NASHVILLE – NFL Network draft analyst Daniel Jeremiah has Penn State edge rusher Abdul Carter as the top-rated player in the 2025 NFL Draft.
And, in his first mock draft, Jeremiah has the Titans taking Carter with the first overall pick.
But, Jeremiah knows it may not be that simple.
On a conference call on Thursday, Jeremiah was asked about the possibilities for the Titans, and he presented plenty of options.
“I look at them and to me I think there’s really a couple options,” Jeremiah said of the Titans. “I think it’s three players – I think it’s Abdul Carter, I think it’s (Colorado cornerback) Travis Hunter, or (Miami quarterback) Cam Ward. I think you’re deciding between those three players, and then the fourth option is to trade. If I am Tennessee, I am not going past three (in a trade) unless I get an enormous haul, and I don’t think you’re going to get that in this draft. To me, I think that is what their decision is going to come down to.”
Carter has been a game-changer at Penn State, while Hunter won the Heisman Trophy at Colorado for making plays on both sides of the football.
Ward is considered the top quarterback in this year’s draft, ahead of Colorado’s Shedeur Sanders.
In Jeremiah’s initial ranking of the Top 50 prospects, behind Carter (1st) and Hunter (2nd), he has Boise State running back Ashton Jeanty ranked 3rd, Michigan defensive tackle Mason Graham ranked 4th and Penn State tight end Tyler Warren ranked 5th.
Jeremiah has Ward ranked 10th on his Top 50 prospects list, and Sanders ranked 11th.
In his most recent mock, after having the Titans take Carter first overall, he has Ward going 2nd to the Browns and Sanders going 6th overall to the Raiders. Jeremiah has the Giants picking Hunter at 3rd overall.
Jeremiah is intrigued by pairing Carter with Jeffery Simmons and T’Vondre Sweat on the defensive line in Tennessee, but he acknowledged the team’s potential interest in a quarterback.
“It depends on what you are looking for,” Jeremiah said. “I have a very similar grade on Abdul Carter and Travis Hunter, I have Abdul Carter a little bit higher than him. It is such a premier position, and when you look at the pieces already on that defensive line, and you go out and get Abdul Carter, I think you’ve got a chance to have one of the best units in the league. So that’s a good foundation to build off of.
“But they need to do their homework on Cam Ward, and if they feel confident and comfortable with him and they feel like he can be their guy going forward, I wouldn’t have any issue whatsoever if they decided that was going to be the direction they went.”
Jeremiah said he hasn’t yet heard much buzz about trade action for the first overall pick, although he said it’s early.
Jeremiah said he’s not sure the Titans could get the “traditional haul” for moving from one, just because of the mixed opinions on the quarterbacks in this year’s draft class.
“To move back to 3,” Jeremiah speculated, “you’re getting next year’s 1, I guess. You start there. But in terms of how much on top of that, I don’t I know that you get traditional cost and prices this year.”
The NFL Combine begins next week in Indianapolis, where all 32 NFL teams will gather.
“I haven’t heard much buzz about action at this point and time,” Jeremiah of a potential trade. “Usually, the combine is when that could pick up a little bit, you start hearing some buzz if someone falls in love with the quarterback. That’s where the trades happen, and that would be interesting.”
