SB Nation team community NFL mock draft 2025

The Philadelphia Eagles were the only team in the 2024 season to finish the year with a victory. Of course, that’s because they took home the Lombardi Trophy as this year’s Super Bowl champions. They dominated the Kansas City Chiefs and showed the entire football world that they are once again this sport’s cream of the crop.

General manager Howie Roseman has done a great job this offseason keeping most of the 2024 core intact with smart extensions on both sides of the ball, which has always been a smart move to get ahead of the market on your best players.

The Chiefs once again made it to the Super Bowl behind head coach Andy Reid and quarterback Patrick Mahomes. However, this was probably the most forgettable championship in recent memory if you’re a Chiefs fan.

Kansas City was molly-whopped for most of regulation as the Eagles physically dominated the Chiefs until the very end. Philly defensive coordinator Vic Fangio put on one heck of a performance and it showed the NFL at least one way to beat the current iteration of this Chiefs team.

The Bills were once again on the cusp of making the Super Bowl this past season but ultimately fell to the Chiefs 32-29 in the AFC Championship Game. Buffalo continues to own the Chiefs during the regular season but it’s been a different story when the playoff lights come on.

So what should the Bills do from here? Do they continue to try and pack the offense with talent around reigning MVP Josh Allen, or do they look to the other side of the ball and decide that halting Patrick Mahomes and Co. would be an easier way to beat them than simply trying to outrace them on the scoreboard?

The Washington Commanders put together one of the biggest turnarounds in the NFL from the 2023 to 2024 season. Going from picking in the top three to playing in the NFC title game is one heck of a sequence within a 12-month period.

Dan Quinn is an underrated head coach and I think people forget that he took the Falcons to the Super Bowl and nearly knocked off Tom Brady and Patriots in the process. He quickly turned the defense around into a strong unit and he put together a good offensive staff that obviously allowed Jayden Daniels to thrive in his first professional season.

The Lions had an unfortunately quick exit from the postseason as they fell to the Washington Commanders in the Divisional Round despite being the NFC’s top seed. Rookie quarterback Jayden Daniels and the Commanders offense put up 41 points against the tattered Detroit defense and the Lions ultimately couldn’t put up enough points to beat Washington in a track race.

With that scoreboard likely still ingrained in the minds of the fanbase, it’s hard not to anticipate the Lions attempting to build back their defense better in 2025. But is that the way Pride of Detroit’s Brandon Knapp wants to go? Let’s go ahead and find out!

The Rams made a late-season surge into the postseason where they knocked off the 14-3 Minnesota Vikings in the Wild Card round. Everything seemed to come together for Los Angeles as their young stars appeared to truly hit their stride down the final stretch of the schedule.

Because of this, it’s understandable that expectations are now raised and the fan base will be looking for them to be even better in 2025. So where do they go here in the first round? What position will they feel gives them the best chance of improving this season?

Earlier in this mock, the New York Giants passed on the opportunity to draft quarterback Shedeur Sanders in favor of taking Penn State’s Abdul Carter, arguably the best defensive player in the draft class. With the way the board has fallen, and other quarterback-needy teams (Browns) coming up again at the top of the second round, the Giants found a willing trade partner in the Vikings to jump back up into Day 1 in order to find a potential franchise quarterback.

So with the 25th pick in the SB Nation Community Mock Draft, Ed Valentine of Big Blue View is selecting Ole Miss quarterback Jaxson Dart in hopes that he solves the recent revolving door at the position for the Giants.

The Packers once again enjoyed a strong year under head coach Matt LaFleur as they went 11-6 and made the playoffs in 2024. Rather impressively, they managed to win 11 games all while competing in the best division in all of football alongside the Lions (15-2) and Vikings (14-3).

Finishing with an offense and defense ranked inside the top 10, it’ll be interesting to see where the Packers end up going with their first-round pick. They have the franchise quarterback, a young core of skill players, and some notable players on both sides of the trenches.

The Texans have been one of the busiest franchises this offseason as they’ve signed their fair share of new players in free agency, handed out massive contracts to several members of their young core, and traded away elite left tackle Laremy Tunsil.

As things stand, the offensive line remains one of the weakest position groups on the roster. After trading away Tunsil, they’ve added a number of new guards and former Vikings and Jaguars left tackle Cam Robinson. None of the guards truly move the needle, but Robinson is a fine enough replacement for Tunsil in the short term.

The Chargers exceeded expectations in Year 1 of the Jim Harbaugh era by winning 11 games and making the postseason. Unfortunately, the year’s sizable momentum was halted abruptly in the team’s loss to the Houston Texans in the Wild Card round that was highlighted by a disturbing lack of pass-catcher production surrounding Justin Herbert.

Once again, Herbert was asked to play hero ball to only be let down repeatedly. A run game would have helped to potentially finish the team’s early drives in the end zone instead of settling for a pair of field goals. Once the Texans got rolling in the second quarter, it was all she wrote. Those small moments — whether finishing and seizing momentum for yourself or giving it away — always add up in the end.

The Steelers are coming off yet another winning season in 2024. However, they’re still searching for their first postseason win since the 2016 Divisional Round where they beat the Kansas City Chiefs before losing to the Patriots in the AFC Championship.

Mike Tomlin is a winner. No matter what state his team looks to be in entering a new year, they always find a way to finish above .500. This past season, they managed to make the playoffs with two different starting quarterbacks. Now neither of those two players are on the team, and the current penciled-in starter for now is career backup Mason Rudolph.

New head coach Ben Johnson took over the Chicago Bears with a clear plan in mind. He wanted the protection for quarterback Caleb Williams to be bigger, stronger, and overall better to protect the former No. 1 overall pick.

Last month when free agency commenced, Johnson added three new interior offensive lineman in Jonah Jackson, Drew Dalman, and Joe Thuney. That’s one heck of an upgrade to go with promising young right tackle Darnell Wright.

The Buccaneers re-signed wide receiver Chris Godwin this offseason to make sure their offensive core returned around quarterback Baker Mayfield. The Bucs have made the postseason in back-to-back years and they’re likely looking to take the next step in 2025. Keeping their best players on the team is a good start to that goal.

Defensively, the Bucs have finished in the bottom half of the league in each of the past two seasons. Ideally, Tampa Bay wants to find a way for both sides of the ball to be above average next season.

The Seattle Seahawks made one of the biggest free-agent signings of the offseason by inking former Vikings quarterback Sam Darnold to a three-year, $100.5 million contract. Prior to signing the younger Darnold, Seattle had sent Geno Smith to the Raiders to reunite with former Seahawks coach Pete Carroll.

Other moves made by the Seahawks have been the release of Tyler Lockett and the trading of D.K. Metcalf to the Steelers. To help mitigate those losses at receiver, they also signed the aging Cooper Kupp. He’ll now pair with third-year standout Jaxon Smith-Njigba to lead their pass-catchers.

The Bengals dominated the NFL headlines for a portion of this offseason by handing out several boatloads of cash to their wide receivers Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins. They’re keeping the band together around quarterback Joe Burrow and I gotta say, I respect this. Cincinnati knows who they are and not many teams would put this many eggs into a singular positional basket.

But here we are.

The Cardinals enter the 2025 season with a newly extended Kyler Murray and Trey McBride along with high hopes of John Gannon’s third year at the helm. Second-year wide receiver Marvin Harrison Jr. will also garner plenty of hype as the NFL legacy will look to take the next leap to NFL stardom.

You may have noticed that all those players I just mentioned were on the offensive side of the ball. That’s because the Cardinals offense is currently in a much better place than their defense. Gannon and Co. did a solid job in free agency brining in guys like Calais Campbell and Josh Sweat, but they need a bit more to really level off this roster.

The Falcons’ 2024 season did not go as they hoped.

After signing Kirk Cousins to a big contract a year ago, they still went on to draft quarterback Michael Penix in the first round. Who’s to say that Cousins was all that affected by the surprise decision by their front office, but the veteran passer didn’t even make it through his first season in Atlanta before being benched for poor performance.

The Colts are seemingly entering the 2025 season with Anthony Richardson and Daniel Jones battling it out to be the team’s starting quarterback. Regardless of who ends up winning the job, they’ll need a trustworthy group of pass-catchers around them.

Michael Pittman, Alec Pierce, and Josh Downs all recorded at least 800 yards receiving last year. That’s pretty dang good for a team with sub-par quarterback play. However, tight end Kyler Granson led his position with only 182 yards on 14 receptions. That’s simply not good enough for a position that’s been more and more important to a team’s annual success in recent history.

The Dolphins finished the 2024 season with an 8-9 record yet somehow still managed to finish second in an underperforming AFC East.

Quarterback Tua Tagovailoa once again missed time with injuries as he played in just 10 games. That directly led to star wideout Tyreek Hill failing to hit 1,000 yards receiving for the first time since 2019 (12 games played). The Dolphins offense is still too talented to be down for long and it helps that the defense was surprisingly good despite the overall record. By the end of the regular season, Miami’s defense ranked fourth in yards allowed (314.3) and 10th in points allowed (21.4).

All the Cowboys have seemingly done this offseason is sign former first-round draft picks in free agency and make the news for Jerry Jones saying something disrespectful about ta prominent NFL agent or what have you.

The first part is an interesting strategy. The latter part I’m not so sure of.

The 49ers watched a lot of their players from the 2024 team sign elsewhere in free agency or via a trade. Wide receiver Deebo Samuel is now a Washington Commander. Defensive tackle Javon Kinlaw is in Minnesota. Linebacker Dre Greenlaw has moved on to the Broncos. Heck, even Kyle Juszczyk almost landed elsewhere before the Niners brought him back on a cheaper deal.

Kyle Shanahan needs to replace a lot of good players. One area he’s always prioritized having talent was the trenches. The Shanahan offense looks a lot better with a good offensive line and old/new defensive coordinator Robert Saleh is a big fan of a dominant defensive front.

WE HAVE OUR FIRST TRADE!

The Denver Broncos have traded up into the top 10 with the Chicago Bears. Is it maybe because a certain crazy-productive running back has managed to fall a bit further than expected?

The Saints are heading into Year 1 under first-time head coach Kellen Moore. The former starting quarterback from Boise State has seen a fast rise through the coaching ranks since he hung up his cleats after the 2017 season. After running offenses for the Cowboys, Chargers, and reigning Super Bowl champ Eagles, he’s now at the helm of the New Orleans Saints.

Moore will enter the 2025 season with Derek Carr as his starting quarterback. He’s got some notable names on offense already in running back Alvin Kamara and wideout Chris Olave. Past that, there’s not a whole lot to love for a guy who just got done calling one of the best offenses in the NFL.

The Panthers looked like an absolute mess to begin the 2024 season. Bryce Young’s play was so underwhelming to begin the year that he wound up benched for Andy Dalton for several games before returning to the lineup reinvigorated. Still, Young ended the year with just 15 touchdown passes to nine interceptions in 12 starts. If the Panthers want to turn their fortunes around fast, they absolutely must get more from Young in Year 3.

With that in mind, where exactly did the Panthers go with the eighth pick in this year’s SB Nation Community Mock Draft? From Cat Scratch Reader’s Walker Clement himself, the Panthers chose to go with Alabama linebacker Jihaad Campbell to help solidify their defense over reinforcing the offense.

The Jets are finally past the Aaron Rodgers experiment and they look to have replaced him with former first-round pick Justin Fields, whom they signed early last month. While that signing seemed like the team attempting to solidify their starting quarterback for the 2025 season, I’m not entirely sold that will keep them from taking a quarterback in this year’s draft, whether that’s in Round 1 or beyond.

For John Butchko of Gang Green Nation, he isn’t sold on that idea, either. With Colorado’s Shedeur Sanders slipping out of the top five, the Jets can’t bring themselves to pass up this chance as they select the quarterback with the seventh-overall pick in SB Nation’s Community Mock Draft.