Is it ever too early for a mock draft? Alright, yes -- it is. Now is too early for a 2025 NFL mock draft, but that's the business we're in. And we're all curious, right? Some teams are in longer rebuilding projects than others. Some teams still don't have a quarterback moving forward. Some teams might need a new quarterback next offseason.
It's impossible to know how the 2025 NFL Draft order is going to look this far out, and it's impossible to know what players will comprise the top 10 of next year's draft.
But we're going to try and predict it anyway. Let's take a look in the old crystal ball and try to project next year's top 10 NFL Draft picks. As for the order prediction, we'll utilize the reverse order of Sharp Football's post-free agency power rankings to keep the draft order as unbiased as possible.
1. Carolina Panthers: Shedeur Sanders, QB, Colorado
The Carolina Panthers having the #1 overall pick yet again in 2025 would be rather disastrous, wouldn't it? You've got to expect some type of progression from Bryce Young this year, but if the Panthers are in this position in 2025, they almost have to take a quarterback and move on from Young, the former Heisman winner who was in a disastrous setup last year.
At this stage, Shedeur Sanders feels like a somewhat underwhelming consensus #1 player, but he's got a lot of traits to like and we'll see what his progression is like this year, his second year playing at Colorado.
2. Denver Broncos: Kelvin Banks Jr., OT, Texas
The Denver Broncos used their first-round pick in the 2024 NFL Draft on Oregon Ducks quarterback Bo Nix, so he's going to be Plan A for head coach Sean Payton at that position. Unless some other quarterbacks emerge as can't-miss franchise guys between now and then, the Broncos should look to invest around Bo Nix as opposed to replace him here, and Kelvin Banks of Texas is as good of a bet as any.
Garett Bolles has been the Broncos' starting left tackle since he was drafted in 2017 but he's hitting free agency in 2025.