Biggest Winners: Kansas City Chiefs
Having a strong draft was essential for the Chiefs given their cap issues and how much they needed to retool their roster following the beatdown the Eagles just handed to them in the Super Bowl in February. As of right now at least, Brett Veach looks to have nailed the assignment as they did an excellent job of simultaneously addressing needs and getting terrific value in each round. Josh Simmons will have a chance to become their franchise left tackle of the future once he completes his recovery from the ACL tear that cost him most of his final season at his Ohio State. Omarr Norman-Lott is an athletic, hard-nosed defensive tackle who could thrive next to future HOF'er Chris Jones. Ashton Gillotte had some of the highest pressure rates of any edge rusher in this class and is tailor-made to fill a rotational role in the Chiefs blitz-heavy scheme. Nohl Williams should immediately endear himself to Steve Spagnuolo with his ball skills and tackling ability and could challenge for a starting outside corner spot alongside Trent McDuffie if his offseason goes well enough. Jalen Royals is a steady possession receiver with a huge catch radius and sneaky YAC ability that should nicely complement Rashee Rice and Xavier Worthy. While undersized for the position, Jeffrey Bassa's experience playing safety gives him the kind of fluid movement skills, leadership skills and fearlessness that teams want in their inside linebackers. And last but certainly not least, Breshard Smith is an explosive, reliable pass-catching specialist out of the backfield who could fill the key role that Jerick McKinnon once held in this offense.
Honorable Mentions: Las Vegas Raiders, New York Giants, Carolina Panthers
Biggest Losers: Minnesota Vikings
A plethora of trades from prior seasons left the Vikings with minimal assets in this year's draft (they ended up making 5 selections, which was the fewest of any team) and it showed in the largely mediocre haul they got. While they deserve some credit for attacking their top need in the 1st round with the selection of Ohio State guard Donovan Jackson, their only day 2 pick (WR Tai Felton-who was the last pick of the 3rd round) appears to be nothing more than a dart throw depth piece for their crowded WR room and the other 2 guys they picked (DT Tyrion Ingram-Dawkins, ILB Kobe King, TE Gavin Bartholomew) might not even make the roster. Their hands were clearly tied as they went all-in in 2023 and 2024, but the timing couldn't be worse for a light draft haul as they're still reeling from their brutal collapse in the final 2 games of the 2024 season. At least they were able to get Sam Howell to be J.J. McCarthy's backup/Kevin O'Connell's next QB revival project on Saturday afternoon.
Dishonorable Mentions: Cincinnati Bengals, San Francisco 49ers, New York Jets
Best Value Pick: Mike Green to the Ravens (59th overall)
Concerns surrounding his response to a sexual assault allegation from his time at the University of Virginia during the pre-draft meeting process forced Green-a widely projected top 20 pick-to tumble all the way into the backend of the 2nd round. If you choose to only focus on what he does on the field, Green is a top 10-caliber talent. His tape was easily among the best of any edge rusher in this year's class and the combination of speed, discipline and power he plays with could make him a devastating weapon in Zach Orr's defense.
Honorable Mentions: Will Johnson to the Cardinals (47th overall), Donovan Ezeiruaku to the Cowboys (44th overall), Luther Burden III to the Bears (39th overall)
Worst Value Pick: Jaxson Dart to the New York Giants (25th overall)
My first thought after watching Jaxson Dart's tape was that he was going to get somebody in the NFL fired, so congrats to both Joe Schoen and Brian Daboll on securing your future removal from the New York Giants organization. Dart isn't even some "looks good in shorts prospect" like Daniel Jones, Will Levis or Drew Lock, he's just a pretty average game manager who benefitted from running a simple system in college that kept him consistently upright, limited the reads he had to make and ensured most of his throws were in the short-to-intermediate areas of the field. The best-case scenario is that he's Gardner Minshew without the charisma or cool haircut and worst case is that's he working an HVAC gig in Hackensack a year before his rookie contract would've been up. Either way, Dart is one of the most egregious QB overdrafts of the past 20-25 years, and the Giants should be embarrassed that they traded back into the end of the 1st round to select him.
Dishonorable Mentions: Shemar Stewart to the Cincinnati Bengals (17th overall), Jalon Walker to the Atlanta Falcons (15th overall), Nick Emmanwori to the Seattle Seahawks (35th overall)
Top Undrafted Free Agent: Jared Ivey, edge rusher (signed by the Seattle Seahawks)
Ivey going undrafted actually shocked me. Sure, his horrible testing scores at the Combine confirmed the lack of athleticism and stiffness that you see on tape, but he has a level of power and nastiness to his game that could be devastating if he's able to add a little more variety to his arsenal of pass-rushing moves. He's a perfect fit for the tenacious, imposing defense that Mike Macdonald is looking to build in Seattle and should have a real chance of making their Week 1 roster.
Honorable Mentions: Xavier Restrepo, wide receiver (signed by the Titans), Tyler Batty, edge rusher (BYU) (signed by the Vikings), Seth McLaughlin, center (signed by the Bengals)
Draft Grades by Team (Full List of Draft Classes: https://www.nfl.com/news/2025-nfl-draft-final-snap-grades-for-all-32-teams
Arizona Cardinals: B+
Atlanta Falcons: B
Baltimore Ravens: B+
Buffalo Bills: B+
Carolina Panthers: A-
Chicago Bears: B
Cincinnati Bengals: C+
Cleveland Browns: B-
Dallas Cowboys: B+
Denver Broncos: B
Detroit Lions: B
Green Bay Packers: B
Houston Texans: B
Indianapolis Colts: B
Jacksonville Jaguars: B-
Kansas City Chiefs: A
Las Vegas Raiders: A-
Los Angeles Chargers: B
Los Angeles Rams: B+
Miami Dolphins: B
Minnesota Vikings: C
New England Patriots: B+
New Orleans Saints: B
New York Giants: A-
New York Jets: C+
Philadelphia Eagles: B+
Pittsburgh Steelers: B+
San Francisco 49ers: C+
Seattle Seahawks: B+
Tampa Bay Buccaneers: B+
Tennessee Titans: B
Washington Commanders: B+
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