2025 Big Board Preview: Meet The First Rounders

Harold Fannin cracked the first round on our board after an eye-popping season where he led the FBS in receptions and receiving yards as a tight end.

Hello everyone! This is the second article in my big board preview series, this time covering the First Round. If you haven't seen our methodology before, I suggest reading the article on our draft process first: Behind the Draft Process. The first round is comprised of the 13th to 32nd ranked players on our board. For the 1st to 12th ranked players, you can see our article on those players here: Meet The Blue Chips.

Going forward, these articles won't cover every player, to spare me from writing 300 bios in 2 weeks. Instead, I will be highlighting several players who are higher and lower on my board than the consensus.

Risers

Tre Harris - Harris shot up our board thanks to elite measurements and testing. He was also one of college football’s best X receivers the past 2 seasons. We project him as a true #1 receiver, with elite playmaking and medium/deep ball ability. He did deal with injuries last year but was able to do athletic testing, which helped out his profile.

Jared Wilson, Tate Ratledge - Both Georgia linemen climb significantly in our rankings. Wilson and Ratledge are both well within our first round. Both played right at the top of their position and have for years, and both have elite athletic profiles. Positional value probably sees Ratledge go before Wilson, but both should go well ahead of their projected draft slots.

Harold Fannin - Fannin slots in as our TE 1, right ahead of Tyler Warren. Fannin was the best tight end in college football last year and was dominant in almost every game he played, including against big schools. His athletic testing was good enough, if only barely so. But his ludicrous production numbers carry him all the way to the middle of our first round.

Jaxson Dart - Dart climbs on our board and fits in just behind Shedeur in the rankings as our QB 2 in the class. Dart actually had a better production grade than Ward and Shedeur, with consistent passing and rushing production that makes him a top yard getter at the position year after year. I do worry about his fit on some teams, and hope he goes to a team that uses him like Josh Allen or (younger) Russell Wilson, rather than making him more of a pocket passer. We project him as being a long time NFL starting QB.

Fallers

Tetairoa McMillan - McMillan ranks in the middle of the first round and comfortably WR 3 in the class. McMillan is another player who got hurt by not testing, and though he has 2 good years under his belt, his production was lower than other top options last season. McMillan will still be a capable NFL receiver, but I wouldn’t bet on him being a future all-pro.

Tyler Warren - Just as Fannin goes up, Warren comes down. Warren is still an impressive receiver, but not the top 10 pick most project him as. Warren not testing hurt him big time, as his remaining profile wasn’t able to balloon him up to a higher spot. Tight ends in general struggle to be of first round value, and Warren looks like a very good but not game-changing tight end.

Shedeur Sanders, Cam Ward - Sanders slides in near the end of the first, while Ward doesn't make this list at all. Both Shedeur and Cam played good-not-great last season, and both didn’t test. Shedeur comes in above Cam due to his traits, which give him more potential than Cam. Both should still be NFL starters at the QB position, but we don’t project either as being the top QBs in almost any other class. Ward will likely be the weakest number 1 pick in a long while.

The full big board can be found here: Big Board. Let me know your thoughts!