NFL: 11 NFL Teams in Position to Secure Top Draft Pick

In last year’s NFL Draft, if you needed a quarterback and you were picking in the top 11, you were set. Bo Nix went to the Denver Broncos with the 12th overall pick, and the Broncos feel like they have their true quarterback of the future.

For the 2025 NFL Draft, the battle for the best quarterbacks is going to be far more cutthroat. The top of the draft board is less-quarterback heavy, and there are no consensus top picks like we had in 2024. Last year, it came down to Caleb Williams, Jayden Daniels, and Drake Maye, and those were the three players taken within three picks. This year, we have non-quarterbacks at the top of the odds board.

Odds to be No. 1 Draft Pick

Shedeur Sanders (+200) – Because of his position and the NFL’s move to dual-threat quarterbacks, Colorado’s Shedeur Sanders is at the top of the board. But he also comes with the world’s worst Little League father, who will definitely not just sit on the sideline and cheer for his son. 

Colorado can play itself into the College Football Playoff, and if Sanders leads them to that incredible season turnaround, he’s going to be hard to ignore. Especially because he comes with the world’s greatest hype man, Coach Prime.

Travis Hunter (+400) – If it’s not one Buffalo, maybe it’s the other. And if you need multiple positions to justify and move up to No. 1 overall, trading up and drafting Travis Hunter is great justification. He plays wide receiver at an elite level, and he plays cornerback at an even more elite level. Hunter also has something that Sanders and the other quarterbacks don’t have – position availability.

If the New England Patriots or Jacksonville Jaguars end up picking first overall, they aren’t taking a QB. But everyone wants the best athlete in the draft who can play multiple positions. Hunter is the favorite to win the Heisman Trophy (+100), and who doesn’t also want that on their team.

Cameron Ward (+700) – His Miami Hurricanes are no longer unbeaten, and Cam Ward was the only quarterback who was in the Heisman conversation with Travis Hunter. That changed this week, as he plummeted to +800. But his Heisman prospects aside, he’s going to be a good pro. Current mock drafts have him going as high as third overall to the Tennessee Titans, who have seen enough of Will Levis.

Quinn Ewers, Jaxson Dart, and Jalen Milroe (+2000) – It’s a bit of a longshot that anyone other than the top three on this list is going to be taken No. 1 overall. These three quarterbacks all have upside that could cause them to rise because of the need for good quarterbacks. But most mock drafts have them all falling out of the first-round. And if there really are just two first-round quarterbacks, Sanders and Ward, those top draft spots become more important.

Projecting 2025 NFL Draft Order

There are five NFL teams with only two wins, and six more with just three wins. One of these 11 is likely to own the No. 1 overall pick in the 2025 NFL Draft.

The New England Patriots are currently drafting sixth. But of the bottom 11, teams they have the hardest remaining schedule, which includes two games against the Buffalo Bills and two against other teams battling for a playoff position, the Los Angeles Chargers and Arizona Cardinals.

Suddenly, the Carolina Panthers have three wins, and they are currently drafting ninth overall. But they have the Kansas City Chiefs, Philadelphia Eagles, Atlanta Falcons, and two games with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers remaining.

Of the two-win teams bunched at the top of the 2025 Draft order – the Jacksonville Jaguars, New York Giants, Tennessee Titans, Cleveland Browns, and Las Vegas Raiders – the hardest remaining schedule belongs to the Browns. The easiest is Jacksonville. Other than the Jaguars, all of those other two-win teams are going to head to the draft looking for a quarterback.