I saw Bob Dylan play a concert a few years ago and it felt as though we’d entered into his living room uninvited. Dylan plays what he wants to hear, making him the antithesis of, say, the Rolling Stones or AC/DC who can guarantee the audience “Satisfaction” or “Thunderstruck.” I’m torn as to best practices given how much I like all these bands, but I think about the approaches specifically as it pertains to post-draft power rankings.
On one hand, should my post-free agency power rankings change at all? Should I just be obtuse or pedantic about the whole thing? Or, do I deliver on your desire to hear “Satisfaction” and overreact a bit?
For the sake of this exercise I chose the latter. It’s far more fun to feel excitement and ride the river than constantly manage and allocate your thoughts. I took some big swings on this one and I hope you’ll enjoy.
1. Philadelphia Eagles
Previous ranking: 1
The Eagles remain in the No. 1 spot. As colleague Albert Breer mentioned on The MMQB Podcast this week, let’s place the Howie Roseman love in proper context. Jalen Carter was available for a reason a few years back, and Jihad Campbell was also available to the Eagles at the very back end of Round 1 this year for a very different reason. Good teams with a solid core of veterans are allowed to take big chances. Speaking of which, I am very interested to see if anything can come of the back-to-back tackles Philly took in the sixth round out of big NCAA programs (Michigan and Texas). This is where the rich really get richer.
2. Buffalo Bills
Previous ranking: 2
I love hammering certain sides of the ball in order to create a healthy positional ecosystem. Buffalo clearly went into this draft on a mission. The team’s first five picks were: cornerback, defensive tackle, edge, defensive tackle and cornerback. Landon Jackson out of Arkansas is sneaky relevant given the lack of confidence we should have in Joey Bosa to stay healthy for an entire season.
3. Detroit Lions
Previous ranking: 3
Many of these draft classes have themes. I am notoriously suspicious of—but at the same time fascinated by—classes that are built on raw athleticism. If Dan Campbell can make a starter out of either Tate Ratledge, the guard out of Georgia, or Isaac TeSlaa, the wide receiver out of Arkansas, the NFC North is in big, big trouble. Detroit is swinging out of its shoes a bit but this team understands its breaking points and knows how to supplement via the draft.
4. Kansas City Chiefs
Previous ranking: 4
Just keep drafting big people. Seriously. That’s the plan. No more Clyde Edwards-Helaire picks to outsmart ourselves. And that’s exactly what Andy Reid and Brett Veach did here. A high-upside offensive tackle, a high-upside defensive tackle and a tackle-for-loss machine edge defender in the first three picks. The Chiefs’ needs are evident after a Super Bowl loss that will sting for a long while to come.
5. Denver Broncos
Previous ranking: 13
O.K., O.K., hear me out. We’re asked to react to how our thoughts have changed after the draft, and last year’s second-best defense nabbed the best cornerback available in Jahdae Barron. And, as Breer noted on the pod, second-round pick RJ Harvey is getting some Aaron Jones comps at the next level. If Bo Nix makes the leap, this team checks every box as having elite or close-to-elite talent at all key positions.
6. Los Angeles Chargers
Previous ranking: 9
The Chargers will always be a kind of universal basic income-like obsession for football writers. Something that is fun to talk about and imagine and theorize, but something that will absolutely never happen. That said, pairing Jim Harbaugh with two workhorse backs in Omarion Hampton and Najee Harris, a Poona Ford replacement in Jamaree Caldwell and a true stylistic complement to Ladd McConkey at wide receiver makes this team very much worth your time and attention. We’ve seen a marked improvement from a few weeks ago.
7. Baltimore Ravens
Previous ranking: 5
The Ravens had an excellent draft, although the club’s supposed zero tolerance position on off-field issues again gets a workout with the selection of Mike Green in the second round (Green twice denied accusations of sexual assault, once in college and once in high school). This defense will be able to evolve with the addition of another rangy safety (Malaki Starks) and high-upside edge (Green). However, the team took a new kicker before addressing any skill positions on the offensive side of the ball. Does the offense have the tools to evolve, too?
8. Green Bay Packers
Previous ranking: 7
Kudos to Matt LaFleur and Brian Gutekunst for realizing that, while amazingly talented, this receiver room needed fresh energy. We have seen both Sean McVay and Kyle Shanahan remake the complexion of their receiver rooms over the past two years. Now LaFleur added Matthew Golden and Savion Williams over the course of three rounds. While I thought the team could use some defensive tackle help, maybe the plan is to simply hang 35 each week—and the Packers are good enough to pull it off.
9. Washington Commanders
Previous ranking: 8
First-round tackle Josh Conerly Jr. is a monster of a prospect, but what I liked most about Washington’s draft was the addition of another big-time press corner in Trey Amos. Dan Quinn is back in all his glory and now has a defense that is starting to be able to backstop the torrid pace of his offense. If Amos pans out, we could be looking at another deep Commanders playoff run.
10. Dallas Cowboys
Previous ranking: 11
Yes, the team was bad a year ago, having been left for dead by its financially checked-out owner. But, this team gets Dak Prescott back and absolutely demolished this draft, with three possible high-end starters in Tyler Booker, Donovan Ezeiruaku and Shavon Revel Jr. out of East Carolina. The Revel pick has tide-turning capabilities if the cornerback can stay healthy.
11. Minnesota Vikings
Previous ranking: 6
I suppose much will be made of the Vikings “dropping” in my power rankings from the post-free agency version I wrote a few weeks back. But, in reality, I did not drop them nearly enough after the team pivoted to a redshirt freshman quarterback. I think J.J. McCarthy will be great and, yes, I know we just watched Jayden Daniels take the Commanders to the NFC title game. But we need to be reasonable about expectations. Still, beefing up the offensive interior and adding to the embarrassment of riches at the wide receiver position with the 4.3-speed Tai Felton is unnerving for opponents.
12. Seattle Seahawks
Previous ranking: 15
One of my biggest post-draft risers, the Seattle Seahawks, now have a do-everything offensive lineman in Gray Zabel, a big nickel workhorse in Nick Emmanwori and quarterback Jalen Milroe to add a Taysom Hill–like flare in the red zone. This team is going to score in different ways, run the ball more confidently in 2025 and put the finishing touches on the anti-Shanahan defense it started to build an offseason ago.
13. Cincinnati Bengals
Previous ranking: 10
I like the Shemar Stewart pick so long as it means Trey Hendrickson is coming back. Stewart is an RAS wonder with a perfect athletic score. He also led college football in pressure rate. While his sack numbers were lackluster thanks to an all-over blitzing scheme run by his head coach at Texas A&M, much of this season rests on the ability of last year’s big men, Amarius Mims, Kris Jenkins Jr. and McKinnley Jackson to make their presence felt.
14. Los Angeles Rams
Previous ranking: 12
As it stands, and before we can fully digest what wonders Les Snead has worked in the latter rounds of this draft, the Rams’ most noteworthy addition this offseason has been Davante Adams—and, really, you can subtract Cooper Kupp from that addition as well. Still, consider me intrigued by the hyper-athletic Terrance Ferguson out of Oregon, who could add a new dimension at tight end for this offense.
15. San Francisco 49ers
Previous ranking: 16
The 49ers are going to end up a top-five team in the end-of-season power rankings for 2025–26. This defensive overhaul is going to be nasty with the return of Robert Saleh to his comfort zone as Kyle Shanahan’s right-hand man. Outside of second-round pick Alfred Collins, one could argue that most of the Niners’ picks are theoretically “undersized,” however, all of them are screamers and can fly to the ball to disrupt. That’s key.
16. Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Previous ranking: 17
General manager Jason Licht replenished the team’s most valuable asset—the wide receiver room—before binging on corners and edge defenders. All of them seemed to fit Todd Bowles’s request heading into the year: Find me ballhawks. As much as we loved the Revel pick for Dallas, isn’t the Bucs’ Benjamin Morrison pick even less of an injury red flag with as much upside (at least in terms of value)? Morrison may have been a first-round pick had his collegiate career ended on a healthier note.
17. Chicago Bears
Previous ranking: 18
Man, is it getting harder and harder not to wonder whether the Bears are a top-10 team. You hate to fall in love with the team that has “won” the offseason, but Chicago isn’t just winning the offseason; the team is smashing it to pieces and striking literally every chord. Colston Loveland makes the Bears a 12-personnel fever dream if and when he can get on the practice field and start making a difference.
18. Las Vegas Raiders
Previous ranking: 19
The Raiders did not improve in sweeping ways when you look at the infrastructure and their health at vital positions, but they did get good enough to steal games—something the team came wildly close to doing with a league-basement-quality roster in 2024. Ashton Jeanty and Chip Kelly are the buddy cop movie we always wanted but never received.
19. Houston Texans
Previous ranking: 14
I can drop the Texans a few spots and still acknowledge that the team did the right thing in the draft. Houston had a necessary gutting this offseason and just so happened to get an offer too good to refuse at the back end of the first round (when the New York Giants traded up to pick Jaxson Dart). While one could make an argument that Houston should have remained home and selected Josh Simmons, Nick Caserio—a big fan of testing information and high-end potential—took some swings to see if he could solve Houston’s pressing issues in the latter rounds.
20. New England Patriots
Previous ranking: 21
The Patriots keep edging up the board on my power rankings. Right now, we have no choice but to assume that everyone they’ve signed will stay healthy and contribute in some way. Of course, that’s not true, but I can’t remember a team in this bad a roster shape one season and this promising a roster shape the next. This draft not only added starting talent but backstops some of the more short-term free-agent signings made by Mike Vrabel & Co.
21. Pittsburgh Steelers
Previous ranking: 20
Little movement for the Steelers because there is still no certainty at the QB position. It’s absolutely not safe to assume Aaron Rodgers is coming … because he isn’t there and said on television two weeks ago that retirement is an option. Is that unlikely, given that Pittsburgh did not spend its first-round pick on a passer? Yes. But a draft class of Derrick Harmon, the big-bodied Kaleb Johnson and Jack Sawyer is about as Steelers-like as the team could possibly go.
22. New York Jets
Previous ranking: 26
This team just makes a lot more sense now than it did a few months ago. The Jets were never a bad team with Aaron Rodgers, but they were a brutally unbalanced offense by the end of the season. Getting a mauler in Armand Membou and a high-upside tight end in Mason Taylor gives the Jets a young, dynamic offensive line capable of providing Justin Fields with options out of the backfield—and room to run.
23. Arizona Cardinals
Previous ranking: 24
When you pick my favorite player in the draft—Ole Miss defensive tackle Walter Nolen—you get a boost from the previous iteration of power rankings. It’s really that simple. I liked Jonathan Gannon taking a hold of the steering wheel and upgrading this defense in the interior (as well as pairing Nolen with the exemplary Calais Campbell). Will Johnson is a potential steal if the medical concerns surrounding him turn out to be overblown.
24. Atlanta Falcons
Previous ranking: 22
I think the Falcons will be better than 24. I really do. I think Michael Penix Jr. can be special. But I still can’t wrap my head around green-lighting the idea that a team should deal back into the first round and spend that kind of capital on a nonquarterback. Terry Fontenot has been all in since the Kyle Pitts draft and he’s either building an absolute stunner in Atlanta or he’s chasing one bad play after the next.
25. Indianapolis Colts
Previous ranking: 27
When you pick my other favorite player in the draft—Penn State tight end Tyler Warren—you also get a blindfolded pass from me in terms of how this is all going to work and make the Colts magically functional. It just will, all right? Still, I think Warren helps out some of the offensive line issues by giving the Colts formational versatility (and the ability to shoulder a blocker on his way out of the backfield). Plus, dear Lord, have you seen the size of fourth-round tackle Jalen Travis?
26. Jacksonville Jaguars
Previous ranking: 23
We have heard much from new Jaguars GM James Gladstone about the potential tide-altering power of Travis Hunter. Now, we need to see it in actuality. Pairing the NFL’s first unicorn prospect in years with a first-time head coach, a first-time defensive coordinator and a first-time general manager either has unseen potential or, you know, the opposite of that. I thought the Jaguars needed to get some protection for their top-end edge rushing talent, but the team may be hoping options on the roster, such as Arik Armstead and last year’s second-round pick Maason Smith, can patch the holes.
27. New York Giants
Previous ranking: 28
I don’t think the selection of Abdul Carter is that different from the pick of Travis Hunter in that we need imagination to make it work in actuality. Carter, Kayvon Thibodeaux and Brian Burns all need to appear on the field at the same time with the potential to hacksaw a quarterback in two. Otherwise, don’t waste my time. In all seriousness, this Giants team has taken a hard turn toward the prickly, no-frills attitude of its coach Brian Daboll. I think that’s a good thing.
28. Miami Dolphins
Previous ranking: 25
This team is just a ball of uncertainty. My biggest question: Did Miami wait too long to get tough? I suppose it’s never too late, but a run disruptor tackle in the first round, a versatile 330-pound guard in the second and a high school wrestler/former bodybuilder in Jordan Phillips in the fifth round are clear indications that GM Chris Grier knows where his deficiencies lie.
29. Carolina Panthers
Previous ranking: 29
Opinions on Tet McMillan were all over the place. If this pick somehow hits—clearly, Dave Canales was impacted by what he had in both Seattle’s receiving room and Tampa Bay’s—Carolina can turn the corner. While it’s hard to stomach the team passing up a blanket defensive draft class, coming away with expert edge setter Nic Scourton and chaos agent Princely Umanmielen is an excellent consolation prize.
30. Cleveland Browns
Previous ranking: 31
Cleveland can easily cut fifth-round pick Shedeur Sanders if he doesn’t work out. The early portions of this draft were incredibly well done and go a long way toward repairing this team swiftly. Help for Myles Garrett, a dynamic Nick Chubb replacement and a linebacker in Carson Schwesinger who, alongside Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah (if healthy) can change the innate capabilities of this defense are more worthy of your attention.
31. New Orleans Saints
Previous ranking: 30
What’s happening at the quarterback position? We don’t know. But enough is happening that a team strapped for need has taken a quarterback in the second round in Louisville’s Tyler Shough. If Shough has to start meaningful games this season, no matter how high his ceiling is, it’s indicative of the rocky road ahead for Kellen Moore.
32. Tennessee Titans
Previous ranking: 32
Drafting Cam Ward was the easy part. For Brian Callahan, it’s about putting the whole thing together. We saw a buckshot approach to new GM Mike Borgonzi’s first draft, especially when it came to finding some hidden gem as an offensive playmaker. The fourth round picks—Chimere Dike, Gunnar Helm and Elic Ayomanor—need to yield at least one hit in order to provide Ward more options.
This article was originally published on www.si.com as NFL Power Rankings: Impact of Draft on 2025 Season.
