The 2025 NFL Draft is just three days away! Here are some rumors that I have heard from sources with the draft just hours away.
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Team sources feel this is one of the most difficult drafts to project in many years. Teams picking in the middle and late in the first round say it is very difficult to confidently project who will be on the board when they pick. The lack of top quarterback talent and a lack of elite prospects for the top 10 are why this draft is more difficult to predict for teams and the media. However, one pick that is said to be all but a done deal is the Carolina Panthers taking Georgia linebacker Jalon Walker. Walker fills a need for a pass rusher and is also a culture fit for the Panthers’ regime. Perhaps the Panthers are being very discreet about their true intentions, but team sources feel that Walker to Carolina is a borderline lock for the first round.
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Another reason why the 2025 NFL Draft is difficult for teams to predict is the variation from team to team on the character aspect for some special prospects. As we reported weeks ago, some teams have dropped Tennessee edge rusher James Pearce Jr. off their board because of character. Ole Miss defensive tackle Walter Nolen and Marshall edge rusher Mike Green are also getting dinged for character concerns. Some team sources say they are still discussing this week the character evaluation on these players and whether to keep them alive for their early-round picks. Here is the text from one AFC director of college scouting from over the weekend, “Pearce and Nolen are character rejects for us, although they will go at some fairly early, but it would be malpractice taking them top 12.” And sources also say that Pearce and Nolen are very talented with rare ability. Hence, these prospects have a wide range of where they might go in the 2025 NFL Draft.
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Ole Miss edge rusher Princely Umanmielen has an early-round skill set as well and is coming off two straight seasons of good sack production to close out his collegiate career. However, Umanmielen is being dropped off some boards for character, according to team sources. They say the character issues are so significant, they feel he could have a huge slide. They felt the third round was the highest he would go, and he could slide into day three.
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Another top defensive line prospect who is tough to project is Michigan defensive tackle Kenneth Grant. In speaking with team sources, some teams in the top 10 have Grant as a possibility, and sources at other teams think he could slide into the middle or late portions. Those who aren’t high on Grant feel his personality is quirky, and he is scheme-specific. Teams also downgrade the importance of drafting nose tackles in the first round. In my latest 2025 NFL Mock Draft</> I have Grant going to a surprise team in the first round, but he has a wide range of landing spots, and it will be fascinating to see with whom he lands. </p>
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In speaking with team sources, three offensive tackles are expected to go in the top 16 with LSU’s Will Campbell, Missouri’s Armand Membou, and Texas’s Kelvin Banks. After that trio goes off the board, many feel there will be a wait until some blockers start coming off the board late in the first round. Ohio State offensive tackle Josh Simmons and Oregon’s Josh Conerly could go late in the first round. Team sources also say that Alabama guard Tyler Booker and Ohio State guard Donovan Jackson could go late in the 25-32 range. Evaluators love Booker on the field and his gung-ho leadership that he brings to the locker room and sideline, but the way teams push the value of guards lower is hurting Booker and Jackson. Still, they have a real shot at going on the opening night of the draft.
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