Windy City Gridiron
WCG’s lead draft analyst shares his current top 75 prospects in the class.
The first College Football Playoff rankings of the 2024 regular season came out on Tuesday, marking a major milestone in what’s been an entertaining college football season thus far.
With such a big event having just taken place, now is as good of a time as any to check back in on the 2025 NFL Draft class. I haven’t published a portion of my big board on here publicly since August before the season began, and there’s been a lot of change to take place since then.
Some prospects remain very high on my board after living up to high expectations heading into the season. Some prospects dropped a bit after a slow start to the year and/or the analysis of additional 2023 tape. Separate from those include the major risers, as there are 22 new prospects in my top 75 for the class who weren’t in my top 25 in August.
Parity has been a key theme in the 2024 college football season, and that’s pretty even with what we’re seeing in the corresponding draft class. There isn’t a ton of high-end, blue-chip talent, and I’ll probably have fewer than 20 true first-round grades on my board. That said, there’s quite a bit of value in Rounds 2 and 3, which bodes well for a team with more than two selections in that range like the Bears.
Here are my current top 75 prospects on my big board for the 2025 NFL Draft.
I project Colorado superstar Travis Hunter as more of a cornerback at the NFL level, though I think he’ll play some sort of role in his team’s offense wherever he ends up. I think he would be a very good starting receiver but would make him an unbelievable playmaker in the secondary, so I’ll bet on where his ceiling is higher. In addition to that, I have him slightly below Michigan cornerback Will Johnson. I think Johnson is the more consistent rep-to-rep corner, with better physicality in man coverage and better tackling abilities. That said, Hunter has a higher ceiling because of his athleticism and ball skills. It’s all about different flavors you prefer at cornerback.
I would be stunned if there aren’t any quarterbacks selected within the first 20 picks of the 2025 draft. My board doesn’t take positional value into effect, however, and puts more of a priority on tape, analytics and athleticism over the weighted value of a specific position. I don’t have a pure first-round grade on any quarterback prospect and wouldn’t rate one that high just because one will be drafted early.
Cam Ward has a nice combination of arm talent, accuracy and athleticism. I think his processing and urgency need improvement, which have him more in that Bo Nix range as a prospect than a Caleb Williams, Jayden Daniels or Drake Maye....
