By Cooper Girolamo
This year’s NFL Draft had many great players make a lot of teams a lot better for this upcoming season and for many seasons in the future. There were a few teams though that knocked it out of the park with their selections in this year’s draft.
Winner No. 1: Baltimore Ravens
First team up and the biggest winner for me in the Baltimore Ravens. With the 27th pick in the first round they got an absolute steal in safety Malaki Starks out of Georgia. They got the best safety in the class and one of the best defensive players in the whole draft. He is an absolute dog and makes him and Kyle Hamilton one of the best safety duos in the league right away.
The Ravens followed that selection up by grabbing Mike Green, the edge rusher from Marshall in the second round. He was clearly the best player available, and I was shocked he didn’t go in the first round. He led the FBS in sacks this past season with 17. He again will be another dog for that already stout Ravens defense.
Mike Green brings a wide array of explosive Pass Rush moves to Baltimore, and a tenacity vs the Run that has gone understated. No play illustrates that more than this one, a violent slap of the TE then low tackle against on a 1st & 10 vs Ohio St.#Ravens #RavensFlock #NFLDraft pic.twitter.com/n4qputuRlO
— All 22 Films (@All_22_NFL_Cuts) April 28, 2025
They then in the middle rounds the Ravens beefed up their offensive line with tackle Emery Jones Jr. from LSU and Carson Vinson from Alabama A&M. Even in the later round they grabbed guys like California linebacker Teddye Buchanan and Western Michigan cornerback Bihal Kone. Two guys who can be great plug-and-play guys in that defense. All of that makes them my biggest winner in the NFL Draft.
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Winner No. 2: Arizona Cardinals
My second winner from the NFL draft is the Arizona Cardinals. They started it off by grabbing a big position of need in Ole Miss defensive tackle Walter Nolen. They followed that up by grabbing Michigan’s Will Johnson, who I think is the best cornerback in the draft. He slid down into the mid-second round because of injury concerns, but if he can stay healthy he can become an All-Pro.
The Cardinals continued by getting middle round steals with Oregon defensive tackles Jordan Burch and Ohio State linebacker Cody Simon. The Cardinals showed that they really wanted to greatly improve their defense and that’s exactly what they did, adding quite a few impact players making them my second winner from the draft.
© Petre Thomas-Imagn Images
Winner No. 3: Jacksonville Jaguars
My third big winner from this year’s NFL draft is the Jacksonville Jaguars. Yes, they gave up a lot to land Travis Hunter, but when you have a chance to grab the biggest unicorn this game has ever seen, you do it. You swing for the fences. They will most likely allow him to play both sides of the ball, making him a difference maker on both sides. Hunter automatically made them a winner of the draft, but it’s what they did after that that really solidified it.
The Jags added cornerback Caleb Ransaw from Tulane in round three who is a fantastic tackler, something they struggled with last year. He can also play some safety making him another great Swiss army knife for this team. They also selected Wyatt Milium, Jack Kiser and Rayuan Lane III in the later rounds. All three of these guys are players who played a lot in college and produced at a high level. All three are great plug-and-play guys from day one.
My favorite pick from the Jaguars is grabbing Virginia Tech running back Bhayshul Tuten in the fourth round.
Bhayshul Tuten was drafted in round 4 pick 104 in the 2025 draft class. He scored a 9.55 #RAS out of a possible 10.00. This ranked 95 out of 2106 RB from 1987 to 2025. https://t.co/8YPaqeP1Yp pic.twitter.com/NsdT22Og6Z
— RAS.football (@MathBomb) April 26, 2025
He has blazing speed and will add a new element to this offense in the run game and is a great screen pass player for Trevor Lawrence. Overall, the Jaguars killed the draft and are looking poised to get back to the playoffs this upcoming season.
While there are other teams that knocked it out of the ballpark with this draft, these three teams really killed it and are looking at a very bright future.
