NFL Draft
3/1/25
5 min read
2025 NFL Draft's Positional Value Norms Set To Be Tested
INDIANAPOLIS — The NFL’s normal standards are set to be pushed to the limit in the 2025 NFL Draft.
More often than not, the early chapters of the draft are littered with offensive tackles, pass rushers, cornerbacks, and, most importantly, quarterbacks. The “premium” positions are referred to as such because, well, they’re at a premium. They’re paid the most, drafted the highest, and coveted the most.
There’s just one problem. This year’s draft appears to be light on resumes that meet the usual standard.
There’s been, at least to some degree, an effort to drum up some hype for Ole Miss QB Jaxson Dart as a third name to enter the fray at the top of the draft. And perhaps he ultimately will go in the top 32 picks. However, he’d be doing so based on position and potential.
The offensive tackle class? Its top names this year feature a marquee talent in LSU’s Will Campbell, who many are convinced should play inside at guard, a breakout player with a severe knee injury (Ohio State’s Josh Simmons), and a summer standout who has not seemed to gather any traction towards taking another leap amid the questions in his game (Texas’s Kelvin Banks Jr.). Armand Membou has emerged as a worthy contender for a top-10 overall selection, which should help quench the thirst of one tackle-hungry team.
The cornerback class has names at the top, including Travis Hunter, Will Johnson, Jahdae Barron, Shavon Revel, and Benjamin Morrison. Hunter, according to reports in Indianapolis, may be on a number of teams as a wide receiver.
Johnson missed half of the 2024 season with a toe injury. He then ultimately decided to skip workouts in Indianapolis, leaving questions about his status at least open-ended as a player with questions. Revel and Morrison each went down with season-ending injuries in the first half of the season.
Revel tore his ACL in practice in September, and Morrison suffered a season-ending hip injury. That leaves Jahdae Barron, who was primarily a nickel defender throughout his first four seasons at Texas. More than half of his career perimeter snaps at cornerback came in 2024.
The good news? The pass rusher talent pool is deep. You can be sure that the draft order in April will reflect that with the early selections. Abdul Carter, Shemar Stewart, Mike Green, Mykel Williams, and Jalon Walker all appear to be trending toward top-20 overall selections. And that doesn’t even include Nic Scourton, Donovan Ezeiruaku, and James Pearce.
However, how the league chooses to attack the supply and demand issue at its preferred premium positions will define this entire draft class. If the league determines that fewer top prospects at premium positions are too hard of a pill to swallow, you may see the cost of draft picks drop through the floor on draft night. Alternatively, the league can look elsewhere in the early chapters of this NFL Draft for inspiration.
If they’re willing to do so, inspiration won’t be hard to find.
There’s a massive collection of talent in this year’s class that just so happens to fall at some of the less-valued positions from a traditional draft standpoint. Tight end is perceived to be a loaded class — thanks to the standout talents at the top in Tyler Warren and Colston Loveland but also in part to the Day 2 talents that are available in abundance.
The running back position may be as deep as it has been in years, and it also has several contenders for a top-32 selection, including Ashton Jeanty, Omarion Hampton, TreVeyon Henderson, and others.
Safety? It’s got what has long been considered one of the most well-rounded and pro-ready players in the class in Malaki Starks, but the list doesn’t stop there — Nick Emmanwori, Xavier Watts, Andrew Mukuba, and others all grade out as potential top-50 talents.
The defensive tackle collection could be considered a premium position — but many of the top names in this year’s class don’t offer the pass rush profile that is typically considered a qualifier. Kenneth Grant has a rare athletic profile that’s worth the early draft buzz he's getting. Still, for every Walter Nolen, there’s an Alfred Collins or a Tyleik Williams.
And that’s before you even get to off-ball linebacker, where Jihaad Campbell just posted a tremendous on-field workout with great testing, and UCLA’s Carson Schwesinger showed up as, surprisingly, the heaviest off-ball linebacker in attendance and jumped 39.5 inches in the vertical jump.
So, the question begs to be asked. Is the NFL going to thumb its nose at better talents at lesser coveted positions?
Nearly 40 percent of our most up-to-date big board rankings for the 2025 NFL Draft consist of run-defending defensive tackles, tight ends, off-ball linebackers, running backs, and safeties.
Would an NFL team rather have an off-ball linebacker like Jihaad Campbell, who has been among the more attractive options at the position over the past several years in the top 20, or, alternatively, select an offensive tackle who, in another year, might be selected between 40 and 50?
Every team likely has its own viewpoints on how to navigate and optimize the draft investments in a class like this one. From the outside looking in, the answer should be as simple as this: draft the good players first, and the rest will sort itself out from there.
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