Jaxson Dart surpasses Shedeur Sanders on boards as NFL Draft 2025 day arrives

It’s draft day. On Thursday night, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell will walk across a stage outside of Lambeau Field and declare the 2025 NFL Draft officially open.

If it feels to you like the draft has been open for months, you are not alone.

But we have arrived, and it is time to spin through the latest rumors before it all begins for real.

Is Jaxson Dart QB2?

In the final hours before the 2025 NFL Draft a pair of notable experts — Daniel Jeremiah with the NFL Network and Dane Brugler with The Athletic — released their final mock drafts.

Both had Jaxson Dart, not Shedeur Sanders, as the second quarterback off the board.

In his final mock Jeremiah has the New York Giants trading back into the first round in a deal with the Seattle Seahawks, and selecting the Mississippi passer at No. 18:

The Giants and Browns are both candidates to trade back into the first round, with the goal of moving ahead of the QB-needy Steelers. I’ve heard talk about the Seahawks looking to trade out of Round 1, so this pairing makes sense. New York would get its QB and Seattle GM John Schneider would be armed with a boatload of Day 2 picks after this trade. There’s a belief in league circles that the Giants view Dart as a better fit than Shedeur Sanders.

As for Brugler, his final mock has Sanders sliding past the Pittsburgh Steelers at No. 21 and instead picking Oregon defensive tackle Derrick Harmon. The Oregon DT has been connected to the Steelers in recent weeks, to the point where we suggested he should just buy a home in Pittsburgh already. Brugler notes that while he had Sanders to Pittsburgh in his post-Combine mock draft, he would not be surprised if Harmon is the pick.

Then at No. 26, the Giants come back into the first round in a trade with the Los Angeles Rams, to take Dart.

Trade! The Giants move up from the second round into the Rams’ pick and take a quarterback. Coming out of Round 1 with Carter and Dart would bring some excitement to the Giants’ organization.

If New York targets Dart, it might push Sanders into Round 2, where the Browns could potentially grab him at No. 33.

Indeed, Sanders falls out of the first round in Brugler’s final mock draft.

As we noted earlier this week, there is significant buzz around the Giants-Dart pairing, and Todd McShay believes New York head coach Brian Daboll is a fan. If nothing else, it seems like Dart may be the Giants’ top option at QB later tonight.

And since we are talking final mock drafts, here is the final effort from our own JP Acosta, who has Sanders as QB2 to the Steelers at No. 21.

The latest buzz from Mel Kiper Jr.

The godfather of NFL Draft coverage shared some of the latest chatter he has picked up in the hours ahead of the draft, in a column that also included the final mock draft from Field Yates.

(To the Sanders discussion, Yates has the Cleveland Browns trading back into the first round in a deal with the Washington Commanders, to take the Colorado quarterback as the second QB off the board.)

Here are some of the tidbits from Kiper in that piece, but the entire column is worth your time:

• Jacksonville going offense at No. 5: It sure sounds like Jacksonville is going offense. “I commonly projected Michigan defensive tackle Mason Graham there over the past few months, but the latest intel is saying Coen and the Jaguars are targeting Jeanty or perhaps Arizona receiver Tetairoa McMillan. I’ve heard McMillan compared to Mike Evans, who played for Coen in Tampa Bay.”
• Saints going OL at No. 9: “I’d watch offensive line. [Kelvin] Banks could be a fit if he’s still available, especially because he can play some guard if needed. I moved Banks up to No. 13 on my final Big Board.”
• Colts thinking TE: “Everyone is connecting the Colts to the tight ends. As such, I’ve heard that a few teams might even be trying to trade ahead of Indianapolis to get [Colston] Loveland, though it’s unclear which ones.”
• On a potential Commanders-Browns trade: “The Commanders are in a good spot, having turned their roster around quickly. Moving down for another pick and still landing a good prospect at the top of the second round would be good business. My top three needs for them are edge rusher, cornerback, and running back.
  “A few prospects who could fit the Commanders, whether they stay at No. 29 or ended up atop Round 2: Boston College edge rusher Donovan Ezeiruaku, Kentucky cornerback Maxwell Hairston, Ohio State running back TreVeyon Henderson, Ole Miss cornerback Trey Amos and Tennessee edge rusher James Pearce Jr.”

Again, the entire piece is worth your time.

George Pickens unfollows the Steelers on Instagram

So you want to be a sportswriter …

The game has changed. Long afternoons in locker rooms and press boxes have given way to scrolling social media and noticing when players have unfollowed their current teams on different apps. The latest? Wide receiver George Pickens has unfollowed the Pittsburgh Steelers on Instagram, leading to rumors that the organization may be trading the WR in the next few days.

According to FOX Sports NFL Insider Jordan Schultz, Pickens’ name has come up in recent days during trade discussions:

With the Steelers adding DK Metcalf this offseason, they could be looking to move Pickens if the right trade was offered.

What is Buffalo thinking at No. 30?

A team that we have not discussed much in these pre-draft rumor roundups is the Buffalo Bills, who sit at No. 30 after losing the AFC Championship Game to the Kansas City Chiefs.

Buffalo has a few different needs, primarily on the defensive side of the football, that they could address in the first round. Defensive tackle is a common pick for them in mock drafts, as is cornerback.

According to Sportskeeda’s Tony Pauline, Buffalo has just 12 players with a first-round grade.

One of those players might just be Texas cornerback Jahdae Barron. As noted by Charles Robinson in his latest pre-draft piece, the Bills are one of the three teams he has identified as looking to trade up, and Barron is a likely player they are targeting:

If Texas corner Jahdae Barron gets to the 21st pick in the draft, I could absolutely see the Bills calling and inquiring about moving to 21 from 30. It’s worth noting the Bills have two second-round picks to help them climb up the board if they see an opportunity present itself in the first round.

If you want an offensive lineman, do not wait

Another interesting note from Robinson’s piece on Wednesday might be of particular interest to certain fanbases, such as those in the greater Foxborough area:

I think we’re going to see a first round dominated by offensive linemen, defensive linemen and edge rushers, with as many as nine offensive line picks in the first, versus 10 first-round picks devoted to defensive tackles and edge defenders. Inside that group, you’re going to want to pay close attention to the offensive tackle spot because after the top five guys in the stack — LSU’s Will Campbell, Missouri’s Armand Membou, Texas’ Kelvin Banks Jr., Oregon’s Josh Conerly Jr. and Ohio State’s Josh Simmons — the evaluators that I spoke to had a significant drop to the next shelf, with the next set of tackles assessed as late second- to early third-round grades. Bottom line: If your team badly needs a starting offensive tackle for 2025, it really needs to get him in the first round.

For teams looking at offensive line, there is often a thought that you can trade down a bit in the draft and still get a very good offensive lineman, while adding extra draft capital along the way. While that is sometimes a good move to make, there are associated risks.

In this year’s draft class, according to Robinson, trading down might see you miss out on the players who can step into the starting lineup in the fall.

Traders beware.

Chicago connected to what feels like half the board at No. 10

One thing you can say about the Chicago Bears at No. 10 is this:

They will have options.

Yesterday the NFL Draft world was buzzing with rumors of the Bears trading up in the first round, perhaps to draft Boise State running back Ashton Jeanty. This buzz came after word over the weekend that the Bears were reportedly “praying” that the RB fell to them at No. 10.

But as this piece from Alyssa Barbieri at Bears Wire notes, Jeanty is just one of several options for the team tonight. Offensive tackle is an option, with Oregon left tackle Josh Conerly Jr. or Texas LT Kelvin Banks Jr. as potential targets.

In addition, LSU offensive tackle Will Campbell, who took a pre-draft visit with Chicago, revealed that the team told him that is he is a Bear next season, he’s “playing left tackle.”

Then there is Michigan tight end Colston Loveland. This is a pairing that I absolutely love, and it makes sense when you consider new head coach Ben Johnson’s offense in Detroit. With tight end Sam LaPorta in place, the Lions had an option for Jared Goff in the middle of the field, and adding a tight end early in the draft would give Caleb Williams that same kind of security blanket in the middle of the field.

Loveland would be a fascinating option for them at No. 10.

As noted by Barbieri, Todd McShay is of a similar mind. “Call me in October when your young quarterback who had all that trouble last year now has a coach that can cook up some schemes in the lab and utilize those two tight ends,” McShay said. “Now we can be in 12-personnel, and now we are a headache.”