The Steelers
21 Apr 2025, 16:30 GMT+10
The Triple Take crew of Dale Lolley, Matt Williamson and Mike Prisuta take a look at the top prospects in the upcoming 2025 NFL Draft, which will be held in April. Today, they give us their top-10 offensive players.
The opinions expressed here are their own and not those of the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Dale's Top 10
1. Ashton Jenty, RB, Boise State
2. Cam Ward, QB, Miami (Fla.)
3. Travis Hunter, WR, Colorado
4. Tyler Warren, TE, Penn State
5. Colston Loveland, TE, Michigan
6. Will Campbell, OT, LSU
7. Armand Membou, OT, Missouri
8. Omarion Hampton, RB, North Carolina
9. Josh Simmons, OT, Ohio State
10. Matthew Golden, WR, Texas
Dale's Take:Jenty's value as a runner and receiver makes him my top offensive player in this draft. He has the talent to change a team's fortunes as a player as he did at Boise State last season, carrying the team to the College Football Playoff. Hunter is No. 2 on this list. He's a talented wide receiver, but he's a better cornerback prospect in my opinion. If he had been in last year's draft simply as a wideout, he likely would have been fourth or even fifth in the rankings at that position. It's just not a great wide receiver draft. The tight ends, Warren and Loveland, are two of the safest picks in the first round of this draft. Both should be solid NFL players with a chance to be stars depending on where they wind up. Campbell and Membou both have questions regarding their arm length and size, but were excellent college tackles. Campbell gets the nod here because he played left tackle his entire career at LSU, while Membou played on the right side only. In both cases, if they don't work out at tackle, they could be excellent guards. Hampton seems like a relatively safe pick like Warren and Loveland. He should be a very solid NFL running back. Simmons is one of the wildcards in this draft. He's coming back from a torn patella in his knee, but is a quality prospect and has the length and footwork to settle in as a longtime starter at left tackle. Golden gets the nod as my No. 10 prospect over Arizona wide receiver Terairoa McMillan, Colorado quarterback Shedeur Sanders and Ohio State running back TreVeon Henderson (a surprise pick). But it was close in all three cases.
Matt's Top 10
1. Ashton Jeanty, RB, Boise State
2. Travis Hunter, WR, Colorado
3. Armand Membou, OT, Missouri
4. Cam Ward, QB, Miami
5. Josh Simmons, OT, Ohio State
6. Omarion Hampton, RB, North Carolina
7. Tyler Warren, TE, Penn State
8. Colston Loveland, TE, Michigan
9. Grey Zabel, OC, North Dakota State
10. Matthew Golden, WR, Texas
Matt's Take:I see three true blue-chip players in this draft class overall: Jeanty, Hunter (who obviously also plays cornerback), Abdul Carter, the edge defender from Penn State. Jeanty should quickly rank amongst the very best NFL running backs as soon as he enters the league. His contact balance is extremely rare as is his ability to gain chunk yardage after contact. As for Hunter, who is to say what percentage of his snaps and preparation time will be focused on the offensive side of the ball. That being said, he is truly an elite (yet raw) wide receiver prospect if he were to never set foot on the field at the NFL level on the defensive side of the ball. Compared to last year's offensive tackle class, Membou would not have been at the very top, but he is an excellent prospect nonetheless with very explosive athleticism and power. Ward is likely to be the first player drafted this year, but speaking of last year's excellent offensive draft class, he would have come in as my fourth-ranked quarterback behind Caleb Williams, Jaylen Daniels, and Drake Maye, but ahead of JJ McCarthy, Michael Penix, and Bo Nix-all of whom went in round one. Ranking Simmons was difficult, as his medicals are unclear, but in terms of what he displayed on tape, Simmons is the best pure tackle in this draft with prototypical traits. Hampton is a big back with great athletic measurables. He can grind out tough yards, hit the home run, and contribute quite a bit in the passing game. It looks as though it is pretty much a lock for two tight ends to be drafted in the first round this year. Warren is a bit more physical but need to be schemed up more than Loveland in terms of creating space in the passing game. Both are easily worth a first round selection. Zabel mostly played offensive tackle at a small school, but it isn't difficult to see what he could be at the next level on the inside, preferably at center. Don't be shocked if he is a top five player at that position before long. Golden barely edged out fellow wide receiver Tetairoa McMillan for the final spot on this list. Clearly this is a down wide out class compared to what has come down the pike in recent memory, but not only does Golden have blazing speed, but his stop/start and ability to come out of his breaks makes him extremely dangerous at all levels.
Mike's Top 10
1. Travis Hunter, WR, Colorado
2. Ashton Jeanty, RB, Boise State
3. Will Campbell, OT, LSU
4. Armand Membou, OT, Missouri
5. Cam Ward, QB, Miami (Fla.)
6. Emeka Ebuka, WR, Ohio State
7. Tyler Warren, TE, Penn State
8. Tyler Booker, OG, Alabama
9. Tetaiora McMillan, WR, Arizona
10. Jaxson Dart, QB, Mississippi
Mike's Take:Hunter's the best wide receiver available. And while that wouldn't be enough to deserve best-offensive-player-available status most years, this isn't most years and Hunter isn't most players. The potential two-way capability, in any capacity, makes him unique. You can't sleep on that if you have a chance to draft him (an opportunity not many teams will have) The running back is back in vogue on Sundays and Jeanty is the best of a very good bunch. He'll be an asset to any offense Now that Campbell's arm length has been measured at the magic number of 33 inches at his Pro Day, all the speculation regarding whether or not he should play guard can be put to bed. He's been handling left tackle since he was a true freshman at LSU. No need to overthink it now Membou, likewise, put an end to any he-might-move-inside speculation with a phenomenally athletic performance at the NFL Scouting Combine in Indianapolis. He's a high-first round right tackle. End of discussion Ward is QB1. And while there's a certain uncertainty attached to that based on how difficult it is to project quarterback success, there's also an upside that makes any risk with Ward worth taking I'm a lot higher on Egbuka than most but in any draft there are players that for some reason are undervalued, reasons that are hard to fathom well after the fact. Egbuka will end up being the poster child for the what-were-we-thinking look back at this year's draft eventually Warren did a little of everything at Penn State, where he reportedly wore No. 44 because his father showed him clips of John Riggins as an example of how football should be played. The lesson clearly resonated Booker plays guard, not tackle. But guards end up in the Hall-of-Fame, too. Booker may or may not make it to Canton, but he's coming from Alabama to the NFL with an agenda McMillan is a big-bodied, touchdown-scoring machine. He's also an artist when it comes to combat catches that at times defy description I'm way higher on Dart than most. A notable exception to the latter camp might be NFL Network analyst Daniel Jeremiah, who has likened Dart to Jalen Hurts (a player who, in retrospect was way undervalued) in terms of how the ball comes out, how Dart improved each season in college and how he succeeded as a runner in the mighty SEC. Would anybody be questioning the selection now if Hurts had been drafted in the first round, rather than 53rd overall in 2020? Sometimes you need to trust what you see, especially at QB.
Get a daily dose of Tuscaloosa Times news through our daily email, its complimentary and keeps you fully up to date with world and business news as well.
Publish news of your business, community or sports group, personnel appointments, major event and more by submitting a news release to Tuscaloosa Times.
More InformationWASHINGTON, D.C.: Ford is recalling more than 148,000 vehicles across two safety campaigns, according to a notice issued by the National...
NEW YORK CITY, New York: Archer Aviation has announced plans to start an air-taxi service in New York City, working with United Airlines....
TAIPEI, Taiwan: Taiwan's TSMC reported stronger-than-expected first-quarter earnings on Thursday, driven by booming demand for AI-related...
LONDON - Google is facing a multibillion-pound legal challenge in the UK over allegations it misused its dominance in online search...
Lyft is making its first move into Europe with the purchase of mobility platform FreeNow, a nearly $200 million deal that signals a...
NEW DELHI - India is preparing to scrap import taxes on U.S. ethane and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) as part of ongoing trade negotiations...
WASHINGTON DC - In a bid to combat illegal border crossings, the Trump Administration has enacted an emergency transfer of some 110,000...
DALLAS, Texas--- The Texas health department has reported a slight rise in the number of measles cases statewide, rising to 561 from...
As Marylanders filed their income tax returns this week or asked for extensions, a national tally showed where some of their tax dollars...
WASHINGTON, D.C.: The U.S. Military Academy and the U.S. Air Force Academy will no longer use race when deciding who gets in. For many...
The Triple Take crew of Dale Lolley, Matt Williamson and Mike Prisuta take a look at the top prospects in the upcoming 2025 NFL Draft,...
Stu Jackson As part of theRams.com's preview coverage leading into this year's draft, we'll be taking a look at each position on...