2025 NFL Draft winners and losers
Photo courtesy of Maize & Blue Nation / Wikimedia Commons
With blockbuster trades, surprise slides, and bold picks, the 2025 NFL Draft delivered one of the most unpredictable and entertaining weekends in recent memory.
A few weeks ago, I predicted how the first five picks of the 2025 National Football League (NFL) Draft would play out. While my predictions did not come to fruition, unfortunately, the NFL draft made for excellent entertainment. Now that the curtains have closed on this year’s draft, analysts and football fanatics have months to break down every pick and the fit that each player has on their newfound team.
While we cannot possibly know how each respective prospect will turn out in the NFL, there still seemed to be some clear winners and losers from the 2025 NFL Draft. We will break down the teams that vaulted their organization in the right direction and the teams that left their fans scratching their heads with their decisions.
Winner: New York Giants
The New York Giants are coming off a 3-14 season mired in disappointment and controversy. The “G-men” desperately needed a great draft class that could turn a long-struggling franchise around. There was a lot of speculation about what the Giants would do with the third overall pick. Many theorized that it would be a quarterback, but the Giants ended up opting for the best overall talent. That being Penn State edge rusher Abdul Carter, whose unique combination of brute strength and explosive burst made it impossible for the Giants to pass up.
The Giants were not done in the first round just yet, however, as they ambitiously traded back in the latter picks of the first round to select Ole Miss quarterback Jaxson Dart. New York completed the draft by selecting bruising running back Cam Skattebo, defensive lineman Darius Alexander, and offensive lineman Marcus Mbow. This class has the capability to be one that you look back on as the core group of players pivotal to turning around a middling franchise.
Winner: New England Patriots
Similar to the Giants, the Patriots are a storied franchise that is amidst a complete rebuild. Their main motivation this offseason was to strengthen their offensive line to protect their hopeful franchise quarterback Drake Maye. The Patriots did exactly that on Thursday night as they chose offensive tackle Will Campbell with the fourth overall pick. The Patriots are hoping that Campbell will be able to protect Maye’s blindside for years to come.
Some other notable picks by the Patriots include running back TreVeyon Henderson, who was integral to Ohio State’s national championship team last season, wide receiver Kyle Williams, and center Jared Wilson. Each of these players fits the needs of a Patriots roster with plenty of holes. This exceptional draft class and multiple splash-free agent signings might put an end to New England's rebuild a lot sooner than fans expected.
Loser: Cleveland Browns
Cleveland is long known for making some truly puzzling football decisions, and this year’s draft was no different. Firstly, they opted not to draft a generational talent in Travis Hunter by trading the second overall pick. They seemed to rebound by acquiring skilled running back Quinshon Judkins from Ohio State.
But what was truly baffling was Cleveland's selection of quarterback Dillion Gabriel in the third round and Colorado's quarterback Shedeur Sanders. Bringing in two quarterbacks to an already jam-packed quarterback room is certainly questionable, to say the least. But if Sanders can live up to his expectations, then the Browns might end up looking like geniuses.
Loser: Quarterback Shedeur Sanders
Going into the draft, it was almost a given that Sanders would, at the very least, be drafted in the second round. Even so, things soured for Sanders after a series of disastrous pre-draft interviews caused him to free-fall down draft boards in a truly shocking fashion. It seemed like Sanders might not even be drafted until the Browns finally took him with the one-hundred-and-forty-fourth overall pick in the fifth round.
It was undoubtedly one of the most unforgettable draft slides for a highly regarded prospect in recent memory. The real question is how Sanders will respond to this unfortunate situation. Will he let this misfortune doom his NFL career before it even started, or will he use it to fuel his desire to prove every team that passed on him that they were dead wrong?
This year's NFL draft proved it’s the most noteworthy in all sports. The event was a complete spectacle with the lively atmosphere of the 200,000-plus fans that packed Lambeau Field. There were also many intriguing storylines that kept fans engaged throughout the week. Starting with the Jaguars trading up to the second overall pick to select the dynamic Travis Hunter, the Giants trading up for Jaxson Dart, and the sports world's incredulous reaction to Shedeur Sanders falling all the way down to the fifth round, all of these fascinating developments culminated in a chaotic and engrossing rendition of the best events in sports.