 2025, as the offence (as currently constructed) just isn’t there.
-Kyle Skinner
Twitter: @JKyleSkinner
Photo: Maize & Blue Nation. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license.