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NFL Draft season is officially upon us. The Senior Bowl is in the rearview mirror. Next up is the NFL Combine.
Most Round 1 mock drafts I’ve seen project at least a dozen former SEC football stars to hear their names called on Day 1 of the 2025 NFL Draft on Thursday, April 24, at Lambeau Field in Green Bay.
When it comes to the draft, trades and teams drafting for need over talent skew the order a bit. The best players don’t always go first. For example, it’s possible a QB goes No. 1 overall this year, though many analysts have Penn State edge rusher Abdul Carter at the top of their draft boards.
So which ex-SEC guys are the top prospects in the 2025 NFL Draft? I’ll give you my top 10, but first, a few honorable mentions:
Honorable Mentions
- Walter Nolen, DL, Ole Miss
- James Pearce Jr., Edge, Tennessee
- Jihaad Campbell, LB, Alabama
Leaving these 3 talented defenders out of the top 10 was tough, but it just speaks to the depth of this year’s class from the SEC. I believe all 3 of these guys will go in Round 1 and could be impact starters from Day 1. Pearce, the former Tennessee star, is a guy who could skyrocket up draft boards with a strong showing at the NFL Combine later this month. But the 10 guys I have ahead of them are also potentially special NFL players. So let’s dive into that top-10 list.
10. Jaxson Dart, QB, Ole Miss
Right now, Cam Ward and Shedeur Sanders are seen by many as the top QBs in the draft class. I predict that changes before April 24. Between the NFL Combine and Pro Days, I expect Dart to jump 1 if not both of the guys ahead of him.
He’s a tough runner, but he also has a ton of arm talent. He can work the boundaries:
And, more importantly, he’s able to keep his eyes downfield while escaping the pocket so he can make throws like this:
Lane Kiffin, Dart’s coach at Ole Miss, has NFL coaching experience, so Dart will know what scouts and teams are looking for. If a team drafts him and lets him follow the Drake Maye plan (sitting for the first half of the season before taking over), I think Dart can find a great deal of success at the NFL level. Don’t be surprised if he climbs into Round 1 before all is said and done.
9. Jahdae Barron, DB, Texas
Even if Barron was afraid of coming up to help with the run and wasn’t great behind the line of scrimmage, he’d still be a first-round pick. But what makes him truly special is how quickly he can diagnose plays and attack at full speed:
I might be too low on Barron here, so I’m open to reassessing after the Combine. Texas’s secondary was elite this season, and Barron was a major reason why.
8. Matthew Golden, WR, Texas
Route-running. Speed. Hands.
That’s what it takes to be a good wide receiver. Golden is above-average in all 3 of those aspects. Even when Texas QB Quinn Ewers wasn’t at his best, Golden would get open and make plays on less-than-stellar passes.
Here’s a look at his impressive highlight reel from a season where he led the Longhorns’ receivers:
Golden doesn’t seem like a diva like some other top NFL receivers (you know the ones), so he should slot right into an NFL locker room and make an immediate impact. I think he sneaks into the pick No. 20-30 range of the draft before all is said and done.
7. Luther Burden III, WR, Mizzou
Teams interested in trading for Deebo Samuel of the San Francisco 49ers should maybe look at picking a younger, only slightly smaller, much cheaper version of Samuel in the draft. LBIII is mini-Deebo, as he’s proven over the past 3 seasons at Mizzou.
As a Mizzou alum and fan, I was underwhelmed by Burden in 2024, but a lot of that had to do with the Tigers’ baffling knack for not getting him the ball in space. That’s on the play-calling and QB play, not on Burden.
I also have concerns about his drive, as there were way too many possessions where he was on the sidelines for a key first down simply because he… ran routes… on the previous 2 plays.
I want to see more out of Burden, but when he does make plays, it’s electric:
If Burden ends up in the right situation with the right play-caller/QB combo, he’ll be an elite NFL receiver sooner rather than later.
6. Shemar Stewart, Edge, Texas A&M
Stewart is one of the toughest reads in this year’s class. At his best, he’s a top-10 pick. But he needs to develop more consistency.
His best is elite. He can get off the ball in a hurry and diagnose what the offense is trying to do in the blink of an eye:
Those are elite plays, but Stewart needs to make those plays with more consistency at the pro level. Still, just knowing he has that ability in him is why I have him so high on my draft board.
Guys can flip the switch in the right situations. Just look at what Jalen Carter accomplished with the Philadelphia Eagles this past season. I think, with the right team, the former Texas A&M star will reach his full potential.
5. Mykel Williams, DL, Georgia
Williams isn’t an elite pass rusher, but he is great against the run. He can clog up multiple gaps along the offensive line and has a great sense of where to be and when.
He had some injury issues this past season at Georgia, but his talent is too intriguing for NFL teams to pass on. He probably won’t be the pass-rusher a guy like Chris Jones is for the Kansas City Chiefs, but he’ll be just as good against the run and will cause the pocket to collapse a couple of times a game, allowing his teammates to pick up the sack.
Williams has a lot to gain from potentially having a strong NFL Combine or Pro Day showing.
4. Armand Membou, OL, Mizzou
Membou has been rising up draft boards in a hurry and it’s easy to see why. He’s helped anchor the right side of the Tigers’ offensive line the last 3 years. But the last 2 years have been electric. Mizzou has won 10 games in each of the past 2 seasons and in 2023, RB Cody Schrader led the SEC in rush yards.
South Carolina star Dylan Stewart will be a first-round pick when his time comes, and just look at how Membou held his own against him:
He’ll likely be drafted later than the next 2 linemen on my list, but he’ll be a plug-and-play guy at right tackle for the next decade in the pro ranks.
3. Will Campbell, OL, LSU
If you’re looking for a Day 1 starter at left tackle, Campbell is your guy. He’s seen it all at LSU. He’s the kind of guy you draft, plug in at left tackle and forget about for the next decade.
I mean that as the utmost compliment, as hearing an offensive lineman’s name during a broadcast almost always means he’s committed a penalty.
Here’s Campbell more than holding his own against Texas A&M’s Shemar Stewart, who I mentioned earlier in this column:
He has plenty of room to improve (who doesn’t?), but if he ends up going to New England, where many analysts are currently projecting him to be drafted, he’ll quickly become Drake Maye’s best friend.
2. Kelvin Banks Jr., OL, Texas
In contrast to Campbell, I think Banks can start somewhere along an NFL offensive line on Day 1, but he’ll need a year or 2 to develop into a star left tackle.
But when he does figure it all out, watch out. I think he has the highest upside of any offensive lineman in this year’s draft class, and that will be enticing to a bunch of teams. He showed flashes of it at Texas, but I would have liked to see him dominate more consistently.
Will he go ahead of Campbell? We’ll see how he performs at the Combine and during his Pro Day, but he has the size and skills to be a future Hall of Fame inductee.
1. Jalon Walker, Edge, Georgia
I have Walker listed as an edge rusher because that’s the more valuable position in the NFL, but he would be just as comfortable as a more-traditional linebacker. He’s incredibly smart on the field, reading plays and reacting in an instant.
Watch him on this play against Texas. As the spy on Arch Manning, he bides his time until Manning commits to escaping the pocket. Then Walker is on him in an instant, flashing incredible speed:
This play against Florida is a more typical pass rush, but watch how he fakes out the Florida lineman before getting to the QB:
All I’m going to say is that 1 of the other 31 NFL teams better step up and take Walker so the Eagles don’t get yet another elite Georgia defender.
Adam is a daily fantasy sports (DFS) and sports betting expert. A 2012 graduate of the University of Missouri, Adam now covers all 16 SEC football teams. He is the director of DFS, evergreen and newsletter content across all Saturday Football brands.
