Honest Draft Grades for Every NFL Team

Ben Byrne
6 min read12 hours ago

The 2025 NFL draft is complete, which means it’s time for pundits across the sports universe to give out their grades. But none approach their analysis with the candor the moment truly calls for. I’m here to do what must be done because others will not.

Arizona Cardinals
If Will Johnson can stay healthy, he’ll be an huge boon for the Cardinals’ secondary. But no one knows at this point if that’ll happen, so it’s hard to know how to grade things this early.
Grade: Incomplete

Atlanta Falcons
After last year’s bizarre pick of Michael Penix Jr, the Falcons steered clear of controversy by drafting for their pass rush this year. But since no one they drafted can resolve the QB situation, it remains to be see how these picks will pan out.
Grade: Incomplete

Baltimore Ravens
The Ravens had 11 picks in this years draft, four of them in round 6. They probably all won’t make the team, but some of them may turn out to be stars — we just have to wait and see.
Grade: Incomplete

Buffalo Bills
Unlike Josh Allen, who is an alien, the players the Bills drafted this year all appear to be human beings — so they’re all flawed. But maybe some of them will turn into good professional football players, we’ll have to see how they perform in the league to know.
Grade: Incomplete

Carolina Panthers
With Tetairoa McMillan and Princely Umanmielen, the Panthers have shown they’re serious about contributing to the “All-Name” team this fall. It’s not clear yet how any of these guys will fare on the field, though.
Grade: Incomplete

Chicago Bears
To quote NFL.com: “Loveland is a talented player, but we’ll see over the next couple of years whether fellow tight end Tyler Warren, who went four picks later, would have been the better selection.” Indeed we will.
Grade: Incomplete

Cincinnati Bengals
If most of their later-round picks develop into solid starters, this will be an A+ draft for the Bengals in the always-tough AFC North. It’s just too soon to know if that will happen or not.
Grade: Incomplete

Cleveland Browns
The Browns may regret trading down away from Travis Hunter, only time will tell. We can be sure, however, that by drafting Shedeur Sanders (later than expected) they made up for drafting Dillon Gabriel (earlier than expected), and will definitely wind up failing to maximize one of those picks as they can’t both turn into starters.
Grade: Incomplete

Dallas Cowboys
With Jerry Jones running the team, you never know if the Cowboys are going to wind up drafting successes like Micah Parsons or busts like Taco Charlton. It’s enough to make you wonder if maybe NFL scouts and draftniks can ever be sure if a given player will be a success.
Grade: Incomplete

Detroit Lions
The Lions have been very good the last few years, which is kind of a new thing for them, but the loss of OC Ben Johnson to the Bears means… well we’re not sure what it means quite yet. Probably some of the players they drafted will help offset his loss, but we’re not sure which ones yet.
Grade: Incomplete

Green Bay Packers
The Pack finally drafted a first-round receiver, who they’re no doubt hoping will be be really good, or they probably would have drafted someone else. If Golden doesn’t become a surefire WR1, this draft class will probably be a disappointment.
Grade: Incomplete

Houston Texans
Rumor has it GM Nick Caserio is now on the phone with the Jets trying to complete his collection of ISU WRs by trading for Allen Lazard. It’s not clear yet if all the Jayli/ens will be worth where they were drafted, though.
Grade: Incomplete

Indianapolis Colts
In the fourth round the Colts picked up Jalen Travis, who weighs 340 lbs yet reportedly has a 35-inch vertical leap. This should not be possible. That may or may not translate to on-field success for him or any of their other picks.
Grade: Incomplete

Jacksonville Jaguars
The Jaguars took a big risk by trading up the first round to nab Travis Hunter with the second pick. It’s a risky move because, as it turns out, no one is ever 100% sure who from the draft will wind up being great.
Grade: Incomplete

Kansas City Chiefs
Their first-round pick addresses a position of need, which is smart, but he’s coming off an injury, so it’s not entirely clear exactly how good he’ll wind up being, though presumably he at least won’t have to worry about getting called for many false starts as a member of the Chief’s O-line.
Grade: Incomplete

Las Vegas Raiders
Pete Carroll is so old that drafting an RB with a top-six pick sounded like a good idea. No doubt he’s hoping Jeanty will be as good as Marshawn Lynch, though it’s too soon to know, and honestly the Legion of Boom is why those Seahawks teams were so good anyway.
Grade: Incomplete

Los Angeles Chargers
The handful of Chargers fans seen in the SoFi Stadium stands each week are no doubt eager to see if the talented collection of players the team drafted will be busts or not.
Grade: Incomplete

Los Angeles Rams
The Rams made the unorthodox move of trading out of the first round, thus assuring they wouldn’t be able to draft a player in the first round who might or might not have worked out. They now have a first-rounder in 2026, which will be equally risky to use.
Grade: Incomplete

Miami Dolphins
Miami’s brass smartly elected to draft a bunch of really good football players, many of whom could be significant contributors at the next level if things work out.
Grade: Incomplete

Minnesota Vikings
The Vikings haven’t played in a Super Bowl in nearly 50 years, and only had five picks in this year’s draft. They would be better off drafting more players, particularly in the earlier rounds; with just a handful of new guys it’s hard to know if any will contribute.
Grade: Incomplete

New England Patriots
This once-feared franchise has been terrible lately, which has elicited sympathy from no one living west of Hartford. This year they had a lot of draft picks and used several on special teamers, which I’m sure their old coach approves of, but it’s not clear yet if that was a good strategy.
Grade: Incomplete

New Orleans Saints
With some major roster concerns, the Saints drafted more for need rather than aiming for “best available player.” It’s not clear yet if that strategy will pay off or not.
Grade: Incomplete

New York Giants
The Giants took the opposite approach as the Saints, adding Abdul Carter to an already solid group of guys on the edge. They also traded up to draft a first-round quarterback, because those are always safe bets.
Grade: Incomplete

New York Jets
Sauce Gardner has been great, which goes to show: Even if all of this year’s picks turn out to be decent players, they’re all still on the Jets. And that tends to not work out well.
Grade: D

Philadelphia Eagles
How is it possible for the reigning Super Bowl champs to have ten picks? Is that even allowed? GM Howie Roseman is clearly playing three-dimensional chess. Pity this is football.
Grade: Incomplete

Pittsburgh Steelers
This year’s haul will assuredly provide the injection of talent Mike Tomlin’s squad needs to finish over .500 while not seriously threatening for a league title.
Grade: Incomplete

San Francisco 49ers
If Shanahan and Lynch are so good at this they could turn Mr. Irrelevant into an MVP candidate, why did they burn so much draft capital for Trey Lance? Makes you wonder if this whole draft-grading thing is perhaps nonsense.
Grade: Incomplete

Seattle Seahawks
Speaking of Trey Lance, Grey Zabel joins him and Carson Wentz as the only first-round picks ever from NDSU. Nothing to worry about, Seahawks fans!
Grade: Incomplete

Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Perhaps inspired by the Browns’ QB approach, the Bucs took two players at each position they drafted for. Unlike the Browns, however, Tampa Bay focused on positions that allow more than one on the field at a time.
Grade: Incomplete

Tennessee Titans
The last time a quarterback named Cam was taken first overall, he wound up winning a league MVP award. Coincidence? Probably, considering exactly none of the other nine QBs to be drafted first since have. The other 8 players the Titans drafted are irrelevant.
Grade: Incomplete

Washington Commanders
Last year, the Commanders earned a C+ from Yahoo! Sports for taking Jayden Daniels with the second overall pick, a grade so incredibly out of line with how he performed it’s enough to make you wonder if grading draft picks before they’ve played a single down is actually useful in any way.
Grade: Incomplete

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Ben Byrne
Ben Byrne

Written by Ben Byrne

Founder of @Cornershop. Creator of @PlayBaconWars. Father of two. And yet, also somehow extraordinarily lazy.

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