3 NFL Draft Bold Predictions - Round 2 Player Profiles (2025)

April 16, 2025

John's bold predictions for the second round of the 2025 NFL draft. His top predictions for players and teams including Luther Burden, Quinn Ewers, and more!

The 2025 NFL Draft is just around the corner. Well, sort of. It will be held near the end of April, so it's just a few weeks from now. Every draft features plenty of surprises, so if we're shocked by anything that happens in this year's installment, we... shouldn't be shocked that we're shocked.

...Or something like that. Who knows what will happen? But there are plenty of teams with serious needs at multiple positions on their depth charts, and not all needs are as apparent as others. In addition, the teams' management staff view their needs differently than we tend to.

Oftentimes, teams don't view players as highly as the fantasy football community and the general public does. They're often less vulnerable to being swayed by social media hype. Such facts lead to unexpected results, so let's dig in and try to uncover some with bold predictions for Round 2 of the 2025 NFL Draft.

Luther Burden III Falls To Second Round

While many believe that Burden is an elite receiver prospect with a game reminiscent of Washington Commanders WR Deebo Samuel Sr., the NFL is unlikely to view things this way. Samuel is the exception rather than the rule. Teams have seemed to have wised up to the fact that it's better to count on good separators with a mastery of the fundamentals of the game. It's much harder to succeed at the WR position without this. Burden is not a good route-runner or separator and will probably struggle in the NFL.

Yards per route run if screens are removed from the data set:

Travis Hunter's rate rises from 2.58 => 2.94
Tet McMillan's rate rises from 3.00 => 3.54
Luther Burden's rate falls from 3.05 => 2.89

(2023-24 data)

I'm watching Hunter's film and noticing an unusual number of…

— Jacob Gibbs (@jagibbs_23) March 31, 2025

Burden feasted on production from screen passes and various other "gimme" plays, where he was tasked with figuring it out after the catch. That's easier said than done in the NFL because defenses are more skilled and tougher to decipher and are adept at sniffing out screens and other short passes. The risk of failing on those plays is significant, as negative and zero-gain plays often lead to failed drives, which can sway the outcome of games heavily.

Burden isn't a polished route-runner, and his separation skills are seriously lacking. That's mostly fine in college, where defenders are less athletic, and players can have nice careers while having seriously underdeveloped traits. Not so in the NFL. Very few poor route-runners make a living in the league and often find themselves without a job quickly. Of course, he'll have time to develop his skills, but it's risky selecting a player early knowing they're a "project" at their position.

Luther Burden In 2024:
- 85% of routes and 76% of targets from slot
- 22% of targets on screens (TPRR goes from 27.7% to 22.6% ex. screens)
- Only 14% targets between 10-19 yards

Too dependent on manufactured touches and slot fades for my liking. Some real Toney / Corley risk.

— Dynasty Zoltan (@DynastyZoltanFF) March 26, 2025

Burden won't immediately fill in any role for a team. He's not an ideal X, slot, or z-style wideout, so a team will have to work around his lack of skills to make it work. In a weaker class at the position, it makes sense that he'll fall outside the first round.

Quinn Ewers Will Fall Out Of The Second Round Entirely

Former Texas Longhorns quarterback Quinn Ewers has made a legion of apologists make every possible excuse for his horrible play during his tenure with the Longhorns. NFL teams won't look at his failures so forgivingly. He could not even maximize the production of his talent around him, which included two wide receivers and a running back selected in the first two rounds of the 2024 NFL Draft, and likely will feature another receiver, Matthew Golden, selected early in this year's draft.

Isaiah Bond could not be more open, and there goes Quinn Ewers (over)throwing it into coverage. As usual. pic.twitter.com/GJ3ykltEzq

— Dynasty Zoltan (@DynastyZoltanFF) February 19, 2025

As a person with eyes, it's insane to see him getting hyped. Ewers constantly, and I mean constantly, misses open receivers for absolutely no reason. He has terrible accuracy and is highly inconsistent. He was lucky to play on a very well-coached and talented offense and regularly held his team back as much as possible. QBs at the next level don't have the option to miss as much as he did.

Only 4 QBs since 2018:
- Drafted top 3 rounds
- ANY/A < 7.5
- Rush share < 5%

Why? Bad passers without rushing upside don't offer much to NFL teams

In 2025, Drew Lock, Davis Mills, Mason Rudolph and Josh Rosen welcome Shedeur Sanders and Quinn Ewers to this unfortunate club pic.twitter.com/OJ48L2mlE8

— Dynasty Zoltan (@DynastyZoltanFF) March 20, 2025

He also has minimal rushing upside to add to his game. That is not good. It would be a mistake for any team looking for a quarterback to choose him in the first two rounds because he'll be a below-average backup, and that's not someone worth investing premium draft capital for in a class loaded with talent at other positions.

The Dallas Cowboys Finally Draft A Running Back Early

It's been a long time since the Dallas Cowboys selected running back Ezekiel Elliott with the fourth overall pick in the 2016 NFL Draft. They've gone a few seasons without having a good running game, instead opting to invest in the offensive and defensive lines early in drafts. In this year's loaded class, and after seeing the success of elite running backs like Saquon Barkley and Derrick Henry in 2024 and how they transformed their offenses, perhaps Cowboys owner Jerry Jones will see the light and realize he needs to invest in the position early.

Next up in our #DallasCowboys Possible Pick series: Ohio State running back TreVeyon Henderson.

Henderson checks every box on and off the field, and may be the perfect fit in Dallas’ backfield going forward.

More: https://t.co/Xahi5vxne2 pic.twitter.com/YKQwTGI2Ba

— Tommy Yarrish (@tommy_yarrish) March 26, 2025

Henderson has been regularly mocked to the Cowboys in Round 2, which makes perfect sense at this point. The team signed running backs Javonte Williams and Miles Sanders, previously of the Denver Broncos and Carolina Panthers, and neither is a solid starting option. They're likely just insurance policies or results of Jones's insanity in believing he's better at scouting players than anyone else on the planet, even though he's never worked his way up through a team's scouting department in his life, instead anointing himself as the chosen one and becoming a pariah.

Henderson would bring more serious juice to the backfield than now-departed RB Rico Dowdle. Dowdle was better than Williams or Sanders, but he didn't have that elite tier of athleticism Henderson possesses. Though he didn't run under a 4.40-second 40-yard dash, he's one of the fastest backs in the class in terms of long speed and has put impressive pass-protection reps on tape, which will be crucial for protecting the team's aging franchise quarterback, Dak Prescott. Prescott will be returning from a hamstring tear, so he'll likely be the least mobile he ever has been in his career.

TreVeyon Henderson pass pro is the football version of “if he wanted to he would”. If the 5’10/202-pound RB is blocking like this no one has any excuse pic.twitter.com/ogUWqIfXLc

— James Foster (@NoFlagsFilm) March 22, 2025

Henderson would give the offense a spark that was missing in 2024. Other than wide receiver CeeDee Lamb, there wasn't anyone who made defenses genuinely sweat. That could change if the team picked him up, so they should highly consider doing it. Dallas' offense was better when it featured an elite running back. Henderson has the athletic upside to develop into one and the pass-protection dependability to earn enough playing time to give him that chance.

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