The first round of the 2025 NFL Draft is Thursday, April 24. All of the scouting and analysis is done, and it’s time to sit back and enjoy the speculations and predictions. It’s impossible to accurately predict how good a player will be, no matter how much film has been watched or how many hours have been spent analyzing their play. There is some science to it, but there’s a large amount of luck as well. Just like in poker, a hand can be played to perfection, but lose on the river.
The same can happen when guessing how good a football player will be at the pro level, based on how they did against amateurs. There’s no more laughable example of this than coming up with player comps. Predicting which pro player (either current or historical) a draft prospect best resembles. FootballScout365.com has a list of prospects and pro comps for most of them. Here are seven of their most interesting ones.
On Pro Football Focus (PFF), Oregon tackle Josh Conerly is the 32nd-ranked prospect in the 2025 NFL Draft and the sixth-best tackle. He is a bit undersized at 6’4, and could likely play guard when he gets to the pro level, even though he played left tackle the last two seasons for the Ducks. He had a 78.3 PFF Grade in 2024, allowing six hurries and a sack. His pro comp is supposedly Los Angeles Chargers tackle Rashawn Slater.
Slater is also a bit undersized, but is a starting tackle in the NFL. Not just a starter, but a damn good one. His PFF grade last year was 91.1 (second best of all the tackles in the league). He was a Pro Bowler for the second time in his career and was a second-team All-Pro in 2021. If a team takes a chance on Conerly and he turns out to be as good as Slater, that team will probably feel like they hit the jackpot.
Princely Umanmielen is a long (6’4 and 260 pounds) and athletic edge rusher. He started his career with the Florida Gators, and after recording 39 total tackles (12 for a loss) and seven sacks in 2023, he transferred to Ole Miss. Last season, he recorded 37 tackles (14 for a loss) and 10.5 sacks. He is currently the 50th-ranked prospect on the PFF Big Board and the 10th-best Edge rusher.
Projected as a day two pick, Umanmielen is being compared to New York Giants Edge rusher Brian Burns. Fresh off signing a 5-year, $141 million deal, Burns recorded 71 combined tackles for the G-Men in 2024, including 17 tackles for a loss and 8.5 sacks. It was a down year for him, too. It’s a flattering comparison that any team who drafts Umanmielen hopes is accurate.
The comparison of Maxwell Hairston out of Kentucky to Las Vegas Raiders corner Jack Jones is accurate in at least one way. Controversy. There is no denying and has been any denying of Jack Jones’ talent on the field. He has incredible size, speed, and instincts. Despite what he did on the field, his off the field problems were too much for the New England Patriots, who cut ties with him after he was arrested bringing loaded guns to the airport.
Hairston is a little smaller than Jones (6’1 and 190 pounds), but he is faster (4.28-second forty). He doesn’t just have track speed either, as his game speed is every bit that fast. He always seems to be around the ball, ready to make a play. The red flag on him is an alleged sexual assault case that the victim claimed the University covered up and blamed her for.
Getting to some of the more ridiculous comparisons, TreVeyon Henderson was compared to former Tennessee Titan Chris Johnson. Henderson had a fantastic career at Ohio State, and his lack of perceived value (6th best RB on PFF and 60th overall prospect) could be due to the lack of positional value for running back in the NFL. He ran for over 1,000 yards last season on just 145 carries.
The issue is, Henderson may be similar in size to CJ2K, but he’s nowhere as fast. He is 5’10 and 205 pounds versus Johnson’s 5’11 and 205. Henderson’s 40 time at the Combine was 4.43 versus Johnson’s 4.24. If the comp proves accurate, whoever takes Henderson in the 2025 NFL Draft will have a 2,000-yard rusher in their backfield.
Ole Miss wide receiver Tre Harris is a big target. He’s 6’3 and 210 pounds, and he has great hands. Last season for the Rebels, he hauled in 60 passes for 1,030 yards and seven touchdowns. He isn’t overly explosive, running a 4.54-second forty. This may be the reason his comp is New Orleans Saints legend Michael Thomas.
Thomas ran a 4.57 at his Combine, and it’s the big reason that despite his college success, he fell into the second round of the 2016 NFL Draft. Once he got to the league, he set it ablaze. From 2017-2019, he caught 378 passes for 4,375 yards and 23 touchdowns. His career was derailed by injury, but if a team gets three seasons out of Harris like that, they will be more than satisfied.
Many experts and analysts are saying this is a two-quarterback draft class. Kyle McCord out of Syracuse is unlikely to sniff the first round (171st prospect on PFF’s Big Board and 10th best quarterback), and yet he is being compared to former top overall pick, and current Detroit Lions quarterback, Jared Goff.
McCord was outstanding last season, completing 65.8% of his passes for 4,760 yards and 34 touchdowns. He had an incredible PFF grade of 90.5, but is not considered to have the same arm talent as Goff by most experts. The former Cal product has arguably been the best quarterback in the NFL over the last two seasons statistically. McCord could be the steal of the draft if his career parallels Goff.
It’s impossible to avoid racism in player comps. Any black quarterback who is fast will be compared to Michael Vick or Lamar Jackson. Alabama quarterback Jalen Milroe is being compared to both. The reality, much to the chagrin of these analysts, is that he is neither one. Last season for the Tide, Milroe averaged 219 yards per game with 16 touchdowns and 11 interceptions. The year Jackson was drafted (not the year he won the Heisman) he averaged 282 yards per game and had 27 touchdowns to 10 interceptions.
Vick was a player that no player should be compared to. He ran a 4.25 forty at his pro day and has maybe the biggest arm in the history of the NFL. Dan Marino, Brett Favre, and Josh Allen don’t even come close. If Milroe truly was the next coming of Vick, he wouldn’t be projected as a second-round pick.
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