Explaining NFL Draft 2025 with dates, times, key players, major storylines, and more

For some football fans, the NFL Draft is a year-long event. The moment that one draft ends, and before all the undrafted free agents are even signed, the next one begins. The “way too early” mock drafts are published, the summer scouting work begins, and the entire process starts over as fans and media analysts begin the search for the next No. 1 pick.

For some other football fans, they will wake up on Thursday morning, remember that it is Draft Day, and will start paying attention.

If you find yourself in that latter category, this piece is for you. The starter’s guide to the 2025 NFL Draft.

The NFL Draft is a three day event starting with the first round on Thursday, April 24 at 8 p.m. ET.

The second and third rounds will take place on Friday, April 25 at 7 p.m. ET.

Finally the draft wraps up on Saturday, April 26 for rounds four through seven, starting at 12 p.m. ET.

Each year the NFL Draft changes cities with the 2025 Draft taking place in Green Bay, Wisconsin.

Picks No. 1 through No. 18 are determined by win/loss record from the prior season, with the worst team in the NFL getting the highest pick. If one or more teams are tied on record a tiebreaker procedure is used including strength of schedule, and losing streak to close out the season.

Picks No. 19 to No. 32 are all teams who made the playoffs. Their draft position is determined by the order they were eliminated in, with then the same tiebreaking procedure being applied.

The first pick this year will be Miami (FL) quarterback Cam Ward. The Tennessee Titans honed in on Ward early in the process, and it’s somewhat of a controversial pick with many big boards not having Ward as the best player available. However, in football it’s all about the QB — which is pressuring the Titans to make this pick.

The two players widely considered as the best in this class are Penn State edge rusher Abdul Carter, and Heisman trophy winner CB/WR Travis Hunter. Hunter plays both positions, and could be the ultimate weapon in the NFL.

Another player to keep an eye on is Colorado QB Shedeur Sanders. The son of Deion Sanders, Shedeur is very talented — but questions about his arm strength, as well as how much of a headache his father will be has pushed him down the board.

This is a draft class that is lacking high-end, elite NFL talent — but incredibly deep when it comes to great football players. There isn’t much of a difference between picking 9th or 29th, which has led to a lot of speculation teams may look to trade down and accumulate more picks. This means it could be fairly cheap to move up compared to past years, opening the door for teams to land the one player they believe in the most.

There are some fascinating positions groups in the draft. We can start with running back, and one of the most talented groups of ball carriers in recent memory. Ashton Jeanty is expected to be one of the first players drafted on Thursday night, and could come off the board as high as No. 5, which would make him the earliest running back selected since Saquon Barkley came off the board at No. 2 back in 2018.

But Jeanty is not the only running back anticipated to be drafted on Thursday night. North Carolina RB Omarion Hampton is another talented back to watch, and could be in the mix for the Denver Broncos at No. 20. The Ohio State duo of TreVeyon Henderson and Quinshon Judkins are likely Day Two picks, along with Iowa’s Kaleb Johnson, Arizona State’s Cam Skattebo, and Dylan Sampson from Tennessee. Miami RB Damien Martinez could sneak into Day Two as well.

Pass rusher is another deep group, and while Carter leads the way we could see as many as seven or even eight EDGE defenders come off the board Thursday night. Other pass rushers to watch on Thursday night include Georgia’s Jalon Walker and Mykel Williams, Shemar Steward and Nic Scourton from Texas A&M, Mike Green from Marshall, James Pearce Jr. from Tennessee, and Donovan Ezeiruaku from Boston College.

Of course, quarterbacks always move the needle. As noted above Ward is the likely first-overall selection, with Sanders also expected to be drafted on Thursday night.

After that is anyone’s guess. As is tradition several other quarterbacks have been discussed as potential first-round picks, including Jaxson Dart from Mississippi, Jalen Milroe from Alabama, and Tyler Shough from Louisville. Positional value could push one or more into the first round, but you might see some waiting until Day Two.

Other quarterbacks to watch on Day Two or Day Three include Will Howard from Ohio State, Quinn Ewers from Texas, Kyle McCord from Syracuse, Dillon Gabriel from Oregon, and Riley Leonard from Notre Dame.

Those looking for a real deep sleeper at the quarterback position should get to know Taylor Elgersma from Wilfrid Laurier University. WLU is a school in Waterloo, Ontario, and Elgersma led the Golden Hawks to an 8-0 regular season record and a spot in the Vanier Cup, the Canadian College Football Championship Game. While Laurier lost that game, Elgersma won the Hec Crighton Trophy, Canada’s version of the Heisman Trophy.

He earned an invitation to the Senior Bowl, becoming just the second U Sports player to receive an invitation. He completed 4-of-7 passes for 57 yards in the game.

If drafted Elgersma would become the first QB from a Canadian university drafted since the NFL went to a seven-round format in 1994.

As far as the best players in the draft, we have you covered here with JP Acosta’s big board, featuring his top 100 players in the 2025 NFL Draft.

Leading the way? Hunter, the dual threat player from Colorado. Abdul Carter, Ashton Jeanty, Michigan defensive tackle Mason Graham, and Georgia safety Malaki Starks round out the top five: