NFL Network draft analyst Daniel Jeremiah held his annual pre-NFL Scouting Combine conference call with members of the media on Thursday, answering questions for nearly three hours. Here are five takeaways from the marathon event.
Programming note: Tune in for live coverage of the 2025 NFL Scouting Combine beginning Feb. 27 on NFL Network and NFL+.
1) Titans' options at No. 1. Unlike a year ago, when there was a consensus that Caleb Williams would likely be the top pick of the draft, the outlook at No. 1 is murky heading into the combine. So, what will the Titans do with the first overall selection?
From Jeremiah's perspective, Tennessee GM Mike Borgonzi has four options. He could stick and pick Penn State edge rusher Abdul Carter, Colorado CB/WR Travis Hunter or Miami QB Cam Ward. Or he could trade the pick. The Titans are open to a swap, per NFL Network Insider Ian Rapoport, but it's been fairly quiet when it comes to buzz about such a deal to this point, and Jeremiah isn't sure any will develop between now and April 24, when Round 1 kicks off.
"I think you're deciding between those three players," he said. "And then the fourth option is to trade. To me, if I'm Tennessee, I'm not going past (pick) three unless I get an enormous haul. I don't think you're going to get that in this draft. I think that's what their decision is going to come down to."
Jeremiah has the Titans selecting Carter in each of his two mock drafts of the year.
"When you look at the pieces on that defensive line and you go out and get Abdul Carter, I think you have a chance to have one of the best units in the league," he said. "That's a good foundation to build off of."
2) Top QBs separating in DJ's updated rankings. Jeremiah offered a bit of a sneak peek on changes we can expect to see in his Top 50 prospect rankings 2.0, which will be published here on Monday. In his initial offering, he had Cam Ward and Shedeur Sanders side by side at Nos. 10-11, respectively, as the top two quarterbacks available. Upon further review, Jeremiah is seeing a little more daylight between the two passers.
"When I first watched these quarterbacks I stacked them right next to each other," he said. "They're totally different in terms of their strengths and weaknesses. The more that I've done, the more that I've created some separation and that will be reflected when the top 50 comes out next week."
Jeremiah said he likes Sanders' accuracy, anticipation and toughness, but sees a little more twitch and a more lively arm in Ward, which is why he has the QB-needy Browns making Ward the first passer off the board at No. 2 in his most recent mock draft.
"Having scouted in that (AFC North) division for a couple different teams, we always wanted guys who were real rugged and strong," Jeremiah said. "It's a physical division. You're going to play in wind and weather as you go throughout the season. Arm strength matters a little bit more there. I'm not saying that Shedeur can't play there. He can fit in the system for sure. If they went in that direction, that wouldn't totally blindside me or shock me. I just know from being in that division and talking to people inside that division, that's something that carries a little more weight than maybe in other spots.
"... If you look at Baker (Mayfield), and obviously it went sideways there (in Cleveland) at the end, but even though Baker wasn't a big guy, I thought his arm played really well there. There were some ups and some downs, but I didn't think that was an issue there at all. I think there is some of that with Cam Ward. He's just got a real live arm. That's why I like that fit."
As for Sanders, Jeremiah views him as more of a touch thrower than a power thrower, and mentioned the Saints and Raiders among the better fits for him.
3) Chatter continues about a potential Giants-Rams blockbuster trade. Could the Giants find a solution to their QB woes in Los Angeles instead of the draft? Jeremiah wasn't substantiating any rumors about the Rams potentially dealing Matthew Stafford to Big Blue, but he did say the concept has folks around the league watching on the edge of their seats.
"The Stafford stuff, I don't know if there's legs to it, but I know it has a lot of people in personnel departments, general managers intrigued in seeing what's going to transpire here with him and the Rams," Jeremiah said. "The fact that [the Rams] didn't just come out and say 'he's not going anywhere' has led people to believe that it's a possibility."
The price of acquiring Stafford is another question entirely, but it's easy to see why the idea would be alluring to fans of the G-Men. Jeremiah said the thought was in his mind when he had the Giants passing on a QB to take two-way star Travis Hunter in his mock draft 2.0.
"When I looked at the Giants and you look at the head coach and general manager, there's some pressure there," Jeremiah said. "You need to get this thing going, especially after a team in your division just won the Super Bowl. I looked at that and (was) sitting here thinking, man, you talk about turning around some excitement here in that market and you trot out there Week 1 and you've got Matthew Stafford throwing the ball to Malik Nabers, you've got him looking at Travis Hunter getting some snaps on the offensive side of the ball. Who knows what else they can do with the money they have in free agency. Is Cooper Kupp part of that? Is that a packaged deal with him and Stafford? So, that was where I was kind of going in my fantasy land as we got to that mock draft."
4) How will Lions find missing piece? It's clear that finding an edge-rushing complement to Aidan Hutchinson should be a priority for the Lions this offseason. Coincidentally, arguably the best edge rusher in football has asked for a trade, with Myles Garrett wishing to leave the Browns for a contender. Thus far, the Browns have not indicated they are willing to honor Garrett's request. If that changes, though, Jeremiah said Detroit could be in a unique position to pounce.
"That was a team that made the most sense for me, with Myles Garrett," he said. "If they ever are comfortable with moving him, which it sounds like at this point they are not, but if they are comfortable, to me, you get him outside the conference and he goes to Detroit. Detroit has a roster that's ready to win right now. Ready to win a championship. And that could be a finishing piece. I would be willing to be pretty aggressive if I were Brad Holmes on that front, knowing that could bring a parade to my city. I would be aggressive and do whatever I had to do to try to make something like that happen. We'll see if it's a legit possibility. Everything talking to people as of late around the league, the expectation is they're not going to move him, he's not going to go anywhere. We'll see what happens."
If no such deal materializes and the Lions do stick at Pick No. 28 in Round 1, Jeremiah mentioned Tennessee's James Pearce Jr. and Texas A&M's Shemar Stewart among the edge-rushing fits that might be available to them at that spot. We know where Hutchinson stands on the idea of teaming with Garrett, though.
5) 49ers' dream scenario. After a disappointing 2024 season, the 49ers' offseason strategy could include significant work in the trenches, on both offense and defense. The good news is the evaluation process that will play out over the next two months -- starting with the NFL Scouting Combine -- can sometimes push offseason workout stars up the board at the expense of prospects with strong tape but less impressive athletic testing. As Jeremiah sees it, that could potentially play to San Francisco's advantage. It might even mean the No. 4 player on his board -- Michigan defensive tackle Mason Graham -- slips out of the top 10 and into the 49ers' lap.
"Where they're picking at 11, they're going to be able to get a really good player," he said. "... I'll be curious to see how [Graham] goes through the spring. As I mentioned, I think his tape is so good, but I'm not sure he's going to totally ace the spring part of it. If you're looking for someone that I think would just be a home run pick for them, to me, it would be if Mason Graham were to fall down to them."
If that scenario does not play out, perhaps trading down could be an option for John Lynch and Kyle Shanahan. With a move down the board, Jeremiah identified another defensive tackle -- the "twitched up" Walter Nolen from Ole Miss -- as a great scheme fit under defensive coordinator Robert Saleh.
