2025 NFL Draft Has New Favorite to go No. 1

The College Football Playoff rolls on this week, but the quarterbacks expected to be picked near the top of the NFL Draft have all concluded their college seasons. Those bowl performances (or non-performances), coupled with a draft order that has now been set for the NFL teams who missed the playoffs, has created a shift for the No. 1 overall pick.

No. 1 Overall Pick Odds

Cameron Ward – Miami (-125)

Cam Ward and the Miami Hurricanes played Iowa State in the Pop-Tarts Bowl, and he was spectacular in the first half. Ward threw for 190 yards and three touchdowns even without three of his best wide receivers, putting the ‘Canes up 31-28 at halftime.

That’s when Ward’s day ended. He put more of his ability on tape, then decided to protect his assets as he looks ahead to a career in the NFL. Predictably, social media didn’t love that he decided to stop playing, and Miami ended up losing the game. But the reality is that many great players have done the same thing in the past. Just last year, Heisman Trophy winner Jayden Daniels skipped LSU’s bowl game entirely, and he did just fine in his rookie season.

Ward finished his season at Miami with 4,313 passing yards and 39 touchdown passes, which followed two very good seasons at Washington State.

Shedeur Sanders (+105)

Long the favorite to go No. 1 overall, Colorado quarterback Shedeur Sanders has slipped behind Ward on the betting board. He still pays close to even money to go No. 1, and considering that the top-two teams are both very quarterback needy, he’s unlikely to drop beyond No. 2.

Sanders’ full body of work in 2024 was excellent. He finished the season with 4,134 passing yards and 37 touchdown passes. But Colorado lost two of its last three games, and in a bowl game blowout loss to BYU, Sanders threw two interceptions for just the second time this season.

However, by April’s draft, those interceptions will long be forgotten, and he will hear his name called very early in the night.

Travis Hunter (+1000)

Fellow Colorado Buffalo and Heisman Trophy winner Travis Hunter has been called a true unicorn. It’s not just that he plays both wide receiver and cornerback. In the NFL, he projects to be an All-Pro in either position, or both. His natural talent puts him in a category all on his own.

Not playing quarterback is his only negative, and the only reason he probably won’t be drafted first. Along with the Heisman, he won the Chuck Bednarik Award, given to the nation’s best defensive player, and the Fred Biletnikoff Award, given to the nation’s best wide receiver.

He finished the 2024 season with 96 receptions for 1,258 yards and 15 touchdowns, as well as four interceptions, 11 passes defensed, and 32 tackles. Even as Colorado struggled against BYU in the Alamo Bowl, Hunter caught passes for 106 yards.

NFL Draft Order

No. 1 Tennessee Titans

The Tennessee Titans are officially on the clock, and they are going to move on from quarterback Will Levis after just two seasons. It’s almost a certainty that either Cam Ward or Shedeur Sanders will be playing in Nashville in the fall.

No. 2 Cleveland Browns

Head coach Kevin Stefanski is going to be back, and finally he will get a get a good young quarterback to work with. Deshaun Watson was foisted upon him, and that was a failure. Jameis Winston was more fun, but not much better. And Dorian Thompson-Robinson is not an NFL starter.

No. 3 New York Giants

Head coach Brian Daboll will be back in New York, but unfortunately for 2025, his 2024 team won its way out of the top draft pick with a win last week against the Indianapolis Colts. Wide receiver Malik Nabors is a star, finishing his season with 109 catches for 1,204 yards and seven touchdowns. Just imagine if he didn’t have Drew Lock, Tommy DeVito, and Daniel Jones as his quarterbacks.

No. 4 New England Patriots

Head coach Jerod Mayo made it just one season. He was fired on Sunday after the New England Patriots beat the Buffalo Bills, dropping them from No. 1 overall to No. 4 overall. They don’t need a quarterback, but Travis Hunter sure would look good in Foxborough. But now they might not get him either.

No. 5 Jacksonville Jaguars

The Doug Pederson-era in Jacksonville is over. He has been fired after going 22-28 in three seasons. General manager Trent Baalke inexplicably has survived, and he will get to make the fifth pick in the draft. Jacksonville has a number of needs, most notably on defense. The Jaguars ranked 27th this season in points allowed per game.

No. 6 Las Vegas Raiders

The Las Vegas Raiders had a 10-game losing streak at one point this season, but back-to-back wins in Weeks 16 and 17 knocked the Raiders out of the QB draft sweepstakes. And that is their position of greatest need, and the biggest reason they have missed the playoffs for a third straight year. 

No. 7 New York Jets

So many great players, and yet the New York Jets can never win on the field. They have now missed the playoffs for 14 straight seasons. New York will have a new head coach next season, an expected new quarterback, and hopefully a new rookie star. This will be the ninth time the Jets pick inside the top-10 since they last were in the playoffs.

No. 8 Carolina Panthers

No team drafting in the top-10 feels better about their future than the Carolina Panthers. The career resurrection of last year’s top overall pick, Bryce Young, continued on Sunday, and head coach Dave Canales proudly proclaimed that the team has “got our guy.” There are good young offensive lineman and wide receivers in place, and the eighth overall pick is the first of eight Carolina picks in the first five rounds.

No. 9 New Orleans Saints

The New Orleans Saints ended the season with four straight losses, and moved into the top-10 on the NFL draft board for the first time since 2007. They will have a new head coach next season, provided they don’t make interim head coach Darren Rizzi the permanent fix. And you do have to wonder how much longer can general manager Mickey Loomis remain in charge. He just completed his 23rd season in New Orleans.

No. 10 Chicago Bears

Quarterback is good, wide receivers are good, and the Chicago Bears enter the off-season with an estimated $82 million in cap space. A new head coach, an active free agent period, and a fourth top-10 pick in the last three years, and there is reason for optimism in Chicago.