Five Most Overrated Prospects In 2025 NFL Draft

The 2025 NFL Draft will take place on Thursday, which means we’re all spending our final hours of preparation tossing out takes for perpetuity.

We just haven’t been negative enough, though…

I spoke about it in the previous installment of this mini-series, but it’s always a risk to publicize how you feel about certain prospects before the draft takes place. You could be rewarded in a major way if they end up being who you think they are, but you could also end up looking like a dummy when you’re dead wrong.

Aidan Hutchinson and Quinn Meinerz were prospects who did not tickle my fancy, but it turns out that they’ve been pretty good at the next level. I won’t let that stop me from continuing to spout my beliefs on certain prospects, though, because Zach Wilson, C.J. Henderson and Johnathan Abram all worked the other way in helping prove me right — which was gracious considering that meant they’d go on to have horrible professional careers.

It’s a risky game we play, but isn’t that why we love it so much?

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Mason Graham, IDL, Michigan

Graham is a really good player, but part of the reason for this story is to tone down some of the over-the-top praise you see certain guys getting. I’d probably take this guy early in the first round if I didn’t have any other glaring needs, but this excerpt from my profile on him helps tell the story:

Graham has tiny little arms, and we’re not sure why it doesn’t get brought up the way it has with LSU’s Will Campbell and Texas’ Kelvin Banks Jr.

Yes, he’ll be playing on the interior where that doesn’t matter as much, but part of his value comes from the fact that he has success rushing from up and down the line. You can’t just expect him to feast from the interior on all three downs, because big, mean interior offensive linemen like Tyler Smith, Robert Hunt and Trey Smith will chew him up and spit him out.

You can be good and still be overrated, y’know?

Jaxson Dart, QB, Ole Miss

Ole Miss had three separate opportunities to keep their playoff hopes alive against Florida.

Dart (literally, in some cases) threw all of them away, taking a sack that knocked his team out of field goal range, forcing a ball into triple coverage that was eventually intercepted and making one of the worst throws you can possibly make with the game on the line.

I don’t know who, but someone is going to expect that guy to be their next franchise quarterback. In the immortal words of Julia Roberts, “big mistake, huge!”

Tetairoa McMillan, WR, Arizona

McMillan is the consensus top wide receiver prospect in this class, which is weird because he isn’t better than Texas’ Matthew Golden.

McMillan, much like Graham, is a great player who was crowned far before he should have been.

James Pearce Jr., EDGE, Tennessee

Pearce has slipped down consensus boards leading up to the draft, but there’s still a feeling among some evaluators that he should be in the conversation to be selected in the first round — probably because they’re in too deep and can’t recognize that his ceiling is as a situational pass-rusher.

Penn State’s Abdul Carter, Georgia’s Jalon Walker, Texas A&M’s Shemar Stewart, Marshall’s Mike Green, Georgia’s Mykel Williams and Boston College’s Donovan Ezeiruaku all rank higher on my big board, though. I’d like something a bit more out of a first-round pick.

Kelvin Banks Jr., OT, Texas

Banks is another guy who has slipped leading up to the draft, but the graphic was produced a couple weeks back, so you get what you get.

It’s more of a value thing than anything, for us. LSU’s Will Campbell, Missouri’s Armand Membou and Ohio State’s Josh Simmons are better options if you’re looking for a tackle. Alabama’s Tyler Booker and North Dakota State’s Grey Zabel are better options if you’re looking for a guard.

Banks is kind of in no-man’s land.

If you’re enjoying draft content, leave us a comment about which prospects you think are overrated and follow @KeaganStiefel on X for more!