There are always surprises in the NFL Draft, and the 2025 edition didn’t wait long to deliver its first. The Jacksonville Jaguars stunned the league by trading up from No. 5 to get the second pick from the Cleveland Browns and take Colorado two-way star Travis Hunter.
Hunter was considered by most talent evaluators to be the top overall player in this year’s draft. The price to land him wasn’t cheap for the Jags. They gave up the fifth overall pick, their second-round pick (No. 36 overall), a fourth-round pick (No. 126 overall) and their 2026 first-round pick. In addition to the No. 2 pick, Cleveland sent Jacksonville their fourth-round pick (No. 104 overall) and a sixth-rounder (No. 200).
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Here’s a look at the rest of the surprise picks of the draft:
Tetairoa McMillan to the Carolina Panthers with the No. 8 pick
McMillan was considered by many to be the top wide receiver in the 2025 class — it just isn’t considered a strong class for wide receivers at the top. That made the Panthers taking him eighth to be somewhat of a surprise. It was certainly a surprise to Dallas Cowboys star Micah Parsons, who was disappointed McMillan didn’t fall to Dallas at No. 12.
Emeka Egbuka to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at No. 19
Tampa Bay spending a first-round pick on a receiver when the Bucs already have Chris Godwin and Mike Evans came as a surprise. Texas’ Matthew Golden was also still on the board when the Buccaneers picked.
James Pearce Jr. to the Atlanta Falcons at No. 26
The need is clear. Why the Falcons chose this particular prospect at this particular spot was not, especially when factoring in the draft capital.
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Pearce Jr. is ranked No. 37 overall on Yahoo Sports’ consensus big board, and the Falcons traded a future first-round pick as part of the deal to move back into Thursday’s first round at No. 26 to get him. The move was panned by Yahoo Sports’ Draft Live show crew, mainly for the Falcons’ process.
T.J. Sanders to the Buffalo Bills at No. 41
Sanders’ draft projection — fifth-round range, per the sources that spoke with our own Charles McDonald and Charles Robinson for the 2025 All-Juice Team — was generally much lower than top half of the second round. Sanders wasn’t in the top 75 for either McDonald or Nate Tice’s big boards.
Maybe the South Carolina defensive tackle will be a hit, especially under Sean McDermott’s tutelage, but the Bills traded up for a serious a mismatch between forecast and actual selection. Hmm.
Ashton Gilotte to the Kansas City Chiefs at No. 66
Gilotte is defensible in the context of defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo maximizing his talent, but that’s about it. He wins with power and lacks top-end speed, and will need plenty of development. Gilotte was nowhere to be found on any of Yahoo Sports’ final big boards.
Nick Martin to the San Francisco 49ers at No. 75
Size is a major question mark for the 5-foot-11, 220-pound Martin, whom league sources told Yahoo Sports would likely go in the seventh-round range when he was selected to the All-Juice Team. The 49ers felt he was worth a much higher pick than that.
Dillon Gabriel to the Cleveland Browns at No. 94
This is … not a QB anyone expected to go before Shedeur Sanders. Gabriel was prolific in college, especially his last season at Oregon, but his lack of size, processing speed, arm strength, and accuracy is worrisome. Yet he was still a third-round pick. What?
