It’s NFL Draft season, which means that professional teams around the country are working frantically to evaluate prospects and put the finishing touches on their big boards. That also means a lot of the current discussion is centered around those players that have elite athletic traits, as the NFL Combine and individual pro days are an integral part of the pre-draft process.
While things like the 40-yard dash and three-cone shuttle drill can be indicative of a prospect’s athletic ability — an important facet of the game, no doubt — nothing truly replaces top production at the collegiate level. After all, the three to four years that a player spends in college provide them the opportunity to land on the NFL Draft radar.
So it should come as no surprise that the top of the 2025 CBS Sports NFL Draft Prospect Rankings are filled with recent college football stars. But there are tons of super productive players that may drop out of the first round because for various reasons like age, injury history or the fact that their athletic profile doesn’t warrant such a lofty draft slot.
That certainly does not mean that they are bad players, and plenty of athletes taken beyond the first round go on to have successful and lengthy careers. With that in mind, though, it felt appropriate to rank the top 32 prospects in the 2025 NFL Draft based solely on their collegiate careers.
NFL insider 2025 mock draft: Shedeur Sanders falls out of first round, only one QB taken on Day 1
Jonathan Jones
This isn’t meant to be a mock draft, nor is it an evaluation of a player’s professional upside. It’s solely a ranking of the top draft eligible players based on production and their impact on the college game.
1. Travis Hunter, CB/WR, Colorado
Hunter might just be the best two-way player in college football history. Not only did he win the 2024 Heisman Trophy, but he also became the first athlete to ever capture both the Biletnikoff Award as the nation’s best receiver and the Bednarik Award as the sport’s top defender. Though he regularly played over 100 snaps per game, his production never dipped below an elite level — on both sides of the ball.
2. Ashton Jeanty, RB, Boise State
Though he fell just short of Barry Sanders’ single-season rushing record, Jeanty still produced some astounding numbers while leading Boise State to a College Football Playoff appearance in 2024. He had 2,601 yards rushing, 1,970 of which came after contact. To put that in perspective, the nation’s No. 2 rusher, Arizona State’s Cam Skattebo, had 1,711 total yards rushing. Jeanty also averaged 7 yards a touch and scored 29 touchdowns, earning him the Doak Walker Award, the Maxwell Award and unanimous All-American honors.
3. Cam Ward, QB, Miami
When considering his entire career, Ward is far and away the most productive quarterback in the 2025 draft class. He started at Incarnate Word, where he won the 2020 Jerry Rice Award as the top freshman in the FCS, spent two seasons at Washington State and then had a career year at Miami in 2024, leading the Hurricanes to their first 10-win season since 2017 while making a trip to New York City as a Heisman Trophy finalist. He had 18,137 yards passing and 158 touchdowns through the air in his five-year career.
4. Harold Fannin Jr., TE, Bowling Green
Though Fannin’s Falcons didn’t win anything of note during his three years in Bowling Green, that shouldn’t discount the talented tight end’s absurd production last season. He set single-season FBS records for a tight end in receptions (117), yards receiving (1,555), receptions per game (9.0) and yards receiving per game (119.6). He was also the first tight end in FBS history to lead the nation in both receptions and yards receiving.
5. Jaxson Dart, QB, Ole Miss
Dart, a former USC transfer, will undoubtedly have his number hanging in Vaught-Hemingway Stadium one day. He won 28 games in three seasons as the Rebels’ starter, and in 2023 he led Ole Miss to its first 11-win season in program history. Along the way, he recorded 10,617 yards and 72 touchdowns passing.
6. Abdul Carter, EDGE, Penn State
Carter was one of the most disruptive defenders in college football over the past few seasons. He led the nation with 23.5 tackles for loss in 2024 while also posting an eye-popping 61 quarterback pressures and 12 sacks. He was also an All-Big Ten selection in each of his three years with the Nittany Lions and was named the 2024 Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year during Penn State’s run to the College Football Playoff semifinal round.
7. Mason Graham, DL, Michigan
Though Graham’s numbers may not pop off of the stat sheet, he was a figurehead for one of the greatest eras in Michigan football history. Graham was the MVP of Michigan’s 2024 Rose Bowl win that sent it to the College Football Playoff National Championship, where it beat Washington for the program’s first national title since the BCS era began. He was also a two-time first-team All-Big Ten selection and a 2024 unanimous All-American.
8. Shedeur Sanders, QB, Colorado
Sanders flourished under his father, Deion. Like Ward, he won the 2021 Jerry Rice Award at Jackson State and then followed the elder Sanders to Colorado in 2023. Last season, Sanders posted 4,134 yards and 37 touchdowns passing while leading Colorado to its best record since 2016. He had at least 3,000 yards and 27 touchdowns through the air in each of his four years at the collegiate level.
9. Tyler Warren, TE, Penn State
Warren was a do-it-all weapon for the Nittany Lions. Not only did he shatter Big Ten receiving records for a tight end with 1,233 yards and eight touchdowns in 2024, but he also rushed for an additional 218 yards and four touchdowns, and he even had a touchdown pass in a win against Kent State. He won the 2024 Mackey Award in addition to a spot on the CBS Sports All-America team.
10. Malaki Starks, DB, Georgia
Starks started at safety as a true freshman in 2022 for a Georgia team that won its second consecutive national championship and was subsequently named a 247Sports True Freshman All-American. He then earned back-to-back CBS Sports All-American honors from 2023-24 while patrolling the Bulldogs’ backend.
11. Will Johnson, CB, Michigan
Johnson spent most of the 2024 season dealing with various injury issues and still earned a spot on the CBS Sports All-America second team after returning both of his interceptions for a touchdown. He was also the defensive MVP of Michigan’s College Football Playoff National Championship victory against Washington to cap a 15-0 2023 season.
12. Kelvin Banks Jr., OL, Texas
Banks, who won the 2024 Outland Trophy and Lombardi Award, allowed just four sacks across 1,544 pass-blocking snaps at Texas, according to Pro Football Focus. He also graded out as an elite run blocker and was on some sort of All-America honors list in each of his three years with the Longhorns.
13. Quinshon Judkins, RB, Ohio State
Judkins was the 2022 SEC Freshman of the Year at Ole Miss after rushing for 1,567 yards and 16 touchdowns. He was also a centerpiece for the Rebels in 2023 when they won a program-best 11 games. Judkins then transferred to Ohio State in 2024, where he posted a third consecutive 1,000-yard rushing season and won a national championship. Judkins had 45 touchdowns rushing in just three years.
14. Cam Skattebo, RB, Arizona State
Skattebo finished fifth in the 2024 Heisman Trophy voting — just missing out on a spot as a finalist — after tallying 2,316 total yards and 21 touchdowns rushing. He captured the nation’s attention, and earned offensive MVP honors, for his heroic efforts in Arizona State’s College Football Playoff loss to Texas, where he rushed for two touchdowns, threw for another and finished second among both teams with 99 yards receiving.
15. Xavier Watts, DB, Notre Dame
Watts is the definition of a ballhawk. He tied to lead the nation in 2023 with seven interceptions and ranked second nationally by intercepting six passes in 2024 while starring for a Notre Dame team that made it all the way to the College Football Playoff National Championship.
16. Will Campbell, OL, LSU
Campbell started at left tackle as a true freshman and occupied that spot for three years. He only allowed four sacks while blocking for the likes of former Heisman Trophy winner Jayden Daniels and Garrett Nussmeier, who will be in the first-round conversation in 2026.
17. Jahdae Barron, DB, Texas
Barron won the 2024 Thorpe Award after recording five interceptions and 16 total pass breakups for a Texas team that made it to the SEC Championship Game in its first year with the conference and the College Football Playoff semifinal. His plus athletic traits also have him flying up draft boards.
18. Omarion Hampton, RB, North Carolina
Hampton was North Carolina’s offense over the past couple seasons. From 2023-24, he logged a whopping 3,164 yards and 30 touchdowns rushing. Naturally, he finished top-five in yards rushing in each of those two seasons.
19. Tetairoa McMillan, WR, Arizona
McMillan finished top-five nationally in receiving each of the past two seasons while catching 174 passes for 2,721 yards and 18 touchdowns.
20. Emeka Egbuka, WR, Ohio State
Egbuka was a safety valve for a few Ohio State quarterbacks during his four-year career with the Buckeyes. He had at least 1,000 yards receiving in two of the past three seasons and tallied 24 touchdowns in the same span. Egbuka’s contributions helped Ohio State win 47 games and a national title.
21. Donovan Jackson, OL, Ohio State
Jackson stepped up big time when his team needed it the most, and as a result, quickly ascended up draft boards. Buckeyes starting left tackle Josh Simmons — who will likely go in the first round — suffered a season-ending knee injury in October. Jackson, who was starting at guard, moved to left tackle and anchored Ohio State’s line as it plowed through opponents in the postseason. He didn’t allow a single sack in four College Football Playoff games.
22. Donovan Ezeiruaku, EDGE, Boston College
Ezeiruaku bounced back from a quiet 2023 with 16.5 sacks and three forced fumbles last season, which earned him 2024 ACC Defensive Player of the Year honors and the Ted Hendricks Award as the top defensive end in college football. Ezeiruaku had 26 sacks in his last three seasons with the Eagles.
23. Jalon Walker, LB, Georgia
Walker’s versatility really came through in 2024 as he finished the year with 61 total tackles and 6.5 sacks en route to winning the Butkus Award.
24. Jay Higgins, LB, Iowa
Higgins, a two-time first-team All-Big Ten selection, had 171 tackles in 2023 and followed that up with 118 tackles and four interceptions in 2024, which led to his first career unanimous All-American bid and the Big Ten Linebacker of the Year award.
25. Xavier Restrepo, WR, Miami
Restrepo, a 2024 second-team CBS Sports All-American, holds Miami’s career records for receptions (200), yards receiving (2,844) and touchdowns receiving (21). He also the first Miami receiver to post consecutive 1,000-yard seasons.
26. Will Howard, QB, Ohio State
Howard brought the grit and edge that Ohio State needed for its national title run in 2024 — he was the College Football Playoff National Championship Offensive MVP — and also took great strides as a passer with the Buckeyes as he tossed a career-high 4,010 yards and 25 touchdowns. He won 26 games as a starter in the past three seasons with Ohio State and Kansas State.
27. Quinn Ewers, QB, Texas
Ewers won 27 games as Texas’ starter, the most for a Longhorns quarterback since Colt McCoy, and led his team to two consecutive College Football Playoff appearances while throwing for 9,128 yards and 68 touchdowns.
28. Danny Stutsman, LB, Oklahoma
Stutsman was a two-time CBS Sports All-American (2023 second team, 2024 first team) while logging three straight 100-tackle seasons with 35 tackles for loss and seven sacks from 2022-24.
29. Kenneth Grant, DL, Michigan
Grant is a freak 339-pound athlete that, like Graham, anchored Michigan’s defensive line as the Wolverines won two consecutive Big Ten titles and a national championship. With 6.5 sacks over the past two years, Grant brings plenty of disruption inside the trenches.
30. Mike Green, EDGE, Marshall
Green, the 2024 Sun Belt Player of the Year, led the FBS with 17 sacks and the Sun Belt Conference with 23 tackles for loss.
31. Jack Sawyer, EDGE, Ohio State
Sawyer played his best football in the biggest moments. He had 4.5 sacks in Ohio State’s run through the College Football Playoff and had the game-sealing fumble returned for a touchdown in the semifinal round against Texas.
32. Tre Harris, WR, Ole Miss
Harris was limited to just eight games in 2024 and still caught 60 passes for 1,030 yards and seven touchdowns. He also had an impressive 1,920 yards and 18 touchdowns receiving from 2022-23 with Louisiana Tech and the Rebels.
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