The 2025 NFL Draft starts on April 24 in Green Bay, Wisconsin, with the 32 first-round picks. AL.com is counting down to the event by highlighting the best choice – overall, from the SEC and of players from Alabama high schools and colleges — made with each of the first 32 picks in the 89 NFL drafts.
Best No. 25 pick: Louisville defensive tackle Ted Washington by the San Francisco 49ers in 1991
The 25th selection has not been the sweet spot of the NFL Draft. No member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame entered the NFL from this doorway, and only three of the 89 players picked with this selection in the NFL Draft have been named first-team All-Pro – Washington, linebacker Jon Beason and cornerback Xavier Rhodes, who earned the honor once apiece.
Washington and wide receiver Stanley Morgan are the only No. 25 picks to be chosen for as many as four Pro Bowls.
Washington also appeared in the most NFL regular-season games with 236 and made the most NFL regular-season starts with 204 among the No. 25 picks as Mt. Washington played in 17 NFL seasons. He also played in 13 postseason games. The last was the New England Patriots’ 32-29 victory over the Carolina Panthers in Super Bowl XXXVIII on Feb. 1, 2004.
Last year’s No. 25 pick was Arizona offensive tackle Jordan Morgan by the Green Bay Packers.
Best No. 25 pick from the SEC: Wide receiver Stanley Morgan by the New England Patriots in 1977
Morgan played in 14 NFL seasons, the most among the SEC’s 16 No. 25 picks. He led the NFL in yards per catch for three straight seasons, as he averaged 22.7 yards on 133 receptions from 1979 through 1981. His career average of 19.2 yards per reception ranks 10th in NFL history.
Morgan was a Pro Bowler in 1979 and 1980 and again in 1986 and 1987 for the Patriots. Except for his final season with the Indianapolis Colts, Morgan spent his entire career with New England.
Morgan remains the Patriots’ career leader in receiving yards with 10,352. When he left New England in 1989, he also held the franchise career marks for receptions with 534 and touchdown receptions with 67. He’s now fourth on the Patriots’ receptions list (behind Wes Welker, Julian Edelman and Troy Brown) and second on the TD-receptions chart (behind Rob Gronkowski).
The most recent No. 25 pick from the SEC is South Carolina tight end Hayden Hurst in 2018 by the Baltimore Ravens.
Of the 16 SEC players who have entered the NFL as the 25th selection in a draft, all but one played in at least three seasons. The exception was Alvin Dark, who played in 14 Major League seasons, went to three MLB All-Star games as a New York Giants shortstop and was the manager of the World Series-winning team in 1974 with the Oakland A’s.
Best No. 25 pick with Alabama football roots: Alabama linebacker Dont’a Hightower by the New England Patriots in 2012
A member of two national-championship teams at Alabama, Hightower played for three NFL-championship teams after joining the Patriots.
Because he contributed key plays in each of the Super Bowl victories, Hightower picked up the nickname Mr. February from New England coach Bill Belichick.
In addition to capping the 2014, 2016 and 2018 seasons with Super Bowl victories, Hightower was a Pro Bowl selection in 2016 and 2019.
Hightower played in 117 regular-season and 17 playoff games in nine seasons with the Patriots. In those games, New England had an 86-31 regular-season record and a 12-5 playoff mark.
The Houston Texans hold the No. 25 pick in the NFL Draft on April 24.
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Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on X at @AMarkG1.
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