It’s 2025 NFL Scouting Combine week, which means we are inching closer and closer to the 2025 NFL Draft officially begins. While April will be here before you know it, there is still a lot of work to do on this 2025 group. That’s the point of these mailbags.

On this week’s edition, we discuss some elite prospects like Abdul Carter and Travis Hunter, Cam Skattebo, true first round grades, and… fullbacks? As always, much love to the folks who submitted questions this week. Let’s dive right into a talented, but controversial draft class.

Taking questions for this week’s NFL Draft mailbag. Drop your questions below ⬇️

— Ryan Roberts (@RiseNDraft) February 24, 2025

First round grades

Still two months until the draft, but how many first round grades do you have so far? Expecting more or less than from your evaluations last year?

— P. I. Staker (@Luke__Dezan) February 24, 2025

As many have indicated, it is an extremely down year in terms of true first round grades. I personally have 10 first round grades overall. I don’t anticipate anyone else cracking that list. The quality of this class is best exemplified with how deep it is on Day Two, although it does taper off as we get into the last four rounds. I had 15 last year, so this is definitely low in comparison. In fact, it’s the lowest amount of round one grades I’ve given out in a year overall.

Travis Hunter vs Abdul Carter

Whodo you think is the first defensive player off the board? Hunter or Carter?

— AllThingsGiants (@GiantsThings) February 24, 2025

My money would be on Penn State EDGE Abdul Carter. He is my highest graded overall prospect, but he also plays a position of higher importance. Hunter has the upside to develop into a difference maker at both wide receiver and cornerback on the next level. That’s very valuable but not quite as much as a stud pass rusher. Carter brings special traits to the table.

Day Two defensive line depth

If you had needs at both edge and interior DL, which would you take first in this class and which would you wait on til Day 2?

— CS (@csATLdawg) February 24, 2025

If I had to wait out of the two, it would be for defensive tackle for me, and comfortably. It’s a deep draft at EDGE, but once you get outside of Round One, there aren’t a ton of true impact pass rushers. I would argue you can get a starting defensive tackle early in their career in the early portion of Day Three (rounds 4-7). That position might be the deepest in the class overall.

Potential trade ups

Is there a contending team who should consider trading up for a specific non-QB?

A couple of years ago, I thought the packers should trade up for Micah Parsons.

— The Backseat GM (@BackSeatGMyt) February 24, 2025

So after doing research, it appears that the last non-quarterback that was traded up for was offensive tackle Orlando Pace in the NFL Draft. It just doesn’t happen much historically. Teams tend to overdraft quarterbacks so the thought process of letting the board fall to you does have a lot of validity.

Would I be mad at anyone potentially trading up for Abdul Carter? I wouldn’t. It really just depends what you think a fair valuation it would be to give up potential capital for a non-quarterback. There may not be a team that needs a player like Carter more than the Atlanta Falcons but are you willing to give up a quarterback heist for a non-quarterback? I just doubt it.

All about Cam Skattebo

Cam Skattebo? You know he will blow up the combine. What is his realistic ceiling? Dude is a football player. Not many in this draft class like him.

— BengalBick? (@BENGALBICK20) February 24, 2025

I feel like I’m an outlier on Skattebo, and I’m okay with that. He was a great college football player both at Sacramento State and Arizona State, but I just personally think he lacks the juice to be the top running back in a room. I do think he can be good depth, and service a role in a committee, but his athleticism deficiencies could hurt him. This feels like a conversation very similar to Cody Schraeder last cycle.

Bad character players

Who is the sketchiest character pick in the draft? Will we have a good extortion story before the picks come in?

— RackofTits69 (@RackofTits69) February 24, 2025

I’m not here to predict players to have awful situations prior to draft night, but the most consistent character issues I’ve heard is from Ole Miss defensive tackle Walter Nolen. It’s nothing criminal to my knowledge, but there are a lot of scouts I’ve talked to that are worried about his presence in the locker room, work ethic, and consistency at being a good teammate.

Beaux Knows

Do you see beaux Collins raising his draft status if he does better than expected

— Antoine Rideaux (@AntPor43) February 24, 2025

Funny enough, I actually had a scout tell me that he likes Collins quite a bit about a week ago. He was a general disappointment coming over from Clemson, but he’s an experienced big-bodied pass catcher that will block. Collins also is expected to test better than people expect. I think he very well could get drafted come April.

We talking fullbacks?

Klint Kubiak says the Seahawks need to add a Full Back this off-season. Which draft prospect (if any) do you think would be the best fit and best option for that role?

— Peter Quinn (@PeterQuinn1997) February 24, 2025

People aren’t going to like it but I think Skattebo would actually be a really good fullback. Would you imagine him in Shanahan-esque system? It would be a lot of fun.

On a more serious note, a sleeper to keep an eye on is DJ Thomas from South Alabama. He’s a sawed-off H-back with some nice movement skills. He also has nice effort as a blocker and is an overall strong and versatile athlete.

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