The 2025 Draft Thread

[DogofWar1]

Starring that this list of running backs sorted by pass blocking:

BEST PASS BLOCKING RUNNING BACKS 2025 NFL DRAFT - Page 1

BEST PASS BLOCKING RUNNING BACKS 2025 NFL DRAFT - Page 1

www.nfldraftbuzz.com

I think Trev Henderson is the dream, but I doubt he's there.

Tahj Brooks, Dylan Sampson, DJ Giddens all jumping out at me.

 

[Darrell Green Fan]

I was kind of surprised to hear they had a lot of offers. We saw very little trades in the first round and the consensus was the player at 29 was not that much difference than a player in the 50's.

 

[SkinsNumberOne]

Went back and looked at some pre draft comments ref Conerly....ironically more than one comped him to Jeremy Tunsil.

Well, that is a bit concerning. What does "Jeremy" do for a living?

 

[stadium-armory]

I don't see a general draft thread so I'd just like to post how happy I am that little Deion did not get drafted. Apparently his cocky attitude in interviews was not limited to the one with the Giants. From this article:

An anonymous NFL coach recently told the NFL Network that Sanders was "the worst formal interview I've ever been in in my life."

Another longtime AFC executive echoed that sentiment, telling the outlet, "It didn't go great in our interview. He wants to dictate what he's going to do and what's best for him. He makes you feel small."

Shedeur Sanders and family stunned after falling out of first round in NFL Draft: 'We all didn’t expect this'

Shedeur Sanders admitted that he and his family 'did not expect' to fall out of the first round of the NFL Draft on Thursday night after a shocking slide.

www.foxnews.com

I'm a CU season ticket holder and live in Boulder. There is no doubt that he is sure of him self and used to being king of the castle. But his work ethic is second to none. He's a first in last out guy. It might do him some good to get knocked down a peg or two by this but in the end I predict his team mates love him, the coaches love him and the city he goes to will love him.

 

[Chris 44]

Well, that is a bit concerning. What does "Jeremy" do for a living?

Lol...gotta love auto correct.

 

[DogofWar1]

I was kind of surprised to hear they had a lot of offers. We saw very little trades in the first round and the consensus was the player at 29 was not that much difference than a player in the 50's.

Yeah, the more I think about it the more I suspect they pulled a lot of guys off their board we ourselves here in lay person land, liked.

It wouldn't surprise me if Green, Johnson, Revel, Morrison, Burden, and Simmons are all off their board for varying reasons.

If you like all those guys, then your board is pretty stacked at 29. If you don't, you're a little concerned about how thin it is. Especially at tackle if you've got Conerly in the tiers above the Jonah S/Ersery grouping.

 

[SkinsNumberOne]

I was kind of surprised to hear they had a lot of offers. We saw very little trades in the first round and the consensus was the player at 29 was not that much difference than a player in the 50's.

I believe AP when he says they had Conerly relatively highly rated, that they were excited about him. I believe that. I also believe they had a lot of offers, so those are related; I think they would have taken one except for their belief. That will hopefully pan out. If they weren't going to trade down, I would hope their confidence level in their pick being great value at 29 is really high. Mine isn't so high but I am no expert, so there you go. If they are right, it is such a relief to finally get strong OL going again.

I'm a CU season ticket holder and live in Boulder. There is no doubt that he is sure of him self and used to being king of the castle. But his work ethic is second to none. He's a first in last out guy. It might do him some good to get knocked down a peg or two by this but in the end I predict his team mates love him, the coaches love him and the city he goes to will love him.

It's interesting, but every workplace values culture fit a lot these days; the NFL is no different, especially at QB. It's hard to me to judge if he would get along with coaches; hasn't he been coached by his Pops pretty much his whole life?

 

[Anselmheifer]

I think the problem was KC. They wanted a tackle, if they traded down, they'd have lost him probably. And listening to Peters I genuinely believed they really really wanted him. Thinking about it some more, its not easy to get a special pass protector at tackle in the late first. It's rare. If they get JT for example, I don't think its wildly different than getting Ezeiruaku. But who the heck is going to be left at LT-RT at 61, maybe Trapilo, Grant --and they could be gone too. And no one is comparing them to Conerly.

I do think its ironic in a good way that Conerly shut down A. Carter. It brought home a bit more when the Giants actually took A. Carter how nasty the D lines are in this division. Dallas doubles down on an O lineman with their pick, I gather with that in mind. Getting a dude who can actually deal with Carter is awesome. Heck our tackles couldn't handle Thibodeaux under Ron, now with Tunsell and Conerly that's all changed. Coleman I think can be an elite guard. If this all comes together, our O line would rival the Lions-Eagles as the best ones in the league.

Regarding Conerly and Abdul Carter, one of the most interesting parts of that AP interview, to me, was him saying the team has a metric for how a player performed against other high draft able players. Sounds like one of their quantitative grades.

Also, Conerly turns 22 in November. He’s a young guy that with development can replace Tunsil at LT in a few years, and if he turns out, could protect Jayden until Jayden is 35.

 

[skinsinparadise]

I've got a different RB list than you. I'm also much higher on Neal than some of those you listed.

I listed if I recall the PFF ranking, not my personal ranking. I do like Neal, don't love him. at this point I've probably talked about Neal in this last month ironically more than anyone else on this thread, so am very familiar with the player. Some seemed to write Neal off after his pedestrian combine but I think that's too harsh.

lol, you did give me an idea which is to list my own rankings. This isn't where I think these guys go but how I feel about them, I've watched these guys a lot. I bolded the players that I think would be great fits here. But I do think really all of them are. I keep saying the more RBs I watch the harder it is for me to find one I don't like more than Robinson.

All these RBs have different flavors so tough to compare one to another. But specific to Neal, the way I try to sell him is in that mid round range, he's one of the rare do it all backs. He's not power. He's not speed. But he brings a range of skills where he can be a #1 back type versus a rotational one. Sneaky good pass catcher. Good leader-character. But not the most powerful runner or pass protector -- some physicality but doesn't stand out on that front consistently IMO. And hes not fast or even sneaky fast. But he's a steady grinder. It's going medium at that spot IMO. He should get more love than he does. I don't get why so many rank Jordan James over him, or the scouts for McGinn don't even mention him in their top 20 or so.

 

[skinsinparadise]

Regarding Conerly and Abdul Carter, one of the most interesting parts of that AP interview, to me, was him saying the team has a metric for how a player performed against other high draft able players. Sounds like one of their quantitative grades.

Also, Conerly turns 22 in November. He’s a young guy that with development can replace Tunsil at LT in a few years, and if he turns out, could protect Jayden until Jayden is 35.

Yep, I watched the whole interview for whomever hasn't its worth watching.

 

[Darrell Green Fan]

Last years OT class was a really good and deep, I don't recall anyone saying that about this class. So how was a LT rated this highly available at 29? How did his grade compare to all the OTs taken earlier in last year's draft?

 

[The Chump Bailey]

So how was a LT rated this highly available at 29?

I'm surprised he did fall never expected him to make to us there hence my interest in Airontae Ersery. Good question.

 

[burgold]

I was kind of surprised to hear they had a lot of offers. We saw very little trades in the first round and the consensus was the player at 29 was not that much difference than a player in the 50's.

A lot of trade offers doesn't speak to their quality. Obviously, Peters thought none of them were good enough.

 

[Neophyte]

Maybe we already drafted a RB? 🤔

 

[stadium-armory]

It's interesting, but every workplace values culture fit a lot these days; the NFL is no different, especially at QB. It's hard to me to judge if he would get along with coaches; hasn't he been coached by his Pops pretty much his whole life?

I recently hired someone at work and passed on candidates with better skillsets in favor of someone with higher EQ. I get it.

What gets lost in the pre draft negativity is his work ethic and coachability. He is entitled but he's also an off the charts hard worker and example setter for the team. People on the outside see a cocky social media driven team but inside the Boulder bubble, we see a team that is equal parts new school flair but also old school hard work mentality. Stay late, be prepared and outwork your opponents. Shedeur embodies that. I guess we'll see.

 

[burgold]

We joke about Jayden's mom, but Shedur's dad seems to be the one who scares off all the suitors.

 

[Anselmheifer]

People had talked about this, but the actual clip is super enjoyable.

 

[HTTR]

I'm surprised he did fall never expected him to make to us there hence my interest in Airontae Ersery. Good question.

Definitely expected Houston to take him at 25. But the Texans got an offer they couldn’t refuse for that pick. So I guess we have the Giants to thank 😂

 

[SkinsNumberOne]

I recently hired someone at work and passed on candidates with better skillsets in favor of someone with higher EQ. I get it.

What gets lost in the pre draft negativity is his work ethic and coachability. He is entitled but he's also an off the charts hard worker and example setter for the team. People on the outside see a cocky social media driven team but inside the Boulder bubble, we see a team that is equal parts new school flair and old school hard hard work, stay late, outwork your opponents, mentality. Shedeur embodies that. I guess we'll see.

The "easy media story" often gets it wrong, for sure, as well as a lot of groupthink. I think it's hard for the NFL to gauge how coachable he is though, and that does matter. All I am saying is, his NFL coach will, for the first time in his football career, not be his Dad. Isn't that unique? That type of unique scares a lot of the NFL. He could easily be the steal of the draft, maybe even the "steal" of the last few years. From the NFL perspective, some risk, really high reward perhaps. I think he'll get taken in the second for that reason.

I compare it a bit to the "Ball family" in the NBA. Deion may have way more opinions that are even more "problematic" given the NFL pedigree, too. I liked Shadeur's response video to dropping out of the 1st as well. There is also talk that teams don't view any QB outside of the 1st rounders as starting QBs for now (and NYG isn't even starting Dart by the looks). If so, that could also be a big projected problem; if he was adamant that he is a day-1 starter type, and projected himself in interviews like he wouldn't be happy sitting. From what you are saying, I wouldn't expect that to be the case though.

 

[Chris]