There are now only a few days remaining until the 2025 NFL Draft begins. The draft will kick off later this week on Thursday and run from April 24 through April 26.
The draft is formatted so that round one will take place on Thursday, while rounds two and three are scheduled for Friday, and rounds four through seven are slated for Saturday.
A total of 32 picks will be announced on Thursday, but some NFL teams reportedly don’t think there will be a difference in the quality of players drafted at No. 10 and No. 32, according to a recent report from ESPN’s Adam Schefter.
“It’s easy enough to figure out the top picks in this draft,” Schefter wrote. “Miami quarterback Cam Ward is expected to go to Tennessee with the top pick, while Colorado standout Travis Hunter and Penn State edge rusher Abdul Carter are expected to be gone by New England’s turn at No 4. But that’s where it gets murky — and this year might be murkier than any other in recent memory.
“Multiple teams have said the player who will be drafted at No. 10 is the same quality as the player drafted at No. 32. It will be about each team’s preference, but in the opinion of multiple personnel people, there is not a tremendous amount of difference.”
Certain NFL teams may envision there to be great parity in much of the first round of the 2025 NFL Draft, but as Schefter alluded to, not at the top of it.
For example, Ward, the former University of Miami star signal-caller, led his entire conference in passing touchdowns, yards gained per pass attempt, adjusted yards gained per pass attempt, yards gained per pass completion and passing efficiency rating in the 2024 season.
The potential No. 1 pick played for a Miami team that was one of the best in the nation to boot, as the squad was ranked No. 18 in the final iteration of the AP poll.
But even with Ward seemingly being one player who has separated himself from the pack in the first round, Schefter indicated that there’s some skepticism about whether Ward should be seen as a truly elite quarterback solution going into the draft.
If there indeed are multiple teams who hold the belief that there will be no difference in the quality of players drafted from the No. 10 pick through the No. 32 selection, perhaps there will be teams that will trade down in the coming days.
One squad that could maybe benefit from such a course of action is the Miami Dolphins, as they have just one pick in the first round at No. 13 overall and have a number of needs to fill.
There’s only one way to find out the accuracy of the assertion regarding the parity in the first round, and that’s to witness the first-round prospects take the field with their pro teams and see how impactful they are.
