2025 NFL draft stock: Risers, fallers from expanded College Football Playoff

Posted by Admin January 21, 2025 NFL

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The college football season has finally come to a close. The Ohio State Buckeyes are national champions for the first time since 2014 after winning the College Football Playoff (CFP) National Championship 34-23 over Notre Dame.

The CFP expanded to 12 teams this season and saw some surprises. The top four seeds all lost in the second round as the teams seeded No. 5 through No. 8 made it to the semifinals.

The expanded playoff gave college football stars more opportunities to show out and put highlights on their tape ahead of the 2025 NFL draft. With up to four games for some teams in the postseason, many players had a chance to rise up draft boards while others likely fell with subpar performances.

Here are four players who helped their draft stock in the CFP – and four who hurt their stock in the postseason:

2025 NFL draft stock: Risers from CFP

Ohio State RB Quinshon Judkins

The Buckeyes rolled into the 2024 season with one of the top running backs in the country in TreVeyon Henderson. But he and Judkins, a transfer from Ole Miss, made for one of the best one-two punches at the position in college football.

Judkins was a force in the college football playoff. On the biggest stage in the national championship game against Notre Dame, Judkins needed just 11 carries to reach 100 rushing yards and tallied three touchdowns (two rushing, one receiving).

The 2025 NFL draft features a deep running back class. Judkins averaged more than five yards per carry in the playoffs and had seven total touchdowns in the four biggest games of the season. He’s firmly in the conversation to be a top-40 selection in April.

Notre Dame S Xavier Watts

Safety is another deep position in the 2025 NFL draft. Georgia’s Malaki Starks is considered the best prospect at the position but may not be the only first-round player at the position.

Watts built a reputation as a ball-hawking safety over the last two years in South Bend afters starting out his college career as a wide receiver. Against the top competition in the playoffs, he played very well.

Watts led the Irish in tackles with 10 and had their only interception in the CFP opener against Indiana. He had at least seven tackles in Notre Dame’s other three playoff games and made a key pass breakup against Henderson in coverage.

Watts could drop to the second round because he plays a generally undervalued position. He’ll be a steal for whichever team selects him in the second round.

Texas WR Matthew Golden

Golden was one of two transfer wide receivers for the Longhorns this season alongside Isaiah Bond. While Bond was expected to be a first-round pick, Golden helped himself work into that conversation through the CFP.

He broke out with seven catches for 149 yards and a touchdown against Arizona State in the Peach Bowl. That performance, along with an eight-catch, 162-yard performance in the SEC championship game against Georgia, was well-timed for his draft stock.

Golden could end up breaking into the first round in a weak wide receiver class compared to prior seasons. Teams looking for a ball-winning outside wide receiver with solid route running and separation skills could look Golden’s way late in Round 1 or early in Round 2.

Penn State TE Tyler Warren

Warren won the John Mackey Award in 2024, given to the top tight end in college football. The Nittany Lions’ tight end was a featured weapon in both of their CFP games, starting with an impressive showing against Boise State.

Warren hauled in six catches for 63 yards and two touchdowns, the first of which was a toe-tapping catch in the back corner of the end zone.

That stat line in the passing game shows why he’s extremely likely to be a first-round pick come April. But it’s his blocking abilities in the running game that could make him a top-15 selection and the first tight end off the board.

He showed off his blocking abilities in Penn State’s CFP opener against SMU and kept that effort up.

2025 NFL draft stock: Fallers from CFP

Georgia RB Trevor Etienne

In a deep running back class, an extra game in the CFP could do wonders for a prospect’s draft stock. Etienne had a great opportunity in the Sugar Bowl with starting quarterback Carson Beck out with an injury to take on a bigger role.

Instead, Etienne had just 32 yards on 11 carries. One of those carries was for a touchdown, but he averaged just 2.64 yards after contact against Notre Dame. Etienne already had a down year in the regular season compared to prior Georgia running backs.

He has declared for the 2025 NFL draft but may end up as a Day 3 pick due to his lackluster season as well as off-the-field concerns.

Texas QB Quinn Ewers

Ewers entered the year as a potential first-round pick with a Longhorns team full of future NFL talent on the offensive line and at wide receiver. He had an up-and-down season, though, as he was often overshadowed by highly-touted backup Arch Manning.

Ewers didn’t step up in the biggest games of the year, most notably in the Cotton Bowl against Ohio State. Ewers’ ill-timed fumble on 4th-and-goal was scooped up and run back for an 83-yard touchdown by Buckeyes edge rusher Jack Sawyer to put Ohio State up by two scores. On the ensuing drive, Ewers threw an interception to seal the loss.

With that performance on the big stage and an inconsistent 2024 season, Ewers is now likely a Round 3 pick at best for a team looking to develop.

Boise State RB Ashton Jeanty

To be clear, Jeanty is the top running back prospect in the class and should still be considered the top player at the position. His mix of elite traits makes him a prime candidate to be a bell-cow runner at the next level.

But his performance against Penn State was somewhat concerning. The Heisman Trophy runner-up took on a Nittany Lions defense featuring plenty of future NFL players. He fumbled twice, equalling his total from the prior 13 games, and had a season-low 3.5 yards per carry.

It would be a massive surprise if Jeanty dropped out of the first round in April. But after that performance in the biggest game of his career, he could slip outside the first 12 picks, especially considering the depth at the position. Teams picking near the top of the draft could opt to select Judkins or another back in the second round and address more pressing needs in the first round.

Tennessee RB Dylan Sampson

Sampson earned 2024 SEC Offensive Player of the Year honors after rushing for 1,485 yards and 22 touchdowns in the regular season. But he exited the Volunteers’ CFP matchup against Ohio State in the first quarter without much initial explanation from the Tennessee staff.

He later came back into the lineup in the third quarter and caught a two-yard pass. Ohio State was well in control by then, en route to a 42-17 win.

After the game, Tennessee coach Josh Heupel said Sampson suffered a lower-body injury against Vanderbilt in the regular season finale and it was still bothering him. Heupel said it was a soft-tissue injury that was bothering him for weeks leading up to the game.

That confusing injury could give teams pause on drafting Sampson. They’ll likely be doing their homework on his medicals to determine how high to take him in a stacked running back class.