The 2025 NFL Draft Is Now Officially Open—The First Pick Is Cameron Ward
The 2025 NFL Draft is now officially open. Come on. With the first pick in the 2025 NFL Draft, the Tennessee Titans select Cameron Ward, quarterback, Miami. So the expected is now official. And Cam Ward… comes out of the green room. His night was as quick as we thought it would be. And he is the first overall pick of the 2025 NFL Draft.
Becoming the third player from the University of Miami to be selected. First overall in the common draft era. The last one was Vinny Testa was Russell Maryland. The one before that is Vinny Testaverde. And yes. As we are watching Cam Ward have his moment, I have to pass along that the Jacksonville Jaguars are now on the clock.
Yeah, I’m excited to see him at the next level. He’s going to be able to expand the playbook, not only the play as it’s designed, but his ability to extend and create as well. And it’s ironic, CD that as he mentioned the other day, he gets to go play with his favorite players in California.
Ridley and company who he shouted out the other night. And the other part about it is we probably haven’t talked as much about how much he loves the game and absorbs and can create. Got a story about when he first got to Miami. First day of practice, able to go ahead and decipher defenses, change things quickly.
And I think we got a live one in this young man. Cam, you got a lot of number ones in your life. You started with one offer from Incarnate Word. You are now the number one overall pick.How does this moment feel to you? It’s special. You know, God did everything for me, him, myself, my family, and I’m just blessed to be here. I’m ready to get to work with the talents of my teammates, and I’m just ready to get the process going.
We’ve seen you playing football, playing catch in the back all night long. You’re staying loose. How ready are you to get to Tennessee and show them what you got? I’m ready. I mean, that’s all I’ve been dreaming for is an opportunity to play in the National Football League, and they blessed me with it, so I’ll make sure they get everything I’ve got.
Congratulations. Thank you. First off, Duvall! I want to say thank you to the commissioner. Thank you to the Payton family and the NFL and nationwide. And also too, tonight I want to encourage each player embarking on the NFL journey to identify a passion close to their heart and act upon it.
Use your platform to make your community, the league, and this world a better place. As we remember, Walter Payton, strive to leave a positive legacy of your own. Thank you. We have a trade. The Cleveland Browns have traded the second pick to the Jacksonville Jaguars. And with the second pick in the 2025 NFL Draft, the Jacksonville Jaguars select Travis Hunter, wide receiver, defensive back from Colorado.
So the Jacksonville Jaguars go bold, sort of like the color of the jacket Travis Hunter is wearing. dancing his way out of the green room in. Taking that hot pink to the land of teal in Duval County and the Jacksonville Jaguars move up three spots. Trade next year’s first round pick and other considerations for the unicorn in this year’s draft.
In one and the same individual, the guy who just put on a Jaguar’s hat. DJ, of course he’s running up there. He never gets tired. Oh, he’s not sweating. I can tell you that much. 115 plays per game. He is he is a special player, certainly just between the lines, his instincts on both sides of the ball. But the conditioning is just off the charts.
There’s no way to explain it, DJ. All right, let’s get into some of the video guys and can show you what he does on both sides of the ball there at Colorado. Let’s start, first of all, on offense off-the-charts elite ball skills. This catch against North Dakota State was ridiculous, and you see it over and over again, him go up and get it.
Now, how’s Trevor Lawrence going to enjoy this? A quick little hit here and let him break a tackle, and off he goes, run after catch. On defense, you’ll see him in man coverage. I like him best when he’s off. I think he’s most comfortable there, but flashing some man cover skills there. This is his bread and butter.
He’s going to set traps and off coverage. He’s going to read the quarterback and just use his instincts to go find and play the football. You look at some of these wide receivers and cornerbacks in the same game. Travis. What is making you jump around this stage with glee? You just got drafted as the first two-way player in a long time.
The 2025 NFL Draft is now officially open
What is happening in your heart right now? I’m just super excited, you know. I get to go back home, but also, you know, somewhere I wanted to play, and I’m so excited that they picked me. The Jacksonville Jaguars just traded up to get your services to their team. What conversations have you had with them with how you are going to be used in the NFL?
The crazy part is I had no conversation with them outside of the combine, so…I didn’t know what to expect, and I’m excited that they came and picked me. I wanted to cry, but I can’t cry right now because I’m too excited. We can feel that. Congratulations, Travis. Yes, ma’am. Thank you. Brian Dayball, Joe Shane, GM in a very interesting jacket. I like it right there.
Is that in honor of Wink Martindale? I don’t know what that is. With the third pick in the 2025 NFL Draft, the New York Giants select Abdul Carter. Defensive end, Penn State. So the first spot that could have gone to Shador Sanders that we expected does go as expected to a dynamic Penn State Nittany Lion.
Abdul Carter, he is now going to Broadway with Brian Burns and Kayvon Thibodeau and the rest of that terrific defensive line. Usually when the GM gives somebody in the draft room a quick rip move, that means that they’ve just taken a pass rusher that he’s very excited about. Abdul Carter, to me, there’s two big time elite players, whatever order you have them, between Hunter and Carter, those are the guys.
Big time burst off the line of scrimmage. He just reminds me a little bit of Von Miller, the way he can bend and the speed that he has off the line. These are early wins where you see tackles like this one at USC not even get a hand on him, and then he’s able to turn that short corner. That quick first step, again, these are early, quick wins for Abdul Carter. He used to be an off the ball linebacker.
Want him to play off the ball, no problem. He can range laterally sideline to sideline. You see an athletic quarterback like, I don’t know, maybe Jalen Hurts inside the division, we can have him mirror and spy and do that as well. Again, this is an elite player, and he’s an elite player in any draft. And let’s face it, they have to get better in their own division, who they’re chasing down.
They’re chasing down Philadelphia, chasing down Washington with the dynamic young quarterback. Second part of all of this is, don’t forget Kayvon Thibodeau’s status. Is the fifth year option in play? What’s going to happen there? Right now, there’s three great pass rushers. He may be the replacement if Thibodeau is not there anymore. So this is a big time move for them.
And by the way, Rich, you’re from New York. Yes, sir. Is it not baked in? I know you’re a Jets guy. It’s not baked in the DNA of Giants fans to chant defense. That’s a big deal for them to get back to playing defense the way the Giants have done it in the past. Abdul Carter helps get them there. Abdul, you are born and raised in Philadelphia. You are wearing a New York Giants hat now.
What does that tell you about your football future and the commitment the New York City market has made to you? Yeah, I love it. I appreciate New York. Again, everything got to me. I’m thankful to be here. I’m thankful to have this opportunity. In what ways are you going to make this Giants defense incredible? Just being myself, just being incredible. That’s what I am.
That’s what I do. That’s what I’ve been doing my whole life in New York. I’m coming. Y’all going to get the best out of me. You got a great smile, Abdul. Thank you. Thank you. With the fourth pick in the 2025 NFL Draft, the new england patriots select will campbell tackle lsu so the patriots decide to go for protection up front for their diamond in the rough quarterback rather than anything else.
Your thoughts, Daniel Jeremiah? Of all the teams in this draft, to me, the tackle need for the patriots was probably the most glaring across all 32 teams. They had to go in this direction. They go with Will Campbell out of LSU. Will, you are Mr. Louisiana, but you just got a love letter from the New England Patriots. You haven’t stopped smiling since you heard your name. What’s behind that smile? Man, just all the hard work.
Congratulations. I’ve worked my entire life to be up here, to be able to get my name called by a franchise like New England. It means everything to me. We can feel that. We absolutely can feel that, Will. You are brought to New England to protect Drake May. What kind of tone are you going to set on this offensive line?
I’m going to fight and die to protect them with everything I’ve got. Congratulations, Will. I appreciate it. With the Browns moving down to make this selection. With the fifth pick in the 2025 NFL Draft, the Cleveland Browns select Mason Graham. Defensive tackle, Michigan. Wow. Browns fans, welcome in a Wolverine to the mix.
It’s Mason Graham going to Cleveland. No Travis Hunter, second overall. They have fifth overall. It’s Mason Graham, a terrific defensive lineman, to round out the top five as the new Cleveland Browns. Mason Graham, you are a Michigan man, but did you just make nice with the state of Ohio? I guess so. I mean, that’s where my future’s at, and I’m going to do everything I can to put Cleveland back on top.
The first pick in the 2025 NFL Draft
You hang up that phone call, and you know you’re about to line up next to Miles Garrett every day. How does that sound? I mean, it’s such a blessing. He’s a fierce competitor. I want to play with guys like that. And yeah, he’s the real deal. Congratulations, Mason. Appreciate it. With the sixth pick in the 2025 NFL draft, the Las Vegas Raiders select…
Ashton Genting, running back, Boise State. From the blue turf to silver and black, Ashton Genting is the first choice of the Pete Carroll administration, and I was talking to Ashton on my show a couple weeks ago. Interestingly enough, one of the running backs he’s been talking to for advice has is Marshawn Lynch.
So this tracks, DJ. Yeah, you talk about two guys who hate to be tackled. I would put him in that company. Starts out with that unique stance. He’s standing upright. He is very slippery and elusive. You see him get out of some tough situations when you’re watching that Boise State tape.
But this is the calling card. Again, you’ve got an unblocked defender. They get free cracks at him. And you can’t get him on the ground because of that contact balance. He is just a piece of muscle. There’s not a lot of surface to hit on him. You see, again, the contact balance here, always finding a way to get forward.
Right foot, right shoulder able to power through as it’s time for next gen stats powered by AWS. You look at these top NGS overall scores and look at the company that is in there. Those are some incredibly productive running backs that have entered into the NFL. So one of the fun players to watch. If you had any questions, just watch the Oregon game. Kick your feet up on the desk and enjoy.
That was pretty early in the season to kind of announce his presence with authority, didn’t he? Here’s the other thing to think about. Pete Carroll as a head coach. We always talk about past successes, how you did it. Is that predictive? Well, you mentioned Marshawn Lynch already, Rich.
You are going to the entertainment capital of the world to play football. What makes you a headliner for the Las Vegas Raiders? I mean, you’ve seen it, the energy. You’ve seen the dance moves. I’m ready to go entertain each and every week on Sunday. The commissioner of the NFL just picked you up in that hug. Is that the last man that’s going to try to tackle you in the NFL? No, I don’t think so. Congratulations, Ashton. Thank you.
With the seventh pick in the 2025 NFL draft, the New York Jets select Armand Membu. Missouri, tackle. So once again, no tight end. Instead, it is a member… On the offensive line for the New York Jets, the kid from Missouri, Armand Membu, who had a terrific combine. He’s going to New York. Yeah, he’s a right tackle. He’ll stay at right tackle there for the Jets.
I thought this decision would be tight end tackle, as you said, Rich. I think they went Membu, who’s very explosive. With the eighth pick in the 2025 NFL Draft, the Carolina Panthers select Tedaroa McMillan. Oh! Wide receiver, Arizona. So they go offense, and they go Tech McMillan, who is technically the second wide receiver chosen tonight. And it’s the… Kid from Arizona coming out, and he is going to join this offense in Carolina.
Well, Dave Canales got this job based off what he did in Tampa Bay with a big receiver like Mike Evans and that explosive offense they had there. So he goes out and gets one as a head coach and gets Tett McMillan, who is very long and rangy. Kind of remind me a little bit of Drake London in some instances. Watch him go up and get the ball. That length, he plays above the rim.
Think about Bryce down there inside. the red zone just throw it up with tremendous touch, which he can do. He can go get it. How about the special one-handed catch here against Colorado? The body control. balls under thrown. No problem. For a bigger receiver, he can really adjust down the field and play like a smaller guy. He’s slippery with the ball in his hands after the catch.
My thing, he’s got to play with a little more consistent urgency. There’s times where you’ll see him ease on the backside of routes. That’s something that’s coachable. You got to get that out of him. But the raw ability, his basketball or his volleyball background, it shows up on the football field. Huge production. I mean, huge production. He had 174 catches, 2,700 yards, and everybody in the building knew he was getting the ball.
I mean, that’s just the flat-out facts of it. And this is not an excuse, DJ, but I would just say there are some colleges and college offices that will teach in their coaching room, in their individual rooms, the backside receiver, hey, take this play off. And so I don’t like it either when I see it on film, but I’m telling you, these guys, some of them are coached to do that in these offenses, and it’s tough to scout when you’re seeing that on film.
But this guy in a 50-50 situation, CD, I don’t know if there’s anybody better. Shorter quarterback. All right. Bigger targets. Last year it was Xavier Leguette. Leguette, they need him to come along and play better. McMillan, another big wide-ranging target for the shorter quarterback. Bryce Young, a little more forgiving as they throw it downfield.
So Bryce Young now has a tet to go where there’s Leguette. Kurt Warner, take it away. I’ll tell you what I love about this, guys, is I believe he could be a true X receiver. Ted Aroa, we know who you are on the football field, but you are letting everybody know who you are. with an homage to your heritage tonight.
Why was this important to you? Oh, man. You know, everything I do is not only to glorify him, the man above, but, you know, to put on for my Polynesian people. So, shout out to all my Polys, man. We did it. You see this Panthers fan base right here. They got a… Come on! Come on, man! They got a big face of Bryce Young back there.
What kind of magic are you guys going to make? Hey, I’m going to tell you right now, that Cali connection, there’ll be something different, I promise. Congratulations, cetera Thank you so much. With the ninth pick in the 2025 nfl Draft, the new orleans saints select kelvin banks jr tackle Texas. So they go offensive line. DJ, your thoughts? Well, I thought these tackles would come off the board quick because there’s not a lot of them that you can count on to come in and start and play right away.
Last year, the Saints got Talisi Fuaga to handle one tackle spot. Now they get the other one taken care of. Think about Kellen Moore just winning the Super Bowl with a team that’s all about the line of scrimmage with the Philadelphia Eagles. So not a surprise at all to see them go with tackle. We’ll see which quarterback they’re protecting down the road here and see what that looks like.
But investing in the trenches not surprised to do that’s the direction they went so with the 10th pick in the 2025 nfl Draft, the chicago bears select colston Loveland, tight end Michigan. Wow, so it’s colston Loveland, not tyler Warren. That’s a bit of a surprise. I had them right next to each other on my list, so they’re both excellent players, different.
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