5 surprise NFL Draft first-round picks to look out for

Every year, there are players who surprise the NFL world by going higher than the consensus. Michael Penix Jr. will be in 8th place. Atlanta Falcons 2024, Cole Strange will go to Round 1 New England Patriots Many surprises that threw the 2022, and the NFL Draft to Tilt. 2025 has some surprises on Thursday. This is mainly due to how unknown it is in this class.

Perhaps after the first two or three picks, everything is on the table. The gap between the 10th and 28th players on some boards may not be as big as traditional wisdom suggests, so Thursday could be excited. Here are players who think you might be surprised how quickly they can go.

Grey Sabell, IOL, North Dakota

Many see it as the top interior lineman of this class, and Zabelle’s name is called much higher than the general consensus. There have been many rumors about the team that views Zabel as a center or guard, with his quality athletic ability and athletic skills. On mobile, he has a lot of potential at the pivot point as Zabel played guard and center and looked like one of the best linemen there. There were rumors that Zabel would reach 12 Dallas CowboysSo I’d be looking for his name on the first day.

Trey Amos, CB, Ole Miss

After CBS Travis Hunter, Jada Evalon, Wil Johnson and Maxwell Hairston leave the board, the next guy can be anyone. If you have CB after those top guys, and you think you’ll leave sooner than I believed, it’s Amos. He has enough speed, but in Cover 2 or quarter coverage, he is physical and wants to confuse the guy with the line of scrimmage. He also had a clean health bill and ran fast at the combine. His physicality and ball skills are useful as many teams need help at cornerback near the end of the first round.

Jaylin Noel, WR, Iowa

This receiver class is interesting to say the least. With Travis Hunter going early, the Beijing order is a bit fluid. This gives a lot of opportunities for people like Noel to jump into the first round. For teams that require game break speed at receiver spots, Noel has an easy second gear, allowing easy access to the defenses of the second and third levels. He may be the second receiver, but a team like the Rams makes a lot of sense to him.

Ohio, DT, Ty Lake Williams

Photo: Photo by Steve Limentani/ISI/Getty Images

This defensive tackle class was deep and we could see a team jumping to Williams in round one if the top guys left the board relatively quickly. Mason Graham, Derrick Harmon, Kenneth Grant and Walter Noren all believe they’re gone by the end of the first round. If you learn anything from the Eagles’ Super Bowl victory, then it’s that spinning with a defensive lineman like a hockey shift could be best. Williams could be a rock in the sturdy NFL Run Defense.

Nic Scourton, Edge, Texas A&M

Schoolton’s profile is an interesting case of measuring 2023 vs 2024 tapes. In 2023, Schoolton was slim, threatening from the edge to Purdue, and showed rather sick speed for a man of his size. However, after moving Texas A&M And then he looked slowly, putting up about 20 pounds on defense, losing the second gear he had in Purdue. At the combine he came in with a 257 pound slim and looked like the guy he was in Purdue. If the team believed in players who could set the edge in the run game and win with power and violence, Schoolton could sneak into the back end of the first round.