In my latest 2025 NFL Mock Draft, I reference my “big board” or “board” on several occasions. It’s a must if you’re going to make a mock draft.
At the beginning of the month, we saw hundreds of prospects work out at the NFL Scouting Combine. Some who declined also worked out at a school’s pro day a couple of weeks later. Oh, and there’s also been a ton of time to watch more film — which probably made the biggest impact of all.
That film study is why this board is constantly changing. My takes on a player a week from now might not be the same as today depending on whose reel came across at what position between now and then.
I’ll be very frank about my role as a wannabe scout. I’ve been invested in the NFL Draft for a long time, but I’m no film expert. I’m a college football junkie with a love for player props, meeting many of these guys before they declare with a spreadsheet and what I see every Saturday.
You don’t care, though. It’s draft season, and here’s a fresh list to justifying calling me a hero or an idiot — depending on where I rank your favorite players.
With some combination of stats, film, combine workouts, and other fun nuggets, here are the top 100 on Swaim’s Big Board as of this publishing.
Note: Consensus big board rankings come from MockDraftDatabase.com.
Top 100 Players in the 2025 NFL Draft
Note: These rankings are weighted by positional value. Quarterback, offensive tackles, defensive linemen, and corners will rate higher. Running backs, wide receivers, offensive guards, and linebackers will rate lower.
Post-Combine Risers
Armand Membou, OT, Missouri
Swaim’s Rank: 14th
Previous Rank: 32nd
All in all, the first few offensive tackles in 2025 seem really strong exiting the workouts in Indy. Armand Membou might have established himself at the class’s top option with his efforts there.
Already tabbed as one of my biggest winners from the combine, Membou joined a list of athletic freaks historically as one of just four tackles ever to weigh in north of 315 pounds, run a sub-5.00 time in the 40-yard dash, and post a vertical jump of 30″ or higher. Trent Williams, Tristan Wirfs, and fellow 2025 prospect Will Campbell are the others.
Campbell’s superior tape at left tackle is why he’s still my top option in the same athletic tier, but some are afraid of his short arms (32.5″) holding up on the outside in the NFL. There’s a much larger collection of tackles at Membou’s 33.5″ that have made it work for All-Pro careers.
The Missouri Tigers‘ grater only played on the right side in college, and we wondered about his arm size being a better fit at guard. However, he’s shown to be clearly athletic enough to translate the shutout he pitched on two Texas A&M EDGE prospects to high-level tackle play in the pros.
He could go top five if a team believes he’s a cornerstone on the blind side.
Matthew Golden, WR, Texas
Swaim’s Rank: 16th
Previous Rank: 38th
Normally, prospects like Matthew Golden scare the heck out of me. I’m totally at ease moving him up to this class’s top wideout.
Golden’s not just a postseason riser, posting 97.6 receiving yards per game when it mattered most: two meetings with the Georgia Bulldogs and three College Football Playoff contests. Even with muted opportunity before injuries to other pass-catchers, Golden’s 2.11 yards per route run (YPRR) still cracked the 70th percentile.
From the moment you pop on the tape, the way he glides through his routes with impeccable body control, focus at the catch point, and glue-like hands remind me of another collegiate receiver that wore #2, Chris Olave.
Then, as I was hoping for a 40-yard dash in the low-4.4-second range, Golden blistered the entire positional group in Indy with a 4.29. Holy guacamole.
While really also loving Day 2 prospects like Tre Harris, Jayden Higgins, and Jaylin Noel, there’s no doubt that Golden is this group’s top dog. I don’t think it’s totally ridiculous that he joins the Las Vegas Raiders at No. 6, but it appears my mocked position of No. 20 is looking like a pipe dream for the Denver Broncos at this stage.
Wanna make a bet he goes before Tetairoa McMillan?
Nick Emmanwori, S, South Carolina
Swaim’s Rank: 20th
Previous Rank: 41st
The flexible, super-athletic, box safety is a volatile mold to target, but we’ve seen when it hits with guys like Troy Polamalu or Kyle Hamilton, it hits.
Whoever takes Nick Emmanwori in the first round is hoping to land on that side of the coin compared to Isaiah Simmons, the 2020 No. 8 overall pick that flamed out for the Arizona Cardinals. Emmanwori’s got some stiffness in coverage but nothing to the degree of Simmons, who I profiled to be a linebacker.
Still, the former South Carolina Gamecocks stud can do things at 6’3″, 220 pounds that others can’t. Regardless of size, Emmanwori’s vertical (40″), broad jump (11’6″), and 40-yard-dash time (4.40) were all 92nd percentile or better within safeties to ever test at the combine. Those are insane numbers for his size.
Georgia’s Malaki Starks didn’t have quite the same combine, but he’s a much more natural coverage safety that excelled in on-field drills. I’ve got them ranked very closely together now, and it’ll come down to a defensive coordinator’s designed fit as to which comes off the board first.
It’s a good draft to need a defensive back. I’ve got 15 in my top 75.
Post-Combine Fallers
Kenneth Grant, DT, Michigan
Swaim’s Rank: 28th
Previous Rank: 13th
As I tweeted, it’s just been a long time since I felt great about news I heard from Kenneth Grant of the Michigan Wolverines.
Mobile’s Senior Bowl is an important event for linemen to stack up how they’ll fare, and Grant ditched it for the lesser competition at the East-West Shrine Bowl in Dallas. That was one missed opportunity to show where he stood with several top guards and tackles in attendance.
Then, Grant pulled out of the scouting combine with a hamstring injury. It happens, but for someone whose draft case was going to built on tools and upside rather than his 18 tackles and 3 sacks from the nose tackle position, it was a disappointing development — especially when his lone workout on the bench press (22 reps) wasn’t great.
There are elements of athleticism to chew double teams from Grant that you see from tape study, but there’s also mistakes in hand placement and, really, minimal burst as a rusher that stick out like a sore thumb right next to one of the draft’s best prospects, Mason Graham.
It’s fitting that Grant’s tumble still has him as my DL3. This class slid as a whole for me upon further review; it’s deeper than it is elite.
Justifying a top-20 selection on a guy that’s not overly different from Ohio State’s Tyleik Williams or Texas’ Alfred Collins, who both seem comfortably slotted for Day 2, is difficult.
Luther Burden III, WR, Missouri
Swaim’s Rank: 51st
Previous Rank: 30th
There’s no doubt that Luther Burden III lost additional ground at his position in Indianapolis.
For someone who is going to make his name off speed and elusiveness, Burden’s 4.41 40-yard dash coming in shy of both Golden and Noel was a bit of a surprise. It’s still a good time.
Really, this just continued a descent for someone who was neck-and-neck with Tetairoa McMillan for this year’s WR1 in way-too-early rankings. Early in my evaluation, I chalked his reduction in production to Brady Cook’s ankle injury, but fellow 2025 prospect Theo Wease Jr. saw a 202-yard increase in his receiving totals in 2024, and he holds a late-round projection at best.
Sure, there was some bad luck involved in the dip, but this is a composite slide due to other risers from what happened in Indy, a further look at production, and rumors of some weird character stuff that I won’t be able to discern for myself unless he calls me for an interview.
I feel very comfortable expecting LB3 to go in the second round now.
Wyatt Milum, IOL, West Virginia
Swaim’s Rank: 68th
Previous Rank: 45th
Will Campbell’s arm size gets a pass from a legendary workout and his tape in the SEC. I’m on board there.
However, a place I swung and missed in my very first January mock draft was West Virginia Mountaineers offensive lineman Wyatt Milum. A GM would probably be fired for taking him at No. 13 with just over 32″ arms.
NFL teams knew. They pretty exclusively kicked him inside at the Senior Bowl.
I fell in love with the sparkling Pro Football Focus (PFF) profile in the Big 12, where he started 35 of 36 games at left tackle with just 15 total hurries. He’s got a great feel for the oncoming rush, makes good decisions, and gives a quick punch with a mean streak.
But, I do see the struggles with length and lateral quickness against subpar pass-rushing talent, which probably would get chewed alive in the SEC. The 5.27-second 40 time and 9’0″ broad jump show the athletic chasm between him and Campbell.
I still think the 2024 First-Team All-American’s intangibles deserve recognition with a Day 2 selection, but his NFL projection gets much dicier at a position he basically never played in college.
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