The first round of the 2025 NFL Draft brought some dramatic and unexpected picks. Which teams made huge mistakes in the first round? Not every first-round pick is going to pan out, and not every team made the right decision.
In fact, there could already be some massive mistakes from the first 32 selections of Day 1 of the NFL Draft, and we still have over 200 other prospects who will hear their names called. Let's look at three of the biggest mistakes that teams made in Round 1.
2025 NFL Draft: 3 massive mistakes teams made in the first round
Broncos not trading up for Emeka Egbuka
The Denver Broncos let Emeka Egbuka go to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers with the 19th pick. The Broncos picked 20th and should have tried to trade up a few slots as they realized that the Ohio State wide receiver was falling toward them.
He is a stellar prospect and would have fit this offense like a glove, giving Bo Nix a hugely vital weapon for a year two jump. Egbuka possesses the skillset that the Broncos WR room is missing.
Raiders taking Ashton Jeanty at pick six
Ashton Jeanty is a very good, perhaps elite prospect, but the Las Vegas Raiders made a luxury pick without having a near-good enough roster to make such a pick. They could have taken a top OL prospect or pass rusher, a more valuable position than RB.
Jeanty is going to be a very good NFL player, but this feels like one of those reaches at RB that Pete Carroll has been involved in over the years.
Falcons trading a 2026 first-round pick to grab James Pearce Jr
Yes, the Atlanta Falcons traded a future first-round pick to the Los Angeles Rams to get back into Round 1 for James Pearce Jr, the pass rusher from Tennessee who seems to have some character concerns, and this was after they used their own first-round pick on Jalon Walker. I get what GM Terry Fontenot is trying to do here, but you've got a young QB you're trying to develop and already giving away future top picks for current players.
It just does not feel like very smart roster building for a GM who has had those questions circling him for years now.