NFL Player News

He didn’t have trouble overtaking Dustin Fry. Russ Hochstein might be with the ones if he wasn’t coming off a torn ACL, but Walton is the favorite to start as it stands. His nasty mentality fits Denver’s new power-blocking scheme.

Previous reports had Williams as a possible trade candidate ahead of the draft, but nothing came of them, and Holmes made it clear that a trade was never on the table. Detroit ultimately took Ohio State DT Tyleik Williams with the No. 28 pick, adding to a front-seven that was crushed by injuries in 2025. Williams will remain the team’s WR2 for the upcoming season, offering an elite weekly ceiling despite his limited role in the Detroit offense. The Lions are expected to pick up Williams’ fifth-year option, keeping him under contract through the 2026 season.

Originally considered a four-star guard coming out of Helix High School in San Diego, CA, Simmons (6’5/317) redshirted in 2021 before starting every game at right tackle for San Diego State in 2022. Despite him allowing 24 pressures with a 47.1 PFF overall grade, Ohio State HC Ryan Day plucked Simmons from the transfer portal and crowned him as the OSU starting LT for the next 2 seasons. He proceeded to allow just one sack and four quarterback hits over 1,131 snaps for the Buckeyes. Unfortunately, Simmons suffered a season-ending patellar tendon tear Week 7 against Oregon, which prematurely ended his final collegiate campaign. He was unable to test at the Combine, but registered 10” hands with 33” arms and profiles as a plus athlete. Simmons’ nimble feet and balanced movement allow him to effectively mirror opposing rushers and react to counters seamlessly. He stabs opponents with one hand and posts them to neutralize outside rushes. Shoots out of his stance and gets to his mark on run plays, but can be crossed up on stunts/blitz pickups and isn’t overpowering at the point of attack. Similar to many top tackles in the class in that he has tweener length and proportions, but is a very athletic prospect who should have a productive NFL career.

Philly gave the Chiefs the No. 164 pick to move up one spot and get their guy. Campbell (6’3/235) is a two-year starter and early declaree who emerged as a true blue chip prospect with a First Team All-SEC caliber 2024 season. He led the Tide with 117 tackles, 11.5 TFLs, and 5.0 sacks, with a Power Four leading 65 stops and a spectacular 5.9% missed tackle rate. Campbell verified the athleticism he showed on tape with a blinding 4.52s 40-yard dash (96th percentile) and a 99th percentile 10’07” broad jump. A well-rounded performer who can cause havoc on the inside or outside, he earned 76th percentile grades in coverage, run support, tackling, and on the pass rush. When Campbell squares up to a ball carrier and channels his power, they rarely escape his grasp as is evidenced by his 88.2 tackle grade, which ranked fourth in the Power Four last year. He was effective on the edge when deployed there as well, utilizing a long-arm technique paired with a deft dip/rip move to chase quarterbacks off their spot and create disruption. He will sometimes try to slide around blocks in the run game, creating lanes as opposed to holding the point of attack before shedding to make the play. When tackling, he sometimes meets rushers in the hole with a high pad level, giving up leverage and allowing stout runners to get into his chest which gives up his leverage. Campbell is a do-it-all playmaker with the length, speed, and tenacity to be a core player for the Eagles.

When asked about the team’s plan for Jaxson Dart in his rookie season, GM Joe Schoen said, “He can come in, sit behind a couple veteran quarterbacks and learn.” Schoen and Daboll entered the draft on the hot seat, reportedly with orders from ownership to find the team’s long-term quarterback. While Wilson will open the season as the starter, Dart could still find his way onto the field by season’s end.

Hairston (5’11/183) entered Kentucky as an unheralded three-star recruit who vaulted onto NFL Draft in 2023 when he led the SEC with five interceptions, two of which went for touchdowns, to go with 11 PBUs and a sterling 85.3 coverage grade. Last year a shoulder injury kept him to seven games, and he had trouble in coverage against South Carolina (89 yards), Texas (61 yards) and Louisville (84 yards). Hairston’s 66th% coverage grade and 21.8 yards per reception average injury indicates room for growth in his technique, but there’s no teaching his speed. His shoulder injury likely affected his willingness to be aggressive against the run, as his six missed tackles, 27.3% MTF rate and 38th% tackle grade will attest. An elite athlete, Hairston led all Combine participants with a 4.28s 40-yard dash along with a 39.5” vert and 10’09”, which were both 93rd% marks for a pristine 9.63 RAS. Good closing burst who can run downfield with just about anyone, and a tenacious competitor that is aggressive when making plays on the ball. Tough to fool on deep routes and doesn’t waste steps reacting to routes. Tough to fool on deep shots and doesn’t waste steps reacting to feints and manipulation. Play strength got exposed by Matthew Golden and Ja’Corey Brooks, who effectively out leveraged Hairston on short and intermediate routes. His speed and ability to remain in phase downfield are Hairston’s core competencies, but he will get caught peeking into the backfield at times leaving him in recovery. Hairston is on the smaller side physically, but he’s as fleet-footed as it gets.

A 2022 blue chip recruit who was rated as a five-star, top-10 overall prospect out of Seattle, Washington, Conerly Jr. (6’5/311) was actually a running back before transitioning to OL as a sophomore in high school. As a freshman, he was used as an extra tackle in short-yardage situations and caught a four-yard touchdown pass while not allowing a single pressure. He became Oregon’s starting LT in 2023, logging 900+ reps in each of the last two seasons while earning Third-Team AP All-American status last year. Conerly Jr. recorded a superb 1% blown block rate with just one sack and two hits allowed while posting an 83.4% PFF pass block grade for the Big Ten Champion Ducks. He ran well at the Combine with a 5.05s 40-yard dash (90th%) and 34.5” vertical (98th%), which verified his athletic traits with an 88th% Relative Athletic Score. He tends to give ground on outside pass sets in order to size up his opponent before initiating contact and stiffening up. Fires out of his stance on run plays and is quick enough to get to the proper edge of defenders to turn them and create lanes. Conerly Jr. tries to surround and envelope defenders rather than overpower them, and is susceptible to a well-timed bull rush. A three-year college player, Conerly Jr. has the traits to develop into a solid tackle if he can add functional weight to improve his anchor.

Williams (6’3/334) has been a fixture on the interior of OSU’s defensive line since arriving on campus in 2021, earning All-Big Ten recognition in each of his collegiate campaigns. The super-sized three tech broke out in 2023 starting 12 games and recording 33 stops, which led all Power Four interior linemen and solidified his reputation for being a top flight trench warrior. An indispensable cog in Ohio State’s National Championship winning defense, Williams Recorded his third season with a PFF overall grade of 80.0+ while finishing fourth in the Power Four with an 89th% run grade. He wasn’t quite as effective rushing the passer, generating a respectable 20 pressures but earning a middling 59.8 pass rush grade last year. While he’s powerfully built with dynamic get off, Williams is fairly one-dimensional on passing downs and lacks a developed set of counters. However, against the run he’s a two-gapping menace who can win with speed or brute force. WIlliams is pegged for immediate early down work with situational duty on passing downs.

A three-year starter for the Bulldogs, Starks (6’1/197) enters the 2025 NFL Draft as one of the most battle-tested and decorated safeties in the class. A former 5-star recruit and top-15 overall prospect, Starks started 42 games for Georgia, racking up 197 tackles, 7 INTs, and 21 PBUs while anchoring the back end of one of the nation’s most vaunted defenses. Starks’ football IQ and positional versatility are readily apparent on tape. He consistently demonstrates range on deep routes, fluid hips to mirror receivers, and an ability to trigger downhill with conviction. His 2023 tape stood out, earning him First-Team All-American honors and finalist nods for both the Bronko Nagurski and Jim Thorpe Awards. However, despite his impressive long speed (4.50 40-yard dash, 8.40 RAS speed score), Starks tested poorly in short-area agility drills at the NFL Combine, posting 26th percentile marks in the shuttle and 3-cone, respectively. That “feast-or-famine” athletic profile was reflected in his RAS of 5.29. On film, Starks plays faster than he tests, using anticipation and route recognition to gain an edge. He thrives when the play is in front of him and he’s allowed to key and drive, but his change-of-direction limitations can be exposed in man coverage and tight spaces. Starks projects as a starting safety in a split-zone or quarters-heavy scheme. His ceiling will hinge on his consistency and ability to mitigate agility limitations at the next level.

The Falcons must have wanted Pearce badly. They moved back into the first round of the draft by trading Houston their first round pick in 2026 along with later-round picks. Pearce Jr. (6’5/245) was considered the 11th ranked high school player from the class of 2022, according to On3. The Charlotte, NC native came of age as a sophomore in 2023, accruing 52 pressures with the second-highest PFF pass rush grade (91.9) among Power Five Edge defenders despite starting just three games on the year. He followed that up with another sensational campaign posting 55 pressures, 13.0 TFL and 7.5 sacks en route to receiving First Team All-SEC accolades for a second consecutive season. Averaged a scorching 22.6% pressure rate with an 89th% pass rush grade in addition to an 84th percentile grade in run support. His prodigious athleticism was verified at the Combine with Pearce Jr. running a blazing 4.47s 40-yard dash and 1.58s 10-yard split which are both 99th percentile marks among historical Edge defenders. Pearce Jr. accelerates around the hoop with blinding speed which puts blockers at an immediate disadvantage off the snap. He’s elusive in run defense and gets off on the snap like a rocket. While Pearce Jr. is extremely quick, he’s a little light for his 6’5” height at 245 pounds which can cause him to get overpowered when blockers manage to get a firm grasp of him. In Atlanta, he’ll join a defensive line Pro Football Focus graded as last year’s third worst pass rushing unit.

The Giants traded the No. 34 overall pick, a 2025 third-rounder and a future sixth-rounder for the right to move up nine spots to land their latest attempted quarterback solution. Frankly, it feels like a light haul, and a good move for a quarterback-desperate team. A three-year starter in Lane Kiffin’s simplistic, prolific Ole Miss offense, Dart (6’2/223) looks the NFL part both from a physical and box score perspective. His production increased all three years in Oxford, culminating in an SEC-leading 4,279 yards last season. His 10.8 yards per attempt led qualified passers by a considerable distance, a number helped along by a similarly prolific aDOT (11.9). This was despite No. 1 receiver Tre Harris suiting up for only eight games. We love that Dart stuffed the stat sheet against an SEC gauntlet, but he buttered his bread on his first 1-2 reads. If the progression had to go longer it … simply didn’t. Dart would tuck and run. He scrambled a somewhat ridiculous 45 times considering his average athleticism. He is admittedly tough as a runner, a quality in ever greater demand in the modern NFL. Dart is an impressive overall passer with a few gaping holes in his game. If he can close up 1-2 of them, he could quickly become a legitimate NFL starter. He will most likely remain on the bench for Week 1 with Russell Wilson being thrown into the early-season fire as Dart seasons.