The 2025 NFL Draft is officially in the books, and while the early part of the first round went about as expected, we saw plenty of surprises, including the slide of Colorado quarterback Shedeur Sanders, who went from an anticipated top-10 pick to being taken 144th overall by the Cleveland Browns in the fifth round, who also took Oregon's QB Dillon Gabriel in the third round. With that slide, Sanders saw his FanDuel odds for 2025 NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year dip dramatically, as well. Here's a closer look at how things look for some of the top draft picks on both sides of the ball, as well as some notable players selected outside of the first round.
Offensive Rookie of the Year
- Tennessee Titans QB Cam Ward: +330
- Las Vegas Raiders RB Ashton Jeanty: +340
- Jacksonville Jaguars WR Travis Hunter: +600
- Carolina Panthers WR Tetairoa McMillan: +650
- Los Angeles Chargers RB Omarion Hampton: +1400
- Green Bay Packers WR Matthew Golden: +1900
- Cleveland Browns QB Shedeur Sanders: +1900
Unsurprisingly, Cam Ward went No. 1 overall to the Tennessee Titans. Also unsurprisingly, Ward has the shortest odds to win Offensive Rookie of the Year at +330. Ashton Jeanty, who went to the Raiders at No. 6 overall, is close behind at +340. Since 2010, eight quarterbacks have won the award and four running backs have taken home that hardware. Those two being the favorites should be no surprise with Ward certainly in line to be the Titans' Week 1 starter at quarterback, while Jeanty can be a bell-cow back for new head coach Pete Carroll in what figures to be a run-heavy scheme in Vegas.
The last receiver to win rookie of the year was Garrett Wilson in 2022 with the New York Jets. Travis Hunter, the two-way sensation who will split time at receiver and cornerback for the Jacksonville Jaguars, has the third-shortest odds at +600, while Arizona product Tetairoa McMillan is +650 after going No. 8 to the Carolina Panthers. Matthew Golden is priced at +1900 and went to the Green Bay Packers with the 23rd pick, while Emeka Egbuka landed with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at No. 19 and is now +2300 at FanDuel. Hunter should start his career as Jacksonville's WR2 behind Brian Thomas Jr., while McMillan can be a go-to guy for Bryce Young right away. Golden and Egbuka join more crowded receiver rooms to start their careers, but the Packers don't have a true WR1-type of target, while the Bucs are planning for life after Mike Evans while waiting to see how Chris Godwin bounces back from a devastating ankle injury.
Omarion Hampton, who many expected to go No. 20 to the Denver Broncos, did land in the AFC West, but at 22 to the Los Angeles Chargers who love to run the ball under head coach Jim Harbaugh. He'll compete with former Steeler Najee Harris for touches in 2025 and could very well be shooting up the odds board once the season gets going.
Jaxson Dart was the other quarterback taken in the first round after the New York Giants traded back into the first round at 25 overall to take the Ole Miss product. He's currently +1900 to win the award, though his path to a starting role is far more cluttered than Ward's as the Giants signed both Russell Wilson and Jameis Winston in free agency this offseason.
And rounding out the first-round offensive skill players are a pair of tight ends in Colston Loveland and Tyler Warren, both of whom are +2400 at FanDuel. Loveland went 10th overall to the Chicago Bears as the first tight end off the board in a bit of a surprise, while it shocked no one when the Indianapolis Colts took Warren with the 14th pick. Loveland joins a Bears offense with no shortage of big names in the pass game, with quarterback Caleb Williams having Loveland, fellow tight end Cole Kmet and receivers DJ Moore and Rome Odunze to throw to. Warren could be a No. 2-type target in Indianapolis for either Anthony Richardson or Daniel Jones. Michael Pittman Jr. is a No. 1-type of receiver, but the Colts need more stability in the pass game.
Day 2-3 players of note
- The New Orleans Saints drafted Louisville quarterback Tyler Shough in the second round, and the soon-to-be 26-year-old is +2000 at FanDuel. Saints starter Derek Carr may miss the season due to a shoulder injury, paving the way for Shough to play right away as a starter.
- Ohio State has been well represented this draft, and the Buckeyes' talented running back tandem went early in the second round with Quinshon Judkins landing in Cleveland and TreVeyon Henderson going to New England. Judkins should contend for a lead role with the Browns while Henderson creates a great 1-2 punch for the Patriots alongside Rhamondre Stevenson. Henderson surprisingly has shorter odds than his former college teammate though at +2000 to Judkins' +2500.
- Iowa running back Kaleb Johnson landed with the Pittsburgh Steelers in the third round, where he should fight for snaps right away with Jaylen Warren after Harris left for Los Angeles in free agency. Johnson's odds come in at +5000.
- Keep an eye out for new Denver Broncos running back R.J. Harvey out of UCF. He had 38 touchdowns and just under 3,000 rushing yards over the last two years for the Golden Knights, and the path to touches in Denver's backfield is wide open for the rookie. His Rookie of the Year odds are +5000.
- Arizona State running back Cam Skattebo, who was the key player in Arizona State's postseason berth and near upset of the Texas Longhorns in the College Football Playoff, went off the board early in the first round to the New York Giants. New York needs more offensive firepower, and while Tyrone Tracy Jr. had some good moments as a rookie, Skattebo was a bruising back who also was a great receiver and occasional quarterback for the Sun Devils. He rushed for more than 1,700 yards and 21 touchdowns last year and is +8000 at FanDuel to take home the Rookie of the Year Award.
- And, of course, the story of the draft was Colorado's Sanders, who went from an anticipated early first-round selection to a Day 3 pick. He lands with Cleveland in an interesting fit after the Browns took Gabriel in the third round out of Oregon. Sanders opened the draft as +1100 to win Rookie of the Year, and naturally, those odds have gone to +1900, which is notably shorter than the odds on Alabama QB Jalen Milroe, who went to the Seattle Seahawks in the third round, and Gabriel, his new teammate.
Defensive Rookie of the Year
- New York Giants EDGE Abdul Carter: +240
- Atlanta Falcons LB Jalon Walker: +550
- Cleveland Browns DT Mason Graham: +750
- San Francisco 49ers EDGE Mykel Williams: +900
- Baltimore Ravens EDGE Mike Green: +1000
- Jacksonville Jaguars CB Travis Hunter: +1000
Abdul Carter has the shortest odds for Defensive Rookie of the Year at +240 after he went No. 3 to the Giants, with new Atlanta Falcons linebacker Jalon Walker second in the odds at +550. Mason Graham landed in Cleveland with the fifth overall pick and is +750, while Mykel Williams, who went 11th overall to San Francisco, checks in at +900. Edge rushers like Carter and Williams are easy players to see winning the award as their path to playing time is clear and they can make splashy plays getting after the quarterback and piling up sack numbers. Graham is a capable pass rusher from the interior as well, while Walker played both off the ball and on the edge at Georgia, so his role will be interesting to follow.
Hunter is +1000 on the defensive side. It sounds as though the two-way star will be used as a receiver first for Jacksonville while receiving limited defensive reps at cornerback to start. His odds will be one to watch as we get closer and closer to the regular season.
Edge rushers Shemar Stewart (Cincinnati) and James Pearce Jr. (Atlanta) are +1200 and +2200, respectively, while inside backer Jihaad Campbell (Philadelphia) is +2000. Cornerback Jahdae Barron went to the Broncos to form a duo with Patrick Surtain, and he's +2700, while Georgia safety Malaki Starks fell into Baltimore's lap at pick 27 and is +2300. The Buffalo Bills added some much-need firepower to their secondary in the first round with Kentucky's Maxwell Hairston, who is +9500. The Bengals needed defensive help in a bad way and Stewart had an incredible combine performance, and the Falcons added another edge defender in Pearce to help what's been a porous pass rush. Campbell is another high-ceiling chess piece for Vic Fangio's defense alongside Zach Baun, and Starks feels like an easy plug-and-play high football IQ player for a Baltimore team that loves those types of guys.
The four non-Graham defensive tackles that went in the first round were Walter Nolen to Arizona, Derrick Harmon to Pittsburgh, Kenneth Grant to Miami and Tyleik Williams to Detroit. They're +2300, +4000, +6500 and +13000, respectively. Of this group, Nolen has the most upside as a pass rusher and will likely be the one making the most splash plays early on. Grant does have very noteworthy athleticism for a man his size, and he should see plenty of snaps early on for a Miami defense that lost Christian Wilkins in free agency last year.
Day 2-3 players of note
- Star Michigan cornerback Will Johnson had maybe the most notable draft slide of anyone not named Shedeur Sanders, as he landed in Arizona with the 47th pick. Johnson suffered a knee injury this past season that limited him to six games, which played a massive part in him falling to the second round. He's now paired with a defensive-minded head coach in Jonathan Gannon and could be a draft steal should the knee issues be a thing of the past. He checks in at +2300 odds, notably shorter than Barron's.
- The Seahawks used two Day 2 picks to trade up to No. 35 overall in order to take South Carolina safety Nick Emmanwori, who at 6-foot-4 and 220 pounds draws comparisons to star Baltimore safety Kyle Hamilton. That's important to note as Seahawks head coach Mike Macdonald was previously the defensive coordinator for the Ravens and helped turn Hamilton into an All-Pro defender. Emmanwori had incredible testing numbers at the combine and will be an interesting addition to a surging Seattle defense. His odds come in at +4000.
- Edge rushers are commonly favorites to take home this award, and two good ones fell to the second round in Donovan Ezeiruaku and Mike Green, who went to Dallas and Baltimore, respectively. Green led the nation with 17 sacks at Marshall last year, while Ezeiruaku was right behind him at 16.5 sacks for Boston College. Green has +1000 odds after landing with the Ravens, tied for the fifth-shortest odds and he has the best odds of any Day 2 or 3 pick. Ezeiruaku has the eighth-shortest odds of all defenders at +1700, ahead of some first-round picks like Pearce, Nolen and Starks.
- Another notable edge rusher? Ohio State's Jack Sawyer, a postseason hero for the Buckeyes. He was selected in the fourth round by the Pittsburgh Steelers after a standout career at Ohio State, which culminated in a national championship. He checks in at +9500 at FanDuel.