2025 NFL Draft First Round Recap and Betting Results

2025 NFL Draft First Round Recap

The 2025 NFL Draft first round is in the books and there were not a whole lot of surprises, but the ones that we did get were pretty significant from a betting standpoint. The lives of 32 men and their families changed in a big way on Thursday night, but so did the lives of those hoping to be first-round selections that did not hear their names called. Some betting odds are up for the second and third rounds, which will take place on Friday.

But you can read about that in the above link. For now, let’s look at the five biggest storylines from the first round and the results and reactions from those in tune with the betting markets.

Browns Trade No. 2 Pick; Jaguars Get Travis Hunter

Those who wagered on Hunter to go No. 2 overall still got rewarded, but those who wagered on Hunter to be a Cleveland Brown were sorely disappointed. Hunter was the first cornerback off the board at -20000 and the No. 2 pick at -2000. It had been clear for a while that the picks would go Cam Ward, Travis Hunter, Abdul Carter in that order, but Cleveland’s trade down made the No. 5 pick interesting.

The Jaguars paid a very hefty price to get Hunter for first-year head coach Liam Coen and GM James Gladstone, who is the youngest GM in the league and now the one under maybe the biggest microscope with what was widely regarded as an overpay. Jacksonville and Cleveland swapped first-round picks and some later-round selections, but the Browns got Jacksonville’s first-round pick in 2026 and a high second-round pick at No. 36 to go with the No. 33 that they already held.

Browns Take DT Mason Graham at No. 5; Ashton Jeanty Goes No. 6

One of the biggest betting storylines in the lead-up to the NFL Draft was the extremely heavy action on Jeanty to go No. 5. A lot of people also started to expect Jeanty to the Jaguars at that pick, so the betting markets actually moved Jeanty to the favorite to go No. 5, priced at around -250 just before the evening’s festivities got underway.

Well, the Browns held their pick and took Mason Graham, whose draft position prop had plummeted throughout the week all the way down to 8.5, with the Over heavily juiced at -160, implying there was a chance he’d fall out of the top 10. The market was very wrong there, though Graham was still -200 to be the second defensive lineman selected. That one did cash.

Those who believed in the original structure of most mock drafts and betting odds were rewarded with Jeanty going No. 6 to the Raiders. Just before the draft got underway, DraftKings had Jeanty out to 6/1 to go No. 6 and some shops were as high as 9/1. Both the Jaguars and Bears saw their odds come down for getting Jeanty’s services, but it was the originally-favored Raiders who got the Boise State back.

Colston Loveland First Tight End Selected Over Tyler Warren

The Bears did not move up and did not end up with Jeanty, but seemingly got the tight end that they wanted. And it wasn’t the one that everybody expected. Warren was -1000 to be the first TE taken in the first round, but it was Loveland, the second choice on the board at around +475, who heard his name called first at the position.

Warren’s extreme usage and rate of production in a Penn State offense that was not good at the wide receiver position likely skewed market perception here, as Loveland certainly looks like the better athlete with the highest potential to be a game-breaker. Caleb Williams now has another weapon in former Lions OC Ben Johnson’s offense, which used a similarly-sized Sam LaPorta a lot. Loveland is a couple inches taller, so he’ll be a terrific weapon for Williams with a rebuilt offensive line.

The Colts wound up with Warren at No. 14, easily cashing Over 9.5 at -140 for his draft position.

Here’s what Matt Youmans, Matt Brown, and Tim Murray had to say on Loveland on VSiN Primetime: Draft Edition

Emeka Egbuka Steam Comes Through

Odds for players to be selected in the first round had been posted for a while, but one player who got all the way to -700 to be taken in the first 32 selections was Ohio State WR Emeka Egbuka. Egbuka came in as the third choice for Second WR Drafted in the +350 range by going No. 19 to the Buccaneers.

Egbuka’s draft position was 29.5 with heavy juice on the Under a couple days in advance of the draft, closing around -400. It turns out that he cleared it by 10 picks. This was one that kept moving, along with Over 2.5 WR for the first round, which became a legitimate sweat with the Egbuka pick, since it seemed like teams were down on Matthew Golden.

As it turns out, the Over 2.5 that was up over -300 was the right side, as Golden went No. 23 to the Packers.

Egbuka was the first of four Ohio State players taken in the first round, with Donovan Jackson, Tyleik Williams, and Josh Simmons also getting selected. It is the third time in the Ryan Day era that the Buckeyes have had at least three first-round picks (2020, 2023). Just something to file away for next year’s draft…

Here are Matt, Matt, and Tim on the Egbuka selection:

Broncos Bolster Elite Defense with Jahdae Barron

One would think that surrounding Bo Nix with some help would have been the preferred move for Denver in the first round, but that was not the case. Barron, a cornerback out of Texas, had a draft position line of 18.5 and the juice was heavy to the Under at -160. Denver was listed at one book as high as 36/1 to take a cornerback with their pick.

With Barron expected to go higher than he did, Denver seemed to take the best player available approach with a guy who ran a sub-4.4 40 at the Combine and was the Jim Thorpe Award winner in 2024.

Barron was -150 to be the second cornerback selected (Travis Hunter was graded as a CB), as Michigan’s Will Johnson slid down draft boards due to knee concerns.

Giants Throw A Dart

It took a while, but we finally got another quarterback’s name announced. Jaxson Dart was taken with the 25th pick, as the Giants traded a second, a third, and a 2026 third to the Texans to move up and take the Ole Miss gunslinger. 

Dart closed around -250 to be the second QB selected, but his draft position prop was Over/Under 24.5, so it was close, but the Over did cash at plus money. He was actually tied as the co-favorite to go No. 9 at +280, a spot occupied by OT Kelvin Banks Jr, and he was +250 to go in the Top 10.

Dart closed around -500 to be a first-round pick. He opted not to attend the draft after previously committing, leading some to wonder if maybe he wasn’t expecting to be a first-rounder.

Shedeur Sanders Not A First-Round Pick

And, finally, the biggest story of the first round. Only two quarterbacks were taken in the first round – Cam Ward and Jaxson Dart. Sanders did not hear his name called and will be a huge story going into Day 2 of the NFL Draft.

There was a ton of odds movement with Sanders, most of it fading his chances of getting taken high in the draft and some of it even wondering if he would go at all. Just before the draft, Sanders was around -650 to be a first-round pick. He was +175 to be the second QB selected, a bet that lost when Dart went 25th.

Sanders’ Over/Under draft position went to 14.5 and was juiced to around -500 on the Over before the picks got underway and he was all the way out to +400 to be taken in the Top 10. 

Sanders wasn’t the only surprise not to go in the first round, but likely the most notable, even though Will Johnson and Mike Green (-1000) and Nick Emmanwori (-900) were heavier favorites to be taken.