Shedeur Sanders No. 1 Overall, Travis Hunter to the Patriots; Field Yates’ Top 10 Mock Draft is Truly Intriguing

We’ve now reached the final four weeks of the 2024 NFL season. That means teams—especially those at the bottom of the totem pole—are starting to look beyond this campaign. Similarly, we’ve reached the Bowl game and College Football Playoff season in the NCAA, which means players only have a couple more games to impress NFL scouts.

For both the pros and the college levels, soon it’s going to be all about the NFL draft. For some, like Field Yates, it already is.

One of the foremost NFL draft experts in the nation, Yates revealed his latest 2025 NFL Mock Draft, and the ESPN reporter seems to have nailed it.

Yates’ mock draft seems to nail each team’s biggest need

Shedeur Sanders currently boasts the shortest odds (-125) to be selected No. 1 overall. And Yates thinks the New York Giants are on the way to finishing with the worst record. They have lost eight straight and seem to have given up on the campaign altogether.

It’s clear that their No. 1 need right now is a quarterback as well. Daniel Jones was cut to mercifully end one of the most boneheaded sagas in recent NFL history. Backups Drew Lock and Tommy DeVito have also left much to be desired. Even in a year that is widely believed to feature one of the weaker QB classes over the last few years, the G-Men will need to reach one, and Shedeur seems to be the cream of this crop.

At No. 2, we have the Las Vegas Raiders selecting Miami QB and Heisman Trophy finalist Cam Ward. The Raiders QB room is about as big a mess as the one in New York, and we don’t see any light at the end of this season’s tunnel. They will almost certainly select whoever the Giants don’t between Sanders and Ward. And they’ll be happy with that. Vegas’ current QBs, Gardner Minshew and Aidan O’Connell, have gone from plucky with potential to frustratingly subpar.

The New England Patriots have one of the toughest remaining schedules, so we wouldn’t be surprised to see them selecting at No. 3. It would be perfect for them if those two QB-needy teams draft before them because they’ve already got a great-looking QB prospect in Drake Maye.

Unfortunately, they need help at every other position. Nabbing the best and most versatile athlete on the board in Heisman favorite Travis Hunter feels like the smart pick. It’s unlikely, but Hunter might be able to fill two holes for a team that’s plagued with them.

Next up are the Carolina Panthers picking at No. 4. Carolina has been one of the friskiest underdogs in the country over the last few weeks, so we’re not sure they do end up drafting this high. Wherever they end up in the first round, however, they’re definitely taking a pass-rusher.

They traded their former top edge guy, Brian Burns, to the Giants last year, and they haven’t replaced his production. This year, the Panthers have just 25 sacks, the 4th-fewest in the league, while pressuring QBs at a 15.9 percent rate, the lowest in the NFL. Penn State’s Abdul Carter had 11 sacks this year, and just won the Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year award, so he makes sense here.

Texas left tackle Kelvin Banks Jr. was the 6th-highest-rated tackle by PFF this year. He’s allowed just one QB hit and one QB sack this season. Meanwhile, the Cleveland Browns, who are hypothetically picking here at No. 5, have been employing a platoon of Jedrick Wills and Dawand Jones in that spot. They’ve combined to allow seven sacks, and the Browns as a team have allowed the 2nd-most sacks this season (53). The Browns have finished paying off the Deshaun Watson trade, however, so there is a chance they trade up and steal one of those top QBs instead.

At No. 6, the New York Jets select Michigan defensive tackle Mason Graham. This seems like a “best player available” selection considering the Jets are already pretty strong along the defensive line. New York actually has a pretty solid roster overall. However, they may also opt to snag one of the top offensive tackles as well. The Jets’ offensive line revamp didn’t really work out this year.

The Tennessee Titans have a lot of needs. At No. 7, they fill one with the best wide receiver prospect in the draft in Tetairoa McMillan, who has been having a ball this season for Arizona. He’s a massive target at 6’5″ and 212 pounds, and he has a nose for the end zone, with 26 TDs in 37 college games. He should make life easier for whoever the Titans decide to stick at QB.

Will Johnson out of Michigan is one of the best cornerback prospects we’ve seen in a little while. The Jacksonville Jaguars have given up more yards to wide receivers than all but three other NFL teams this year. Cornerback is clearly an issue, and Johnson should be the start of the solution at No. 8. The Jags might be picking a little higher than this, though.

Caleb Williams has been scared out of his mind for nearly his entire rookie year. That’s because the Chicago Bears offensive line has been doing their best impression of a set of turnstiles this season. They’ve given up a league-high 56 sacks this year, so they need help. No matter where the Bears pick in the first round, they’re going to tackle. LSU’s Will Campbell seems like he’d fit the bill. He might not be here at No. 9 in real life, however.

Teams are built through the trenches, so the New Orleans Saints beginning their rebuild by nabbing a pass rusher like Georgia’s Mykel Williams at No. 10 would be a smart move. His sack numbers are not overly impressive, but he’s built to play edge in the NFL at 6’5″ and 265 pounds of chiseled muscle.