2025 Draft: Biggest Winners/Losers

Which teams changed their futures the most over these 3 days?

This year's class of future pros may have been viewed as underwhelming by some, but several teams were able to land players to set their squads up for success both immediately and in the future. It's often said that 3 years are necessary to fully evaluate a draft class, but let's predict which teams gained the most or least from this one weekend in April.

Winner #1: Tampa Bay Buccaneers

1.19: Emeka Egbuka, WR, Ohio State

2.53: Benjamin Morrison, CB, Notre Dame

3.84: Jacob Parrish, CB, Kansas State

4.121: David Walker, DE, Central Arkansas

5.157: Elijah Roberts, DT, SMU

7.235: Tez Johnson, WR, Oregon

As a Saints fan, it was definitely disappointing to see how well the Bucs picked in this years' draft, setting themselves up for continued success in the division for years to come. Egbuka was one of the most surprising picks of the 1st round, but it probably shouldn't have been- his hands and route-running make him one of the safest receivers in the draft, and his fit with incumbents Mike Evans and Chris Godwin is tremendous.

Morrison's tape was worthy of a top 5 pick in my opinion, but his hip injury dropped him to the 2nd round, where GM Jason Licht was able to scoop him up. If he can get healthy and regain his 2023 form, he has all the makings of a dominant #1 corner in the future. They were also able to add more talent to a beleaguered secondary in the 3rd round, with the selection of Parrish. He has interesting potential for them in the slot.

Tampa was expected to use most of their picks to improve their defense, which shows on Day 3 with the selections of Walker and Roberts, who can be decent rotational pieces and play a role early on. Tez Johnson fell far due to his historically low weight, but the talent on tape is undeniable. QB Baker Mayfield now has an extremely deep group of receivers to hit up, especially considering 2024 3rd rounder Jalen McMillan as well.

Loser #1: Cincinnati Bengals

1.17: Shemar Stewart, DE, Texas A&M

2.49: Demetrius Knight Jr., LB, South Carolina

3.81: Dylan Fairchild, IOL, Georgia

4.119: Barrett Carter, LB, Clemson

5.153: Jalen Rivers, OT, Miami(FL)

6.193: Tahj Brooks, RB, Texas Tech

The Bengals draft class has promise, but overall I thought they could've made a bigger impact in order to truly compete for a Super Bowl in the short term.

Stewarts box score doesn't tell the whole story, but I thought he was still pretty raw in some ways, especially as a pass-rusher. Cincinnati has been looking for a guy opposite star DE Trey Hendrickson for a while now, but it might take a while for Stewart to truly become that player. For that reason, I would have preferred them picking more polished DT Derrick Harmon with their selection.

Knight was a solid pickup in the 2nd round, but again, they passed on several talented corners such as the aforementioned Morrison. In fact, they didn't select a CB at all in this draft class, leaving it as a major hole on their 2025 roster barring a big FA signing this summer.

Day 3 had some solid value picks, particularly Brooks. The group behind starter Chase Brown is relatively unproven, so he will have the chance to earn a bigger role in the future. Their offense will be rocking and rolling this season like usual, but I thought they could've done a little more to patch up the defense and make themselves top contenders next season.

Winner #2: Cleveland Browns

1.5: Mason Graham, DT, Michigan

2.33: Carson Schwesinger, LB, UCLA

2.36: Quinshon Judkins, RB, Ohio State

3.67: Harold Fannin Jr., TE, Bowling Green

3.94: Dillon Gabriel, QB, Oregon

4.126: Dylan Sampson, RB, Tennessee

5.144: Shedeur Sanders, QB, Colorado

While the Browns draft has been rather polarizing through the draft community, I personally thought GM Andrew Berry killed it this year. After the Deshaun Watson fiasco of a contract, they leveraged the #2 overall pick into current and future assets, setting themselves up for the future as best as possible.

As a Buckeye fan, Graham has been an annoying thorn in our sides over his 3 years in college, and there's no reason to think he won't continue that in the NFL. His A+ strength and toughness will let him dominate on a defensive line that features former DPOY Myles Garrett.

Cleveland took more of a BPA approach coming into Day 2, which worked out beautifully with their 4 selections. Schwesinger has the potential to become one of the faces of the Browns' defense in time, while Judkins profiles as the perfect bellcow replacement for Nick Chubb. They continued to add to the offense with the signing of Fannin, a generatitonally productive TE who just finds ways to get open.

On Day 3, Sampson was a fine value pick behind Judkins, with many expecting him to go in the previous day. I won't go into more details on the story of the draft in Shedeur Sander's fall, but the Browns made the right decision to end it in Round 5. Even with the selection of Gabriel two rounds before, Sanders gives them another shot at potentially landing a franchise guy, and they're not tied to him for long if his character proves overwhelming.

I think this draft might be looked back on as the beginning of Cleveland's long climb back from the gutter of the league. They landed plenty of strong talent to build up both sides of the ball once again, and if their QB experiments don't work out, they have 2 first rounders next year as well to go and get their guy, whoever that may be.

Loser #2: Denver Broncos

1.20: Jahdae Barron, CB, Texas

2.60: RJ Harvey, RB, UCF

3.74: Pat Bryant, WR, Illinois

3.101: Sai'vion Jones, DE, LSU

4.134: Que Robinson, DE, Alabama

6.216: Jeremy Crawshaw, P, Florida

7.241: Caleb Lohner, TE, Utah

GM George Paton took a BPA approach with his first pick, selecting a guy that few expected to make it to pick 20 in Barron. While the pick was sensible in theory, spending a first round pick on an already elite secondary while ignoring the desperate need of offensive weapons to help QB Bo Nix was probably not the wisest allocation of resources.

This decision reared its ugly head on day 2, as Denver reached against consensus for two selections in Harvey and Bryant. Harvey is a fine player, but he was expected to be selected a couple rounds later, and his role in a committee with incumbents Jahleel McLaughlin and Audric Estime sems similar to what Denver had a year before. Similarly, Bryant will have a tough time being a true difference-maker, with the Broncos having invested similar mid-round capital in other WRs in the past. Jones was a decent pick at the end of the first, but I would've preferred his teammate off the edge in Bradyn Swinson there.

HC Sean Payton may not get too much from his next selection either, as Robinson was primarily a special teams player with the Crimson Tide. Crawshaw has a big leg, so he should replace the departed Riley Dixon well. Lohner has a big frame and could shine if he manages to make the roster.

Denver had a decent draft overall, but I felt the best thing for their team was to add a true difference-maker for Nix to utilize, which they could've done a big better. Instead of trading backward, as they did several times, an aggressive trade up to land one of the top TEs in Round 1 could have set them up for a deep playoff run to maximize the time on Nix's rookie contract.

Winner #3: Washington Commanders

1.29: Josh Conerly Jr., OT, Oregon

2.61: Trey Amos, CB, Ole Miss

4.128: Jaylin Lane, WR, Virginia Tech

6.205: Kain Medrano, LB, UCLA

7.245: Jacory Croskey-Merritt, RB, Arizona

By trading for veterans on bigger contracts such as Deebo Samuel and Laremy Tunsil, the Commanders committed themselves to trying to build a championship roster around young stud Jayden Daniels. In the draft, they set themselves up even better for that, landing 2 long-term starters who have the potential to be future faces o the franchise.

Conerly won many fans in the draft community with his combination of size, technique as a blocker, and footwork, leading no no shortage of teams having him in for pre-draft meetings. Despite trading for Tunsil, GM Adam Peters still scooped him up at pick 29, a great move to secure the bookends of their OL for the long term. Many worried about the injury risk of Daniels taking big hits, so selecting Conerly definitely helps, at least in the pocket.

Several corners fell farther than expected on Day 2, but Amos was one of the most surprising ones, as a player tabbed to potentially go in the back of the first. This selection was a perfect combination of BPA and need, finalizing an extremely talented secondary with Marshon Lattimore and Mike Sainristil in the fold.

In Day 3, talented depth was added at several positions with their final 3 selections. Through these draft selections and past trades, the Commanders have made quite the turnaround, from the #2 pick just a year prior to prime NFC contenders now.

Loser #3: Kansas City Chiefs

1.32: Josh Simmons, OT, Ohio State

2.63: Omarr Norman-Lott, DT, Tennessee

3.66: Ashton Gillotte, DE, Louisville

3.85: Nohl Williams, CB, Cal

4.133: Jalen Royals, WR, Utah State

5.156: Jeffrey Bassa, LB, Oregon

7.228: Brashard Smith, RB, SMU

After a disappointing defeat to end the hopes of a three-peat in Kansas City, The offensive line was tabbed as the most glaring need to being the team to another championship. KC GM Brett Veach attacked the position early with Simmons, who was poised to be selected higher if not for a torn patellar tendon in his final season of college football. I liked this selection, but Simmons will likely have to play early, especially after trading away All-Pro guard Joe Thuney to Chicago, further weakening the line.

On Day 2, I thought Kansas City would double-dip with another OL selection, but they chose to address their DL with two selections. The selections were fine, but Gillotte profiled more as a depth piece to me, and the medical concerns of Norman-Lott are particularly concerning to me after drafting Simmons. Williams also might not be more than a rotational guy and special teamer.

Royals and Bassa were nice pickups on Day 2 as guys who can get rotational snaps early on and play their way into more snaps as part of their units with time. Smith is a very good catcher and could also find his way into returning kicks, but I thought they should've drafted a running back much earlier, especially after the leg injury sustained by starter Isiah Pacheco in the season prior.

Overall, I thought Mahomes and company had an alright draft, but could've done much more to address their biggest needs at OL and RB.