2025 NFL draft

• 1. Introduction

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  The 2025 NFL draft opened at Lambeau Field in Green Bay, Wisconsin, on the 24th of April. The city had been chosen over Washington, D.C. on the 22nd of May, 2023. The 90th annual gathering of NFL franchises to select new players ran three days. When it ended, it carried two distinctions no previous draft had earned. But some of what happened in Green Bay that weekend had nothing to do with records. One prospect had not been invited. And before the draft was over, several players received calls from people who were not who they claimed to be.

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• 2. The First Overall Pick

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  Tennessee Titans held the first overall pick in the 2025 draft and used it on Cam Ward, a quarterback from the University of Miami. Ward was the first player selected when the event began, stepping to the stage on opening night. Once the selections were underway, the Jacksonville Jaguars, Cleveland Browns, Philadelphia Eagles, and Kansas City Chiefs each moved picks within the first round. The Houston Texans and Los Angeles Rams went further, trading out of the first round entirely. Every one of those moves came after the draft had already started. When the event opened, all thirty-two teams were holding their original first-round selections. The common draft era had never produced that condition before. By the time the seventh round concluded, the full picture of where the draft's players came from would add another item to its record books.

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• 3. Every Player from Division I

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  Every player chosen across all seven rounds of the 2025 draft came from an NCAA Division I program. The selections spanned both the Football Bowl Subdivision and the Football Championship Subdivision. That had never been true of any NFL draft before. Ohio State produced the most with 14 selections, followed by Georgia at 13 and Texas at 12. Oregon contributed 10. The SEC totaled 79 selections, with Alabama, Florida, LSU, Miami of Florida, and Michigan each contributing seven. Three picks also came through Resolution JC-2A. The NFL created that policy in November 2020. It rewards clubs whose minority candidates for head coach or general manager are hired away by other teams. San Francisco, Denver, and Minnesota received those selections at the end of the third round, in addition to the league's standard compensatory picks.

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• 4. The Uninvited Prospect

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  Barryn Sorrell flew to Green Bay with family and friends for the draft, despite not having received an invitation to attend. He stayed through all three days of the event. The Green Bay Packers selected him in the fourth round, and when the time came, Roger Goodell announced the pick from the stage. Sorrell was brought forward and welcomed the same way first-round picks are greeted, with a formal stage introduction in front of the crowd. The Packers' staff had submitted his name without knowing he was in the building. His presence in the stands only became apparent once the pick had been sent in.

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• 5. The Prank Calls

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  On the second day of the draft, Shedeur Sanders received a phone call from someone claiming to represent the New Orleans Saints. The caller was Jax Ulbrich, the son of Atlanta Falcons defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich, along with another person. Sydney Schoen, the daughter of New York Giants general manager Joe Schoen, had previously been accused of similar calls.

  Abdul Carter, Tyler Warren, Mason Graham, Josh Conerly Jr., Kyle McCord, and Chase Lundt each received calls from separate pranksters during the draft. Jax Ulbrich and the Atlanta Falcons issued a formal apology to Sanders and his family after the draft concluded. Of all those who called prospects under false pretenses that weekend, Ulbrich was the one whose name was publicly attached to an apology.

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