Post-NFL Draft Clarity

The 2025 NFL Draft brought us degenerate sports fans everything we needed and more. We got surprise trades, teams made selections we had no idea they would make, and there were some draft day slides, one notable one in particular. Here are MY takeaways from this years' draft. No, not ESPN's or Fox Sports' or NFL Twitter's takes, these are mine.

Travis Hunter - Jaguars Trade UP to take the 2024 Heisman Winner

Jeff Roberson / AP Photo

Probably the most shocking move of the entire draft coming shortly after Cam Ward went to the Titans first overall, the Jacksonville Jaguars traded up with the Cleveland Browns to the second overall pick to draft the Colorado Buffalo Receiver and Cornerback, Travis Hunter. This is the first offseason for the new Jaguars front office and management, led by General Manager James Gladstone and Head Coach Liam Coen, and did they ever make a big splash on day one. They traded #5, #36 (2nd rd), #126 (4th rd) and their 2026 1st rd. pick to the Browns for #2, #104 (4th rd) and #200 (6th rd). Many will say this is an overpay for a non-quarterback, giving up next years' 1st, and a 2nd for a 4th to move up for Hunter. However, I see why they made the move. The Jags have to get Trevor Lawrence major help. First, they need to find out if Lawrence is their franchise QB of the future. He had a bad rookie year, but since then he averages 19 TDs and 10 Ints and a record of 19-24. The Jags division is still one of the weaker ones in the sport, and that coupled with the difficulty of the rest of the AFC, I am okay with the trade up to take potentially a franchise-altering player.

Shadeur Sanders - Slides to the 144th Pick for the Browns

Alex Raskin & Jake Fenner / Daily Mail

In most mock drafts leading up, Sanders was projecting to go in the ladder part of the of the first round, most projected him to be selected by the Steelers. A combination of how Shedeur treated his pre-draft process by not attending most of the workouts, to how his father Deion Sanders put it in the media that his son was not to be drafted by certain teams, to team's uncertainty of his talents on the field led to his fall. The reason he dropped from maybe at least a 2nd round pick to the 5th round was because teams don't want "celebrity quarterbacks" as their backup. Whatever you think of them otherwise, Cam Newton, Colin Kaepernick, Tim Tebow all fit this "QB mold." The Browns on the other hand, are still a complete mess when it comes to the offensive side of the ball. Just in their quarterback room right now they still have Deshaun Watson, and added FOUR other QBs. They signed Joe Flacco, traded for Kenny Pickett, an drafted Dillon Gabriel two rounds prior to taking Sanders. I think this is a last place team in limbo, depending on what the Steelers do at quarterback.

Philadelphia Eagles - First FIVE picks were Defensive players

Kirby Lee - Imagn Images

The Eagles had a clear idea of how they were going to attack this draft. They went Linebacker, Safety, Defensive Tackle, Cornerback and another Linebacker. They traded up from the last pick of the first round up one spot with the Chiefs of all teams to draft Jihaad Campbell out of Alabama. A very talented prospect with some injury concerns is why he dropped from early to mid first round to the bottom of the first. It was an odd trade because they only traded one pick up with Kansas City and gave up one of their four 5th round picks to move up one spot. Some believe other teams were calling the Chiefs to trade up to get Campbell so the Eagles and Chiefs worked something out. However it went down, I am excited at the few SEC guys they took early in the draft. They also sured up the offensive line with a couple guys drafted there, and also drafted QB Kyle McCord out of Syracuse, most likely will be the backup to Jalen Hurts with Pickett gone and Taylor McKee the only other QB on the team.

Emeka Egbuka - Bucs take 2nd Receiver off the board at #19 Overall

Chris O'Meara / AP Photo

I really liked this pick from Tampa Bay. They did re-sign Chris Godwin and still have Mike Evans. They are both getting older though and no one knows how much longer these guys will produce for 17-game seasons. I think this is a very solid pick for a team that in in a weaker winnable NFC South division in which the Buccaneers have won FOUR years in a row. A national champion just this past January, Egbuka was a four-year Ohio State receiver with really good 2022 and 2024 seasons in which he eclipsed over 1000 yards in both with 10 TDs in both years. Like I've stated before, I watch much less college sports than I do professional so I am mostly projecting the players and the need of said positions for teh teams that drafted them.