-
Close
ESPN NFL Insider
- Field Yates is a fantasy football expert and NFL draft analyst for ESPN. You can find him on Fantasy Football Now on Sunday mornings and regularly on NFL Live throughout the week, as well as the Fantasy Focus and First Draft podcasts. A graduate of Wesleyan University (CT) and native of Weston, Mass., Yates has previous experience interning with the New England Patriots on both their coaching and scouting staffs.
-
Close
Football analyst
- Mel Kiper Jr. has served as an NFL draft analyst for ESPN since 1984. He is a regular contributor on “SportsCenter,” ESPN studio shows and ESPN Radio. He is the co-host of the First Draft podcast, and he writes regularly for ESPN+.
The 2025 NFL draft is here. Field Yates and Mel Kiper Jr. are on the ground in Green Bay, Wisconsin, and making calls to sources around the league to figure out what will actually happen once teams are on the clock Thursday night (8 p.m. ET, ESPN/ABC/ESPN App).
Sorting through all of the smokescreens late in the process can be difficult. Which teams want quarterbacks, and where could they get them? Are any franchises eager to make trades up (or down) the board? And when could we see the surprise picks that always shake everything up? We asked our experts to predict all the action as we close in on the first pick:
-
Yates projected all 32 first-round picks in his final mock draft. After months of studying the top prospects, he wove together what he’s hearing, big team needs and how the board stacks up. He even included one big trade.
-
Kiper broke down his latest intel, predictions and nuggets to know after talking to execs, coaches and scouts from around the NFL. He touched on a bunch of Day 1 selections but also shared buzz on sleepers and possible trade candidates.
Let’s get to it. Here are Yates’ final projections for Round 1, along with Kiper’s best predictions and notes.
See more from 
:
Yates’ top 200 | Kiper’s top 150
Recent mock drafts
1. Tennessee Titans
Yates’ pick prediction: Cam Ward, QB, Miami
The Titans’ entire offseason has been structured around making Ward the first pick of the draft, as the team spent big along the offensive line with Dan Moore Jr. and Kevin Zeitler to protect its future signal-caller. Ward is a dynamic, innovative thrower, and he can be the answer under center in Tennessee.