2025 NFL Draft: Day 1 recap of first-round picks

The Tennessee Titans selected Miami quarterback Cam Ward as the No. 1 overall pick in Thursday’s NFL Draft, a drama-free move that had been predicted for weeks by football pundits. 

In a sign of the importance of the position, Ward becomes the third straight quarterback to go No. 1 overall, after the Chicago Bears selected USC’s Caleb Williams with the first pick in 2024, and the Carolina Panthers selected Alabama’s Bryce Young in 2023.

The last non-quarterback to go No. 1 was Georgia defensive end Travon Walker in 2022, picked by the Jacksonville Jaguars.

Although Ward was considered a virtual lock to go to the Titans, the rest of the draft was playing out as one of the most unpredictable in years. 

That unpredictability came to fruition almost immediately when, after Ward’s selection, the Jacksonville Jaguars traded a haul — including the No. 5 pick — to the Cleveland Browns in order to move up to No. 2 and take two-way Colorado star Travis Hunter, who has expressed a desire to play both cornerback and receiver in the NFL as he did in college. 

The big question mark of the night appeared to be where Hunter’s teammate — Colorado quarterback Shedeur Sanders, son of NFL legend Deion Sanders — would land, and whether he could drop out of the first round entirely after initial projections had him going as high as first overall.     

Unlike 2024’s draft class, considered one of the most talent-laden in decades, 2025 doesn’t have anywhere near as many blue-chip prospects, and forecasts on who might go where have been all over the map. A case-in-point being the Seattle Seahawks’ selection of guard Grey Zabel at No. 18, who had been projected by most to go on day two. 

The overriding theme appeared to be the trenches. While an unprecedented six quarterbacks were taken in the first 12 picks in 2024, only one, Ward, was chosen in the top-12 Thursday. Seven of those first 12 were on the offensive and defensive lines.  

A second quarterback wasn’t taken until pick No. 25, when the New York Giants traded back into the first round to snag Jaxson Dart of Ole Miss.   

For the first time ever, meanwhile, the draft was being held in Green Bay, Wisconsin, just outside Lambeau Field, the iconic home of the Packers.

Rounds two and three will take place Friday beginning at 4 p.m. Eastern Time, while rounds four through seven will be held Saturday beginning at noon. 

NFL Draft order and picks for the first round

• No. 1: Tennessee Titans — QB Cam Ward, Miami 

• No. 2: Jacksonville Jaguars (via trade with Cleveland) — CB/WR Travis Hunter, Colorado

• No. 3: New York Giants — DE Abdul Carter, Penn State

• No. 4: New England Patriots — OT Will Campbell, LSU

• No. 5: Cleveland Browns (via trade with Jacksonville) — DT Mason Graham, Michigan

• No. 6: Las Vegas Raiders — RB Ashton Jeanty, Boise State

• No. 7: New York Jets — OT Armand Membou, Missouri

• No. 8: Carolina Panthers — WR Tetairoa McMillan, Arizona

• No. 9: New Orleans Saints — OT Kelvin Banks Jr., Texas 

• No. 10: Chicago Bears — TE Colston Loveland, Michigan 

• No. 11: San Francisco 49ers — DE Mykel Williams, Georgia

• No. 12: Dallas Cowboys — G Tyler Booker, Alabama

• No. 13: Miami Dolphins — DT Kenneth Grant, Michigan 

• No. 14: Indianapolis Colts — TE Tyler Warren, Penn State

• No. 15: Atlanta Falcons — LB Jalon Walker, Georgia

• No. 16: Arizona Cardinals — DT Walter Nolen, Ole Miss

• No. 17: Cincinnati Bengals — DE Shemar Stewart, Texas A&M

• No. 18: Seattle Seahawks — G Grey Zabel, North Dakota State

• No. 19: Tampa Bay Buccaneers — WR Emeka Egbuka, Ohio State 

• No. 20: Denver Broncos — DB Jahdae Barron, Texas 

• No. 21: Pittsburgh Steelers — DT Derrick Harmon, Oregon  

• No. 22: Los Angeles Chargers — RB Omarion Hampton, North Carolina 

• No. 23: Green Bay Packers — WR Matthew Golden, Texas 

• No. 24: Minnesota Vikings — G Donovan Jackson, Ohio State 

• No. 25: New York Giants (via trade with Houston) — QB Jaxson Dart, Ole Miss

• No. 26: Atlanta Falcons (via trade with Los Angeles Rams) — DE James Pearce Jr., Tennessee

• No. 27: Baltimore Ravens — DB Malaki Starks, Georgia

• No. 28: Detroit Lions — DT Tyleik Williams, Ohio State

• No. 29: Washington Commanders — OT Josh Conerly Jr., Oregon

• No. 30: Buffalo Bills — CB Maxwell Hairston, Kentucky 

• No. 31: Kansas City Chiefs
• No. 32: Philadelphia Eagles