- Jalen Milroe is within the excellent scenario to take a seat and be taught: The previous Alabama quarterback is about to take a seat behind Sam Darnold for no less than a 12 months and work on his consistency.
- The Bengals secured an ideal match at linebacker: Demetrius Knight Jr. might instantly get taking part in time subsequent to Logan Wilson in 2025.
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Estimated Studying Time: 7 minutes
We’ll proceed to recap the 2025 NFL Draft by analyzing our favourite player-team matches — relatively than simply among the gamers who had been drafted early and can naturally get early taking part in time.
With short- and long-term affect considered, listed here are a few of our favourite matches, one at every place.
QUARTERBACK: JALEN MILROE, SEATTLE SEAHAWKS
Milroe will not begin instantly after the Seahawks handed Sam Darnold a hefty contract — and possibly not even for his first two years within the NFL. However the touchdown spot is nice for that precise motive.
Milroe may simply be essentially the most gifted quarterback on this class, however he’s not constant sufficient in his present kind to reach the NFL. His 74.7% adjusted completion proportion from 2024 isn’t horrible, and his 2.5% turnover-worthy play proportion is ok, as effectively. However when he makes his errors, they usually really feel main. There’s a beginning NFL quarterback inside Milroe, and Seattle’s scenario can pave the trail to develop him into that.
RUNNING BACK: KALEB JOHNSON, PITTSBURGH STEELERS
The Steelers didn’t draft a quarterback till Will Howard within the sixth spherical, however they did make an offensive addition in operating again Kaleb Johnson earlier than then. His choice provides Pittsburgh a deep operating again room, pairing him with Jaylen Warren and Kenneth Gainwell, and represents match.
Underneath offensive coordinator Arthur Smith, the Steelers ran zone run-blocking schemes 58.32% of the time in 2024. That strains up effectively with Johnson’s skillset, as he earned an 82.6 PFF speeding grade behind zone ideas at Iowa final season.
WIDE RECEIVER: MATTHEW GOLDEN, GREEN BAY PACKERS
I’ve talked about this one just a few occasions post-draft, however Golden to Inexperienced Bay is one among my favourite touchdown spots. Jordan Love has some gunslinger in him. He may be methodical in Matt LaFleur’s offense with shorter completions and longer drives, however he additionally has the arm to push the ball — and he likes to indicate that off.
The Packers ranked within the prime 5 in 20-plus-yard cross makes an attempt (90) and completions (34) in 2024, and Golden earned a 92.1 PFF receiving grade on such passes in 2024. Christian Watson and Jayden Reed each earned elite PFF receiving grades on deep passes for Inexperienced Bay final season, however Watson will miss many of the season whereas recovering from his ACL damage suffered in Week 18.
TIGHT END: MASON TAYLOR, NEW YORK JETS
The Jets’ 58.0 PFF receiving grade from their tight finish room in 2024 ranked twenty seventh within the league. Not solely will Mason Taylor elevate that naturally, having earned a 69.5 PFF receiving grade in 2024 at LSU, he might very effectively see the second-most targets on the group after receiver Garrett Wilson.
Now-Rams wideout Davante Adams garnered the second-most targets on the group final 12 months (114), whereas former Jets tight finish Tyler Conklin was fourth (72). These are a variety of vacated passes that might go Taylor’s method, at the same time as a rookie.
OFFENSIVE TACKLE: KELVIN BANKS JR., NEW ORLEANS SAINTS
No Saints offensive lineman who performed no less than 300 snaps earned a PFF total grade above 70.0 in 2024, and so they earned only a 53.5 PFF pass-blocking grade as a group.
Banks, who posted an 89.0 PFF pass-blocking grade final season because the Longhorns’ left sort out, ought to slide proper into that spot as a rookie, which permits Tailese Fuaga to maneuver again to proper sort out, the place he earned 80.0-plus PFF total grades in three consecutive seasons in school. This additionally permits the Saints to maneuver Trevor Penning to protect in a make-or-break contract 12 months.
OFFENSIVE GUARD: DONOVAN JACKSON, MINNESOTA VIKINGS
I didn’t love the Vikings’ 2025 NFL Draft technique of not buying and selling again once they had solely 4 picks, however other than that, Donovan Jackson is an excellent match.
Jackson earned a 68.5 PFF total grade in 2024 however was compelled to play offensive sort out many of the season as a consequence of Josh Simmons happening with an damage. Jackson will transfer again to protect in Minnesota and kind a beginning 5 of Jackson, Ryan Kelly and Will Fries on the inside with Brian O’Neill and Christian Darrisaw on the sort out spots. On paper, that’s a top-five group within the league.
CENTER: JARED WILSON, NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS
Wilson may not begin instantly for the Patriots after they signed free agent Garrett Bradbury, however he’s the seemingly long-term reply at heart for New England. Wilson was solely a one-year starter at Georgia, however he earned an 81.2 PFF total grade and an 84.0 PFF pass-blocking grade in that season. He was additionally an Eightieth-percentile athlete for the place in each athletic drill on the NFL Scouting Mix.
INTERIOR DEFENDER: JAMAREE CALDWELL, LOS ANGELES CHARGERS
The Chargers misplaced inside defender Poona Ford in free company, which left fairly the void within the depth chart, particularly in run protection, the place he was a top-five participant on the group (78.8 PFF run-defense grade).
In steps Caldwell, the huge however surprisingly nimble defensive sort out. He earned PFF run-defense grades above 80.0 in three straight seasons — first at Houston, then this previous 12 months at Oregon. The Chargers seemingly would have wished defensive sort out Kenneth Grant within the first spherical, however Caldwell is a strong comfort prize, particularly within the third spherical.
EDGE RUSHER: LANDON JACKSON, BUFFALO BILLS
I mentioned this proper after the draft: It looks like Jackson is only a higher model of what the Payments hoped A.J. Epenesa could be once they drafted him within the second spherical in 2020. Epenesa has had just one season out of 5 with a 65.0-plus PFF total grade.
Jackson is constructed equally to Epenesa in top, weight and size, however he’s a way more explosive athlete, inserting within the 96th and 97th percentiles for the vertical bounce and broad bounce on the NFL Scouting Mix.
LINEBACKER: DEMETRIUS KNIGHT JR., CINCINNATI BENGALS
Logan Wilson recorded a 72.4 PFF total grade at center linebacker in 2024, whereas Akeem Davis-Gaither recorded a 59.0 mark and Germaine Pratt recorded a 60.6 mark. Davis-Gaither is now in Arizona, however Pratt stays.
The Bengals would nonetheless seemingly need higher from their LB2 subsequent to Wilson. Knight earned an 82.5 PFF total grade at South Carolina in 2024, with an 85.4 PFF run-defense grade. His touchdown spot hints at taking part in time and wanted affect early on.
CORNERBACK: AZAREYE’H THOMAS, NEW YORK JETS
The Jets had been seeking to exchange D.J. Reed throughout from Sauce Gardner after Reed joined Detroit in free company. Aaron Glenn, the Lions’ defensive coordinator from 2021 to 2024, is now New York’s head coach.
Underneath Glenn, Detroit’s protection performed press with man-coverage assignments at a 46.25% clip. That leans into what Thomas does effectively as a cornerback. He performed in press on greater than 50% of his protection snaps in all three years at Florida State, incomes a 77.4 PFF protection grade in single-coverage conditions throughout the previous two seasons.
SAFETY: XAVIER WATTS, ATLANTA FALCONS
The Falcons wanted to make a splash of their secondary. Security Jessie Bates III earned an 81.4 PFF protection grade in 2024, however the subsequent 4 protection defenders who performed essentially the most snaps final season didn’t eclipse 70.0 marks.
Watts’ pairing with Bates creates a improbable ball-hawking duo. The Notre Dame product recorded an 89.4 PFF protection grade final season and racked up 13 interceptions over the previous two years. Bates has nabbed 14 interceptions over the previous three seasons with PFF protection grades of 81.4 and 90.2 in 2024 and 2023, respectively.
