- Two Georgia defenders have question marks: Mykel Williams‘ pass-rush abilities and Jalon Walker‘s NFL position have rendered them hot topics.
- Will Harold Fannin Jr.‘s historic season translate in the pros? Fannin turned in the nation's highest PFF receiving grade but didn't perform well in pre-draft athletic testing.
- Celebrate the 2025 NFL Draft with 25% off PFF+: Get 25% off PFF+ and unlock access to player grades, fantasy tools and the 2025 Draft Guide.
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Draft Position Rankings
Some players' potential in every NFL Draft class is widely agreed upon. Others, however, attract a variety of visceral reactions from different sources.
With the 2025 NFL Draft starting tomorrow, a quick examination of eight of these prospects is in order.
QB Shedeur Sanders, Colorado
Colorado quarterback Shedeur Sanders is the most polarizing player in this class. That’s not only because he is the son of an inner-circle Hall of Famer, but also because there are wide-ranging opinions about his ability to play in the NFL.
There’s certainly no questioning Sanders’ productivity in college. After two solid seasons at Jackson State, he posted an elite 91.4 PFF passing grade with a miniscule 1.3% turnover-worthy play rate. In an offense devoid of a running game, Sanders used his elite accuracy, processing and toughness to guide a team that was the worst in the Power Four in 2022 into respectability.
Most dissenters of Sanders’ ability will point to his lack of elite physical tools. He has mediocre size, relatively average arm strength and doesn’t have elite mobility. He also took too many sacks, in part due to subpar pass protection, but he also made a habit of moving backward in the pocket.
We have seen many quarterbacks overcome a lack of elite tools to become successful players in the NFL. There will be some, though, who simply won’t believe in Sanders because they don’t believe his lack of athleticism gives him a high enough ceiling.
QB Jaxson Dart, Ole Miss
There’s been a never-ending search for the consensus third-best quarterback in this class throughout the pre-draft process. Many have settled on Jaxson Dart from Ole Miss as the answer.
Like Sanders above, there is no questioning Dart’s production in his three years as the Rebels’ starter. He’s posted an elite 91.1 PFF passing grade since the start of 2022. He improved each season and racked up 75 big-time throws compared to 34 turnover-worthy plays.
Doubts about Dart’s ability translating to the NFL start with the style of offense he ran under Lane Kiffin. It’s an offense that relies heavily on RPOs, play action and deep shots against single coverage. In 2024, just over 40% of Dart’s dropbacks did not utilize play action, RPOs or screens. For comparison’s sake, that same figure for Cam Ward and Shedeur Sanders hovered around 64%, while Jalen Milroe’s dropbacks excluded those concepts more than 70% of the time.
Dart’s 11.9-yard average depth of target in 2024 was also the second-highest in the Power Four. His career average depth of target sits at 10.9 yards, and there isn’t an extensive track record of quarterbacks who rely so much on the deep ball succeeding in the NFL. The only quarterback in the NFL this past season with an average depth of target over 10 yards was Anthony Richardson, who posted a 59.8 PFF passing grade last year.
Dart has the ability to be a successful NFL quarterback, but there will likely be an adjustment period as he acclimates himself to NFL concepts.
RB Cam Skattebo, Arizona State
Cam Skattebo’s college career was nothing short of incredible. When he played his first two years at Sacramento State, his opponents simply stood no chance against him. He continued that trend at Arizona State as he was the heart and soul of a program that won a Big 12 Title and earned a College Football Playoff berth in 2024.
Skattebo runs with relentless aggression as he invites contact from any defender in his path. In 2024, he ranked second behind Ashton Jeanty in PFF rushing grade and missed tackles forced. He’s also an underrated receiving threat despite being a power back, as he earned a 79.8 PFF receiving grade this past season, fifth-best among qualified running backs.
Skattebo’s detractors will point to his lack of long speed, as evidenced by his 4.65-second 40 yard dash. There have been successful runners who have turned in that time. Current NFL starters Kyren Williams and James Conner both ran an identical time to Skattebo. Former All-Pro Arian Foster had an excellent career after running a 4.69. Skattebo’s lack of elite speed will be a turnoff for some, but he dominated at the college level without it.
WR Xavier Restrepo, Miami (FL)
Restrepo is an excellent underdog story who entered Miami as a three-star local product and left as the school’s all-time leading receiver. He carved up opponents in the slot — particularly over the past two seasons — with his precise route running, excellent hands and toughness over the middle of the field.
Only eight Power Four receivers posted a better PFF receiving grade than Restrepo’s 90.2 mark over the past two seasons. Among that same group, only Tetairoa McMillan has tallied more yards than Restrepo. Despite lacking the elite physical tools of a player like McMillan, Restrepo managed to produce at a level that few others could.
Restrepo’s savvy and toughness will have to be the driving force behind his NFL success. He’s a slot-only player who stands at just under 5-foot-10. He also has less-than-ideal speed, though his 40-yard dash time is in question. Proponents of Restrepo are likely to say he didn’t win with elite speed anyway. For some, the lack of imposing physical tools will lead to a search for slot production elsewhere.
TE Harold Fannin Jr., Bowling Green
Speaking of production, no tight end over the past three seasons generated more of it than Bowling Green’s Harold Fannin Jr.. He set an FBS tight end record with 1,555 receiving yards in 2024 while earning a national best 96.4 PFF receiving grade.
The two categories where Fannin’s abilities shine the most are yards after catch and missed tackles forced. He predictably led the nation in both in 2024, generating 873 yards after catch and 34 missed tackles forced. When the ball hits his hands, he turns into a running back. He was also able to prove his abilities were legitimate against opponents like Penn State and Texas A&M, against whom he racked up a combined 19 receptions for 282 yards.
The two-fold question for Fannin is whether he is athletic enough to continue that production and if he can be so reliant on designed targets at the next level. Fannin displayed good, but not elite, athleticism at the Combine and Senior Bowl, which is concerning with him being one of the smallest tight ends in the class. There has also been no FBS tight end with more production on screen passes since 2023 than Fannin.
EDGE Mykel Williams, Georgia
Georgia’s Mykel Williams has the ideal build for a modern edge defender. His potential has many considering him a top-10-to-15 prospect in this year’s class. He also comes from an elite program in Georgia that has become a factory for productive defensive players under Kirby Smart.
Two things stand out most for Williams on the positive side — run defense and versatility. He posted a career-high 82.9 PFF run defense grade in 2024 that placed him among the top 25 edge defenders in the FBS. His length and power are major assets in that department and he rarely makes mistakes. He also played well over 500 snaps in his career over or between the tackles. That ability to reduce inside and still affect the run game will be valuable for a defense that uses multiple fronts.
Williams needs to improve as a pass rusher in order to become an elite player. There are plenty of excellent run defenders in this class, which brings into question Williams’ draft stock if he can’t improve upon his career 11.1% pass-rush win rate and 74.3 PFF pass rush grade. His run defense certainly gives him a high floor, but prospective teams will need a plan for how to unlock Williams as a pass rusher.
DI Joshua Farmer, Florida State
Florida State’s Joshua Farmer is currently the 79th-ranked prospect on the consensus board, with some outlets seeing him as a top-50 player. On the PFF Big Board, however, he ranks 138th, implying that he borders between a fourth- and fifth-round prospect.
Farmer has the requisite length and first step for the position. He’s used those tools to rack up 13 sacks and a 75.6 PFF pass-rush grade over the past two seasons. There are moments, particularly as a pass rusher, that he looks like he could be an NFL starter.
Unfortunately those moments are few and far between. Despite the pass-rush production he’s offered lately, his run defense needs a lot of work. Over the past two seasons, he’s posted a subpar 53.0 PFF run-defense grade. If that doesn’t improve significantly at the next level, he will have a hard time finding a starting role as a player that teams can trust on early downs.
LB Jalon Walker, Georgia
Another Georgia defender expected to be taken in the first round, Jalon Walker’s athletic abilities are certainly not in question. His speed, versatility and pass-rush ability all jump off the tape. The polarizing part of Walker’s NFL projection is what his role will be for his new team.
Walker played a roughly equal number of snaps at linebacker and off the edge at Georgia. His best plays come when he is rushing the passer, as he’s posted an outstanding 87.2 PFF pass-rush grade and a 19% pass-rush win rate over the past two seasons. Questions arise about his ability to play on the edge in the NFL due to his 6-foot-1, 243 pound frame that is extremely small for the position.
He could also stay at linebacker while commonly being utilized as a blitzer, but he earned just a 62.0 PFF run-defense grade when playing there over the past two seasons. His 58.4 PFF coverage grade as a linebacker during that span also underwhelms. Walker has enough athletic talent to play in the NFL, but he may need to find a consistent role at one position or the other to be a star.
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