The NFL draft is usually a quarterback lovefest—think The Bachelor finale, but with more playbooks and less rose-giving. This year? The 2025 Quarterback class cupboard feels emptier than a nacho platter at a Super Bowl party. With no surefire franchise saviors hogging the spotlight, positions like defensive line, tight end, and even safety are crashing the first-round conversation like uninvited guests who end up stealing the show.
Welcome to the 2025 draft, where “Who’s that?” might just be the most asked question. While teams scramble to find the next Patrick Mahomes, the real drama lies in the trenches and beyond. Think of it like Stranger Things shifting focus from Hawkins High to the Upside Down—less obvious, but way more intriguing.
Quarterback carousel spins into uncertainty
The New York Jets’ signing of Justin Fields feels less like a grand romance and more like a rebound fling. After 14 straight playoff misses and a messy breakup with Aaron Rodgers, Gang Green tossed Fields a two-year, $40 million “prove it” deal. But let’s be real: Fields’ résumé—4-2 as a Steelers starter last year, 16 career fumbles in 2022—is about as reliable as a TikTok weather forecast. Yet here we are.
BREAKING: Jets signing QB Justin Fields to two-year, $40M deal with $30M guaranteed. (via @rapsheet, @TomPelissero) pic.twitter.com/YJVKoikwuM
— NFL (@NFL) March 10, 2025
The 2025 Quarterback class? It’s thinner than the plot of Riverdale’s final season. Scouts are lukewarm on Colorado’s Shedeur Sanders and Miami’s Cam Ward, while Alabama’s Jalen Milroe and Ole Miss’ Jaxson Dart feel like lottery tickets with scratch-off odds. Hence, this isn’t a group that’ll have GMs sprinting to the podium. So, what’s a Quarterback-needy team to do?
The Jets, for example, are betting on Fields’ legs (1,143 rushing yards in 2022) and a young supporting cast featuring Garrett Wilson and Breece Hall. But if this experiment flops? Cue the Curb Your Enthusiasm theme—it’s back to the drawing board for a franchise that’s mastered the art of disappointment.
While the Jets’ Fields experiment grabs headlines, other Quarterback-needy teams are navigating the draft’s murky waters with varying strategies. The Pittsburgh Steelers, left scrambling after Fields’ exit, are eyeing a reunion with Russell Wilson or Aaron Rodgers. While flirting with trade targets like New England’s Joe Milton—a raw but rocket-armed project buried behind Drake Maye.
Speaking of the Patriots, they’re all-in on Maye as their franchise cornerstone. As they leave Milton as trade bait despite his untapped potential. Meanwhile, the Tennessee Titans (picking first overall) face a dilemma: reach for a shaky Quarterback prospect like Cam Ward or Shedeur Sanders, or snag Penn State’s generational pass-rusher Abdul Carter and kick the Quarterback can down the road.
Even teams like the Saints and Rams, lurking in the mid-rounds, are gambling on developmental options. Options like Tyler Shough or Jaxson Dart—proof that in a Quarterback drought, desperation and creativity go hand in hand.
Defensive Linemen Steal the Spotlight
If quarterbacks are the draft’s main course, this year’s defensive line class is the loaded nachos you can’t stop eating. Penn State’s Abdul Carter, a 6’3”, 250-pound edge rusher with a stress fracture and a top-five grade, headlines a group so deep it could fill a Marvel ensemble. Georgia’s Mykel Williams (6’6”, 260 lbs) and Texas A&M’s Shemar Stewart (4.67-second 40-yard dash at 267 lbs) bring Black Panther-level athleticism, while Michigan’s Mason Graham anchors the interior like a fridge full of bricks.
“You can’t have enough good ones,” Bears GM Ryan Poles said, referencing the Eagles’ D-line dominance in Super Bowl 59. Eleven defensive linemen could go in Round 1—a tidal wave of talent that’s forcing teams to rethink their boards. Even Colorado’s Travis Hunter, the two-way unicorn, is getting CB1 buzz despite playing receiver 50% of the time.
Meanwhile, Shedeur Sanders’ draft stock is slipping faster than a grocery bag with a hole. Critics point to his “uneasy” pocket presence, but Kurt Warner offered context: “I just want to see him more solid in the pocket and the ability to process quickly so he doesn’t have to get uneasy after first look and go create a throw. To stay in there, see it, understand it, and get the ball out a little bit more on time than I saw.”
When you’ve been sacked 94 times in two years, wouldn’t you twitch? Behind Colorado’s Swiss cheese O-line, Sanders’ toughness (playing through injections, per Deion Sanders) might be his best selling point. Besides, this draft isn’t about finding a hero…
It’s about building a roster that can survive without one. With Quarterbacks stuck in purgatory, teams are stockpiling defensive monsters, versatile tight ends (Penn State’s Tyler Warren is this year’s Gronk-lite), and hybrid playmakers. The Jets’ Fields gamble? It’s a subplot in a bigger story.
In a year without a Caleb Williams, you either get creative or get left behind. So grab your popcorn. The 2025 Quarterback class might lack star power, but the chaos? That’s must-see TV.
Main Photo Credit: Stephanie Amador Blondet-Imagn Images
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