Way-too-early 2025 NFL mock draft: Who 49ers could pick in first round

The 2024 NFL Draft is over, which means one thing: The 2025 NFL Draft is right around the corner.

OK, maybe not exactly, but it’s never too early to take a peek at what might happen in the draft a year from now.

Looking back at last year’s way-too-early 2024 draft – from April 30, 2023 – I did have Caleb Williams going first overall and Marvin Harrison, Joe Alt, Drake May, Brock Bowers, Olu Fashanu, Xavier Worthy, Jared Verse, Dallas Turner, Michael Penix Jr., and J.C. Latham all in my top 22 picks.

Also had some guys who didn’t even get drafted. So it goes.

That brings us to our first look ahead to the 2025 draft, which will run from April 24-26 next year in Green Bay.

Our draft order is based on reverse order of the Vegas projected 2024 win totals, with ties broken by a random number generator. Here we go:

1. Patriots: James Pearce Jr., EDGE, Tennessee

Already a monster pass rusher with 10 sacks and 14.5 tackles for loss – and a 52-yard interception return touchdown – in 2024, if Pearce simply repeats what he did this past season there’s a strong chance he’ll be the first player off the board. At 6-foot-5, 245 pounds, he’s got great length and explosion. Barring disaster will be Tennessee’s first first-round EDGE rusher since Derek Barnett in 2017 and first No. 1 overall pick since Peyton Manning in 1998 and join Jadeveon Clowney, Myles Garrett and Travon Walker as EDGE rushers going No. 1 overall.

2. Panthers: Will Johnson, CB, Michigan

Big-time playmaking corner who earned All-America honors for the Wolverines this past year as a sophomore on the national champs. The 6-foot-2, 200-pound Johnson had the second-lowest opposing passer rating of all BCS cornerbacks according to Pro Football Focus and didn’t allow a touchdown all year. The Panthers haven’t had a top-five pick since 2011, when they took Cam Newton first overall. They’ve gone offense in the first round three straight years and Johnson gives secondary coach DeAngelo Hall an elite young corner.

3. Giants: Shedeur Sanders, QB, Colorado

The Daniel Jones Era has gone on long enough. All D.J. has to show for five NFL seasons is a 22-36-1 record, no 10-win seasons, one playoff appearance and a desultory 62-to-40 TD-to-INT ratio, and it’s time for the Giants to try again. Deion’s kid put up some otherworldly numbers this past fall in his first year at Colorado after playing two years under his dad at Jackson State. He threw for over 3,000 yards, completed just under 70 percent of his passes and finished with 27 touchdowns and just three interceptions. Including his two years in Jackson, he’s thrown 97 touchdowns and just 17 interceptions and passed for over 10,000 yards. 

4. Broncos: Emeka Egbuka, WR, Ohio State

The Buckeyes keep coming up with these stud wide receivers, and the 6-foot-1, 205-pound Egbuka will likely join Garrett Wilson, Jameson Williams, Chris Olave, Jaxon Smith-Nijgba and Marvin Harrison Jr. as Ohio State’s sixth first-round wide receiver since 2022. He was hampered much of last season by an ankle injury that required surgery after the season, but two years ago he caught 74 passes for 1,151 yards and 10 TDs while playing alongside Harrison.

5. Vikings: Luther Burden III, WR, Missouri

Burden, who played sparingly in 2022, came into his own this past year with 86 catches for 1,212 yards and nine touchdowns. He was third in the SEC in receiving behind only Malik Nabers of LSU and Xavier Legette of South Carolina, so he’s the top returning receiver in the best conference in the country. Not ideal size at 5-foot-11, 210 pounds, but has the explosion and leaps to get open against anybody. Seems like a lock to be Missouri’s first first-round wide receiver since Jeremy Maclin in 2009 as the Vikings load up on weapons for J.J. McCarthy.

6. Raiders: Carson Beck, QB, Georgia

The Raiders have taken two quarterbacks in the first round in the last 40 years – Todd Marinovich in 1991 and JaMarcus Russell in 2007. They won a combined 10 games. No wonder they stopped drafting QBs. They haven’t taken any quarterback in the first three rounds since Derek Carr in 2014. But as much as I like Gardner Minshew as a backup, he’s never going to be an elite starter, and it’s hard to imagine Aidan O’Connell will be either. So the Raiders go QB with Beck, who had a breakout season in 2023 in his first year as a starter after backing up Stetson Bennett for a couple years, with 72 percent accuracy, 24 touchdowns and six interceptions for the 13-1 Bulldogs. With a big year could wind up being the top QB in the draft, but any way they line up he should be a top-10 pick if he continues playing at a high level. Even though this is his fifth year in Athens, the 6-foot-4, 215-pound Beck is only 21 and will be still be 22 when he starts his rookie year.

7. Titans: Will Campbell, OT, LSU

The Titans drafted J.C. Latham at No. 7 on Thursday, and now they find the second piece of their bookend tackles in the same spot. Campbell played 491 pass snaps this past season and didn’t allow a sack. You can’t do much better than that. He’s also an elite run blocker. Big, strong, athletic, Campbell has the whole package. The 6-foot-5, 320-pound Campbell projects as the top offensive tackle in the 2025 draft. 

8. Cardinals: Quinn Ewers, QB, Texas

Kyler Murray is going into his sixth year, has had one winning season and hasn’t won a playoff game. If nothing happens for Murray this year, the Cards are going to have to consider moving on, and the 6-foot-2, 205-pound Ewers was the one getting the ball to speedsters Xavier Worthy and Adonai Mitchell in Steve Sarkasian’s offense, which averaged over 35 points per game in 2023. Arch Manning is waiting in the wings, but if Ewers stays healthy he could have a huge season in 2024.

9. Commanders: Mykel Williams, EDGE, Georgia

Montez Sweat is now with the Bears, Chase Young is now with the Saints and the Commanders go EDGE here with the 6-foot-5, 265-pound Williams, an athletic freak. Williams has 13 tackles for loss and nine sacks in two seasons and while the production hasn’t been elite, his traits are. Williams has the length, explosion and bend teams are looking for from EDGE rushers. Williams is only 19 and will be 20 as an NFL rookie, so his upside is unlimited. If he bumps up his production this coming season, he’s a top-10 pick.

10. Saints: Travis Hunter, CB, Colorado

A fascinating two-way player at Jackson State for one year and this past year when he followed Deion Sanders to Colorado. Hunter had over 700 yards as a receiver and three interceptions as a corner playing two ways for Deion Sanders, who knows something about two-way players. Hunter averaged an insane 115 snaps per game this past year, but he projects as a corner in the NFL, although he has the ability to contribute as an NFL receiver as well. The Saints haven’t drafted a first-round corner since Marshon Lattimore in 2017.

11. Seahawks: Ethan Burke, EDGE, Texas

Burke was a schoolboy lacrosse All-America, and committed to Maryland for lacrosse, then committed to Michigan to play both lacrosse and football before finally opting to focus on football at Texas. He’s still new to the game but last year in his first full year playing college football he had 5.5 sacks and nine tackles for loss for the Longhorns, who had the No. 15 defense in the BCS.

12. Buccaneers: Kelvin Banks Jr., OT, Texas

Third Texas Longhorn within the first dozen picks. Banks is a pass-blocking machine. He’s already played over 1,500 snaps at left tackle going into his final season of college football and has developed outstanding technique and an NFL-ready ability to use his hands to take command of a rep. He’s a powerful but quick and agile 6-foot-5, 320 pounds and has boundless upside.

13. Steelers: Jordan Hancock, CB, Ohio State

In his first year in the Buckeyes’ defensive rotation, Hancock had a couple interceptions and an outstanding opposing passer rating of 55.7. He’s 6-foot-1, 185 pounds, but has the frame to add some muscle heading into the NFL. Hancock is sticky in coverage and just needs to get bigger and stronger. If he does, he’ll be a top corner prospect in 2025. We have him as the Steelers’ first first-round corner since Artie Burns back in 2016.

14. Jaguars: Benjamin Morrison, CB, Notre Dame

Another corner comes off the board in Morrison, a very productive defender who already has nine interceptions in 20 games for the Fighting Irish. The 6-foot-5, 185-pound Morrison isn’t the biggest guy, but his ball skills are off the charts. Morrison missed much of spring practice after getting his right shoulder scoped, so that’s something to keep an eye on, but he’s expected back by the start of the Buckeyes’ 2024 season. Morrison’s father played in the NFL for Washington.

15. Colts: Isaiah Bond, WR, Alabama

Michael Pittman had a big year and Josh Downs showed a lot of promise, but the Colts can’t get enough weapons for Anthony Richardson as he enters his third season in 2025. Bond is a speedster who’s going to draw a lot of attention when it’s time for him to run the 40 at the combine. He had 45-for-668 with four TDs this past season in a run-heavy offense and with his physicality, even at 5-foot-11, 180 pounds, he should be a threat after the catch in the NFL. 

16. Browns: Dani Dennis-Sutton, EDGE, Penn State

The Nittany Lions have been sending a a lot of EDGE rushers to the NFL lately, and Dennis-Sutton has all the tools to be another good one – great power, an evolved array of moves, quick hands, explosive first step. So far he hasn’t transferred those traits into production – he has 6.5 sacks and 9.5 tackles for loss in two seasons – but if he can nudge those numbers up he’ll join Micah Parsons, Odafe Oweh, Austin Johnson, Yetur Gross-Matos, Arnold Ebitketie, Chop Robinson and Adisa Isaac as yet another Penn State defensive lineman drafted in the first couple rounds, and the Browns get a legit second pass rush option along with Myles Garrett.

17. Bears: Denzel Burke, CB, Ohio State

The Bears haven’t drafted a defensive player in the first round since Roquan Smith back in 2018 and they haven’t taken a defensive back since Kyle Fuller back in 2014. The only thing missing from Burke’s resume is production. He’s played nearly 2,000 snaps over the last three years and has only two interceptions, although you can’t blame opposing quarterbacks for not throwing his way. But the traits are there for him to be one of the top corners in next year’s draft. He’s got good size at 6-foot-1, 190 pounds, and exceptional leaping ability, long arms to get his hands on footballs and the speed to lock down opposing receivers.

18. Chargers: Tetairoa McMillan, WR, Arizona

The Chargers added Ladd McConkey in the second round, but with Keenan Allen and Mike Williams both gone, they need more offensive firepower for Justin Herbert. McMillan is an uber-productive wideout with tremendous size. The 6-foot-5, 210-pound McMillan followed a 702-yard, 10-TD freshman year with 90 receptions for 1,402 yards and 10 TDs this past year for the Wildcats. He ranked 5th in the BCS in yards and 9th in catches. He and Rome Odunze were the only receivers in the country last year with 90 catches, 1,400 yards and 10 touchdowns. With another big year, McMillan will cement his status as the first Arizona wide receiver ever drafted in the first round.

19. Rams: Cameron Ward, QB, Miami

Matthew Stafford turns 37 soon after this season ends and is going into his 16th NFL season, and although Stafford says he isn’t thinking about retirement, the Rams need to start thinking about a succession plan. The 6-foot-2, 225-pound Ward began his college career at Incarnate Word in San Antonio and had a huge 2021 season, with nearly 5,000 passing yards, 47 TD passes and 10 INTs. He spent the last two years at Washington State (48 TDs, 16 INTs) and will play this coming season in Coral Gables. 

20. Texans: Tyler Booker, IOL, Alabama

The 6-foot-5, 330-pound Booker projects as a guard in the NFL. He’s already a plus run blocker – a physical, powerful force on the line of scrimmage - and just needs to improve his pass blocking technique to become a complete player and likely first-round pick. Booker is a New Jersey native who grew up in East Orange and began his high school career at Bergen Catholic in North Jersey before finishing at IMG Academy in Bradenton, Florida.

21. Falcons: Harold Perkins, EDGE, LSU

The Falcons’ last four first-round picks have been on the offensive side of the ball – Kyle Pitts in 2021, Drake London in 2022, Bijan Robinson in 2023 and Michael Penix Jr. this year. They haven’t taken an EDGE since 2017 with Takkarist McKinley, who’s no longer in the league, and they haven’t had anybody with double-digit sacks since Vic Beasley way back in 2016. Their leading sack producer this past year was 37-year-old Calais Campbell. So they desperately need pass rush, and Perkins has that rare ability to convert speed to power at the power of attack. He’s got an advanced array of pass rush moves and unusual coverage ability. Perkins had 13 sacks, 26 tackles for loss and – get this – seven forced fumbles the last two years at LSU.

22. Packers: Mason Graham, DT, Michigan

Graham, a 6-foot-3, 320-pounder, is already one of the top interior defensive linemen in the country with a year left before he becomes draft eligible and could easily be a top-10 pick if he has a big year in 2024. A rare lineman who has outstanding pass rush ability but is also a beast against the run. Has 5.5 sacks, 10 tackles for loss and 63 tackles in his first two years with the Wolverines. Packers keep Graham in the Midwest.

23. Jets: Jalen Milroe, QB, Alabama

Aaron Rodgers has to retire sometime and the Jets go QB in the first round for the third time in eight years (Sam Darnold third in 2018, Zach Wilson second in 2023). The 6-foot-2, 220-pound Milroe showed tremendous growth during the 2023 season and with another year of experience and seasoning could be a big-time prospect in 2025. Milroe has a big arm and plus athleticism, and while he’s got some technique things to work on, streamlining his unorthodox delivery and making better decisions in the pocket, he has an enormous ceiling and could very well be a first-round lock a year from now. Alabama only had one first-round quarterback between Joe Namath and Tua Tagovailoa (Richard Todd in 1976) but Milroe would be four in six years (Tua, Mac Jones, Bryce Young, Milroe).

24. Dolphins: Davison Igbinosun, DB, Ohio State

Another New Jersey native, Igbinosun prepped at Union High before playing one year at Mississippi State and ultimately landing in Columbus. A long, rangy defensive back, Igbinosun stands 6-foot-2, 190 pounds and has the versatility to play corner or safety. For the record, his full name is Aimuamwosa Davison Igbinosun.

25. Cowboys: Malaki Starks, S, Georgia

The Cowboys make Starks the 18th Georgia Bulldog selected in the first round since 2018. Starks started in 2022 as a true freshman and had two interceptions, 68 tackles and seven pass defenses and then added three INTs, 52 tackles and seven pass knockdowns last year. Starks is a solidly built 6-foot-1, 205 pounds, and plays physical when lined up in press coverage and fast, fluid and instinctive in the open field. Commanding presence against the run also. 

26. Eagles: Princely Umanmielen, EDGE, Mississippi

Umanmielen would have been a likely Day 2 prospect if he came out this year but he bet on himself, transferred from Florida to Ole Miss and goes into 2025 with a chance to improve his draft stock significantly. Umanmielen is a 6-foot-4, 260-pound dynamo who piled up 14.5 sacks in parts of four seasons in Gainesville, including the four-game 2020 COVID year and a cameo in 2021. He really came into his own this past year with 7.0 sacks and 11.5 tackles for loss. With Haason Reddick traded to the Jets, Brandon Graham retiring after the 2024 season, Josh Sweat not signed beyond 2024 and Nolan Smith a question mark, the Eagles get a big-time EDGE alongside Bryce Huff.

27. Bengals: Josh Simmons, OT, Ohio State

Transfer from San Diego State, Simmons last year replaced left tackle Paris Johnson, who the Cards drafted sixth overall in 2023 and started all 17 games for the Cards as a rookie. Simmons had played right tackle at San Diego State but grew into the left tackle spot as the year went on and one more full year on the left side should cement Simmons’ status as a first-rounder in 2025. Simmons stands 6-foot-5, 310 pounds. Simmons is a very good athlete, sudden hands and still new to left tackle.

28. Bills: Kenneth Grant, DT, Michigan

Grant is an athletic freak who played special teams for the Wolverines in 2022 before starting on last year’s national champion team. At 6-foot-3, 340 pounds (he’s been as high as 360), Grant played alongside Kris Jenkins, drafted Friday by the Bengals in the second round, and Graham, who we have going to the Packers with the 22nd pick, forming one of the best defensive lines in college football. Grant was a rotational piece this past year but still had 5.0 tackles for loss, 3.5 sacks, an interception and a fumble recovery. He’s a no-nonsense lunch-pail guy, a perfect fit for Sean McDermott’s defense in Buffalo.

29. Lions: Clay Webb, IOL, Jacksonville State

The 6-foot-3, 300-pound Webb spent three years at Georgia and was named the Bulldogs’ Offensive Scout Team Player of the Year in 2019. He transferred to Jacksonville State and in 2022 played center for an offense that averaged 251 rushing yards and 36 points per game. He was named First-team All-America this past season and Jacksonville State averaged 232 rushing yards per game. Went 45-1 as a high school wrestler in Alabama. Webb gives the Lions a compact, powerful, fundamentally sound lineman who can play either guard or center.

30. Chiefs: Colston Loveland, TE, Michigan

Travis Kelce will be 35 a few weeks into the 2024 season and going into his 12th season. He’s got one of the highest-rated podcasts in the world, a superstar girlfriend and 1st-ballot Hall of Fame credentials with eight straight Pro Bowls, over 11,000 yards and three Super Bowl rings. Who knows how long he’ll keep playing – and the Chiefs did take a tight end in the fourth round this year in fourth-round pick Jared Wiley of TCU – but Loveland is an elite prospect who came into his own this past season in Ann Arbor with 45 catches for 649 yards and four touchdowns. He isn’t Kelce, but at 6-foot-5, 245 pounds with boundless speed and athleticism, he would make a worthy successor.

31. Ravens: Dasan McCullough, LB, Oklahoma

After a year at Indiana, where he had 4.0 sacks and 6.5 tackles for loss, McCullough got fewer snaps at Oklahoma, but he’s got all kinds of traits that scouts like. He’s got that ability to stay low and bend and turn the corner quickly on offensive tackles, and at 6-foot-5, 235 pounds he’s got a frame that will easily handle additional weight. Because he played in the Big 10 at Indiana and the Big 12 last year at Oklahoma, he’ll have the rare distinction of playing in three conferences in three years with Oklahoma joining the SEC this fall.

32. 49ers: Deone Walker, DL, Kentucky

Walker is a massive and powerful lineman with surprising athleticism for his size at 6-foot-6, 350 pounds. After getting some playing time in 2022 – 4.5 tackles for loss, one sack – he blossomed last fall with 7.5 sacks and 12.5 sacks for the Wildcats. Was such a good athlete coming out of high school some colleges were interested in him as an offensive lineman. Walker will be a three-year starter by the end of this season, so he’ll bring tons of experience with him to the NFL along with a true ability to be disruptive.

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