Read Dane Brugler’s 2025 ‘The Beast’ NFL Draft guide.
The 2025 NFL Draft is less than two weeks away, but the news cycle has been almost eerily quiet leading up to it. Have the Titans made a decision about how they’ll use the No. 1 pick? What’s going to happen with the quarterback class, especially if and when Aaron Rodgers ever announces his plans for the coming season?
NFL Draft analyst Nick Baumgardner and national college football writer Scott Dochterman debate those questions, plus take a spin through Dane Brugler’s new and improved NFL Draft guide.
Now that you’ve had a look at Dane’s updated top 100 draft board in “The Beast,” what jumps out for you?
Nick Baumgardner: At the risk of becoming the guy who’s always telling people to eat their vegetables, I have to once again point out where those quarterbacks land. There is one quarterback, Cam Ward, with a true first-round grade on Dane’s board — and he happens to be the last of 13 players Dane has in the Round 1 stack. Last year, there were three quarterbacks with Round 1 grades, all rated inside the top eight overall.
If you are truly thinking about taking Shedeur Sanders at No. 2 or No. 3 (or anywhere in the top 10) and your roster is flawed to a point where even a successful rookie QB won’t be enough to fix you in 2025, then you just shouldn’t do it.
To be clear, I do like Sanders. I think if he’s drafted by a team with a stable supporting cast around him (not unlike what we saw with Bo Nix last year), he’ll have a chance. But if you put him on a bad team expecting a miracle, you’re running a major risk of stunting his growth.
Teams land in quarterback hell by way of a vicious cycle — they take a guy who isn’t ready, cross their fingers and wind up having to bench that QB by the end of their second year, before repeating the process. It doesn’t have to be this hard.
Scott Dochterman: If anything, it’s the symmetry. Dane had 51 offensive players and 49 defensive players in his top 100. That’s impressive. But beyond that quirk (whether intentional or by design), “The Beast” shows how deep the pool is along the defensive line — Dane has 17 edge defenders and 11 defensive linemen among his top 100. There are plenty of defensive tackles beyond the top 100 who are capable starters, as well.
Two player grades surprised me: Marshall edge Mike Green has every athletic gift necessary to be No. 10, but I’m sure plenty of teams will do serious investigating after Green faced two sexual assault accusations (one in college, one in high school; neither resulted in charges). The other is Texas A&M edge Nic Scourton at 59. Perhaps it was based more on overall positional depth than Scourton’s shortcomings, but I think of Scourton as more of a first-round prospect.
In Nick’s latest mock, his first line after handing Ward to the Titans is: “To be clear, I would not do this.” So … what should the Titans do at the top of the draft?
Baumgardner: The Titans are not a quarterback away from being a playoff team. Three of Tennessee’s last five first-round picks (Isaiah Wilson, Caleb Farley, Treylon Burks) have been busts; two of them (Wilson, Farley) are gone. This team needs a complete teardown, right to the studs. If you start that process with a rookie quarterback — generational prospect or not — it will be very hard on that player and, eventually, on the first-year GM who made the pick.
It’s going to be difficult for Tennessee to trade this pick, but I’d still be on the phone trying to get a deal done until the very last second. If I couldn’t find one, I’d take the best player on my board. Objectively, Travis Hunter and/or Abdul Carter are going to rank higher than Ward every single time.
Start your rebuild with a smaller margin for error. That’s my suggestion.
Dochterman: Forcing a quarterback at No. 1 overall can get messy, especially if there is no clear consensus. When it comes to quarterback, team officials often set aside their drafting principles and target needs — and it appears that Tennessee is on that path. That approach tends to result in drafting quarterbacks who rarely make Pro Bowls, such as Baker Mayfield or Kyler Murray. Ward is in that territory right now.
If I’m new Titans general manager Mike Borganzi, I’m trader a fourth-rounder to Atlanta for Kirk Cousins. According to Spotrac, the Titans have the fourth-most cap space in the league, and Cousins has the potential to hold serve for a year. Then, I’d try my best to trade down.
If nothing came of it, I’d draft Carter No. 1. The Titans gave up the sixth-most rushing yards last season and had the third-fewest sacks. Carter is a day-one starter who would help in both areas. After that, I’d draft QBs Tyler Shough, Jalen Milroe or Jaxson Dart in Round 2 and eye potential 2026 prospects.
We are still(!!) waiting on Aaron Rodgers to figure out his NFL future. The Steelers reportedly had Sanders in for a visit this week. Make the call: Where are those two QBs playing in 2025?
Baumgardner: I’ll say both Rodgers and Sanders are Steelers next year. Not sure if that’s the best possible spot for Rodgers, but I do think it’s the best one for Sanders.
I really like the idea of Sanders landing with the Steelers and being given a chance to learn and adjust to the NFL. If Rodgers is in Pittsburgh on a one-year deal and understands the situation at hand, I’d love that fit. I had Sanders going to the Steelers at No. 21 in my last mock (which didn’t feature trades). If Sanders falls outside the top 10, Pittsburgh shouldn’t be afraid to move up the board if need be.
Assuming Rodgers can admit to himself that he’s 41 years old and in a position to be a true example for a talented young quarterback, then this could be a great situation. If there’s one team in the QB-needy bunch that’s actually a quarterback away from making some noise, it’s Pittsburgh.
Dochterman: The best scenario for both quarterbacks is right there in Pittsburgh. Rodgers wasn’t that bad last year for the Jets, especially over the final 10 games, when he threw 18 touchdowns and just four interceptions. He’d be a placeholder, but he’d also be a better option than what the Steelers have had since midway through Ben Roethlisberger’s penultimate season in 2020.
There’s also no better spot for Sanders. He dealt with his share of the spotlight at Colorado while playing for his father, but the opportunity to sit behind Rodgers and play for a strong leader like Mike Tomlin would remove the pressure that accompanies first-round quarterbacks. Then, the club could target him as the starter in 2026.
We took an early look this week at the potential 2026 free agent class. Obviously, most of the names listed there won’t make it to the market, but which players will be most intriguing to track for the next 11 months?
Baumgardner: We’ll see if Jerry Jones ever gets around to admitting he, in fact, does know the name of Micah Parsons’ agent. Beyond that, I’m pretty fascinated to see what Parsons’ final contract number will be, as it’s going to be a huge domino at one of the game’s most important positions.
In terms of players who could be available, I’m curious to see what Detroit does with Kerby Joseph. The Lions have been very smart about not overextending themselves in free agency, and they’ve already invested heavily in Penei Sewell, Amon-Ra St. Brown and Alim McNeill. They’re also currently working on Aidan Hutchinson’s extension, and Brian Branch, Sam LaPorta and Jahmyr Gibbs all could wind up with expensive deals. It’ll be interesting to see where the Lions place Joseph in their line of talented youngsters.
Purdy picked! Kerby Joseph grabs his 8th INT of the year.
: #DETvsSF on ESPN/ABC
: Stream on #NFLPlus and ESPN+ pic.twitter.com/0KhsUMNPai— NFL (@NFL) December 31, 2024
Another would be Jets guard Alijah Vera-Tucker. He played just 12 combined games between 2022 and 2023 but was very good last season and started to look like the talent New York thought it had when it took him in the first round. It feels like he could turn the corner and become one of the better guards in the NFL, but has he done enough to convince a new Jets front office he should get what could be a pretty pricey extension?
Dochterman: There are plenty of big names but it’s not worth discussing veterans such as Mike Evans and Derrick Henry, who won’t pick up anything more than two-year deals going forward. But there are three or four that really pique my interest.
San Francisco quarterback Brock Purdy stands out because of how he’s performed at a young age in his first three seasons — and the bargain he’s been for the 49ers. As a 2022 seventh-round pick, Purdy costs a fraction of what other starting quarterbacks are paid, but he’s also set to hit free agency a year early. The 49ers like Purdy, but are they willing to pay more than $40 million a year for him? We’ll see.
Seattle’s Riq Woolen has the physical traits of an elite corner, and it wouldn’t surprise me if he vaults into All-Pro territory.
Offensive tackles Rashawn Slater and Bernhard Raimann are in different stages but have intriguing storylines. On Slater, will the Chargers pay potentially two elite tackles after drafting Joe Alt last year? And Raimann hails from Austria, where he served in the military before playing football at Western Michigan — he seems to get significantly better every year.
(Top photo of Shedeur Sanders: Christian Petersen / Getty Images)
