The plan was to do a "winners and losers" piece from night one of the 2025 NFL Draft, but honestly, there weren't too many losers from the first round.
The underlying story heading into the second round is the fact that Shedeur Sanders is still on the board. Oh, and the Pittsburgh Steelers still don't have a quarterback (paging Aaron Rodgers). Besides that, it was a very positive night for most of the league.
2025 NFL Draft home run picks
Here are night one's top winners:
1. New York Giants
One of two teams to make two picks in the first round, the Giants secured a potential generational talent in Abdul Carter and got their quarterback of the future in Jaxson Dart. Carter has been universally known as the top edge rusher of this draft, and Dart has the potential to be the best quarterback in this draft class. It's a double win for the G-Men on night one.
2. Atlanta Falcons
The other team that traded back into the first round also made the most of it, as the Falcons selected two dynamic defensive players in Jalon Walker and James Pearce Jr. Talk about creating havoc for opposing offenses. Pearce Jr. is one of the steals of the draft at No. 26, who was at one time considered the top edge rusher in this draft. Walker is also a menace off the edge and made life miserable for the best of the best offenses in the SEC, including national semifinalist Texas.
3. Jacksonville Jaguars
This one goes without saying, and the Jaguars are arguably the top winner of the first round as they secured Travis Hunter. Besides a franchise quarterback, it doesn't get much bigger than a guy like Hunter, who is the first player in the Draft era to be announced as a two-way player during his selection. A true franchise player and cornerstone, Hunter has Duval abuzz with what is to come in Jacksonville.
4. Philadelphia Eagles
"The rich get richer," as the newest member of the Eagles, Jihaad Campbell, said. Fans and the ESPN broadcast team alike were shocked to see him available at 31, and the defending Super Bowl Champions were even more so as they traded up one spot from 32 to 31 to nab Campbell. A top-10 level talent, he joins one of the better defenses in the NFL already - and that is a scary sight for opposing offenses.
5. Green Bay Packers
What do you do when you're the home team and host of the NFL Draft? You make a splash in the first round. And make a splash they did, drafting Texas wide receiver Matthew Golden with the No. 23 overall pick. It was the first time since 2002 that the Packers drafted a WR in the first round, and the crowd of 205,000 loved every minute of it.
Honorable mention:
I loved the picks of Ashton Jeanty to the Las Vegas Raiders, Colston Loveland to the Chicago Bears, Tyler Warren to the Indianapolis Colts, Emeka Egbuka to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and Omarion Hampton to the Los Angeles Chargers.
Pretty much every team can give themselves a pat on the back after the first round. Will that continue into day two and day three? We will find out soon.