Well Steelers fans it’s officially Draft Week! Some of the SCB crew got together over Easter weekend and between egg hunts, BBQs, and drinking heavily- er, milk of course- we put together our 2025 First Round Mock Draft!
We had five total participants, picked a random order and divided the picks evenly. As a consensus, we all agreed that Cam Ward would go first overall so we started with Cleveland at pick number two. There were no trades allowed, just the picks where they stood as of the time of the mock. The participants were as follows:
First up, SCB’s newest contributor Dom.
Second, yours truly Cliff.
Third was the Steel City Blitz OG himself, Steel Dad aka Marc.
Fourth SCB Producer Extraordinaire, Aaron
And lastly, everyone’s favorite Stat Master, Ian.
Picks 2-6
Cleveland Browns- Travis Hunter, WR/CB Colorado
Giants- Abdul Carter, Edge, Penn State
Patriots- Armand Membou, OT, Missouri
Jaguars- Mason Graham, DL, Michigan
Raiders- Ashton Jeanty, RB, Boise State
No huge surprises here, other than maybe Steel Dad selecting Membou over Will Campbell. However, Membou has gained steam over the past several weeks and has quickly risen up draft boards where Campbell has seemed to cool some.
Picks 7-11
Jets- Tetairoa McMillan, WR, Arizona
Panthers- Jalon Walker, LB, Georgia
Saints- Jaxson Dart, QB, Ole Miss
Bears- Will Campbell, OT, LSU
49ers- Will Johnson, CB, Michigan
Our first big shocker of the mock with the selection of Jaxson Dart over Shedeur Sanders. Steel Dad is mixing things up! There have been reports of the Sanders camp not approving of certain teams, and Shedeur not doing so well in some team interviews so this is really not that much outside the realm of possibility.
Picks 12-16
Cowboys- Luther Burden III, WR, Missouri
Dolphins- Nick Emmanwori, S, South Carolina
Colts- Tyler Warren, TE, Penn State
Falcons- Mike Green, Edge, Marshall
Cardinals- Kelvin Banks, OT, Texas
The first Safety off the board here, and ahead of Malaki Starks. Emmanwori tested himself into this position. Also somewhat surprising that Burden went ahead of Golden and Egbuka, but Dom feels that he is a better fit for the Cowboys.
Picks 17-21
Bengals- Walter Nolan, DT, Ole Miss
Seahawks- Grey Zabel, OL, Noth Dakota State
Buccaneers- Shemar Stewart, Edge, Texas A&M
Broncos- Emeka Egbuka, WR, Ohio State
Steelers- Derrick Harmon, DT, Oregon
A bit of a surprising pick here with Walter Nolen going ahead of Harmon and Grant. Nolan seems to be a love/hate prospect but some teams do really love his athleticism and confidence. Also, Grey Zabel going ahead of both Booker and Simmons seems off at first glance, but Zabel brings more versatility. The Seahawks have several holes on their o-line.
Picks 22-26
Chargers- Mathew Golden, WR, Texas
Packers- Mykel Williams, Edge, Georgia
Vikings- Malaki Starks, S, Georgia
Texans- Josh Simmons, OT, Ohio State
Rams- Jihaad Campbell, LB, Alabama
Slight surprise that Malaki Starks fell this far in the first round. Some teams we put off by his testing numbers. However he is a really good football player and still worthy of being a first round selection.
Picks 27-32
Ravens- Tyler Booker, OG, Alabama
Lions- James Pearce Jr., Edge, Tennessee
Commanders- Donovan Ezeiruaku, Edge, Boston College
Bills- Jahdae Barron, DB, Texas
Chiefs- Aireontae Ersery, OT, Minnesota
Eagles- Kevin Winston, Jr., S, Penn State
Tyler Booker falls to the Ravens in this scenario and the Ravens do what they do- wait for good football players to fall to them. With a strong coaching staff and defensive mentors in place in Detroit, character is less of a concern and James Pearce, Jr. finally finds his new team. The Eagles can go a number of different ways here, and if they really covet Winston Jr. he may not be available at the end of the next frame.
Mock Draft Wrap Up
All in all, I think we did pretty well. It is pretty close to impossible to accurately pick which team will do what, and there are always some head scratchers. We won’t know for 3-4 years what picks will actually pan out anyway. But I have to say this was a very fun exercise, and I’m looking forward to comparing our picks against the actual ones on Thursday!
