What has made this NFL Draft so intriguing?

NFL Draft 2025

Venue: Green Bay, Wisconsin Dates: Thursday, 24 April-Sunday, 26 April Start: 20: 00 EDT (01: 00 BST, Friday)

In the run-up to the NFL Draft, the projected number one pick typically receives the most attention.

However, it seems Cam Ward hasn’t been mentioned much this year.

The main discussion points that dominated this weekend’s event in Green Bay have been “the unicorn” Travis Hunter and “the nepo baby” Shedeur Sanders.

The pair, who have collaborated for three years, have grown to be one of the biggest stars in college sports in the US.

Without mentioning Sanders’ father, it is difficult to talk about him.

Deion Sanders, a two-way player, won two Super Bowls as a Hall of Famer, both for offense and defense.

He is known as “Prime Time,” played in Major League Baseball, and is still a top-notch, charismatic player in American sports.

He then worked in the media, and in 2020, his son Shedeur became the university’s quarterback in 2021.

Before the trio left for Colorado in 2023, Deion managed to lure two-way recruit Travis Hunter, who was the group’s highest-rated college recruit in 2022.

Their three seasons of dating are featured in the Amazon series Coach Prime, which helped to make Colorado a household name in the US as a result of their partnership.

Sanders was the first overall pick in the draft this year to replace him. He is the most polarizing prospect right now.

The 23-year-old helped Colorado bounce back from a record-setting start last season, posting the highest pass completion rate in college football (74%).

Some people believe he holds on to the ball too long, and others have questioned his athleticism and arm strength, despite the fact that he also won one of the annual quarterback awards.

Shedeur, who has been called a ” nepo baby,” claims that having Deion as his father has helped him develop as a player from a young age and learned to deal with pressure and expectation.

However, some NFL staff members claimed that Shedeur spoke at the Scouting Combine, a weeklong event where college players are judged by NFL teams before the draft, in March when he appeared “brash and arrogant” as well as “unprofessional and disinterested.”

He is already wealthy and more well-known than any other draft prospects.

Since Deion Sanders in the 1990s, the NFL hasn’t had a real two-way player.

After spending time as a cornerback and wide receiver, Charles Woodson won the Heisman Trophy in 1997 for his best college performance. However, he only spent his time playing defense for the NFL.

Hunter has won both the Heisman and the Best Defensive Player awards in addition to being a cornerback and wide receiver this year.

The 21-year-old said at the Combine in February that his position in the NFL was “up to the organization” that drafts him, with teams having different opinions on what his best position would be.

However, Hunter stated last week that if he is not given the opportunity to play two-way in the NFL, he would “never play again.”

The second pick belongs to the Cleveland Browns, and general manager Andrew Berry has compared Hunter to Shohei Ohtani, a two-way star in baseball, who said, “You get a unicorn if you use him both ways.”

Ward is now the clear favorite to be chosen by the Tennessee Titans, despite Hunter’s claim that it is “super important” for him to be the first overall pick.

The former first-choice quarterback hasn’t been described as having generational talent like Trevor Lawrence, Joe Burrow, and Caleb Williams have recently.

He has been compared to Patrick Mahomes in terms of his play-making ability, which allows him to make off-platform plays with different arm angles.

The outcome will then depend heavily on how Cleveland and the New York Giants choose their second and third picks, respectively.

Both teams signed veteran quarterbacks in free agency, potentially to help them transition to next year, but both teams need a young franchise quarterback, which is perceived as weak for quarterbacks this year.

The Browns and Giants may now exchange those first picks for either Hunter and Abdul Carter or they could choose Hunter and Abdul Carter to replace a quarterback who received a less valuable pick.

Sanders is not one of the 15 draft picks who will be attending, and prospects who are anticipated to be early picks are typically invited.

Additionally, the Pittsburgh Steelers (21) and the New Orleans Saints (nineth pick) may be looking to add a starting quarterback.