6 Underrated Players in the 2025 NFL Draft
Christian Williams looks at the most underrated players in the 2025 NFL Draft.
The terms underrated and overrated are often deployed prematurely in football. But as the NFL season winds to a close and college football enters its first lengthy playoff season, the 2025 NFL Draft is on many people's minds. The College Football Playoff will give some players opportunities to leave the “underrated” category and become appropriately rated. Still, here are seven underrated players in the 2025 NFL Draft.
Drew Allar (QB - Penn State)
The Royale subscribers and Quarters podcast listeners already know our feelings on the Penn State quarterback, but the lack of hype for Allar is directly tied to the fact that many don’t project he will declare. Still, with evaluators needing to squint to find a proper third quarterback and Allar’s tools, he probably should declare. Allar has grown immensely in 2024. His completion percentage is up 9.5% from 2023. His yards per attempt are up 2.2 yards, with his adjusted yards per attempt also up 2.1. He has more big-time throws, per Pro Football Focus, and he’s generally been impressive statistically. But the film should vault him into the first round should he declare for the 2025 NFL Draft.
Allar's growth has come from possessing a big, elastic arm, retooled mechanics, and a high football IQ. His natural pocket maneuverability and sack avoidance are at the top of the class, and his willingness to scramble and pick up yards on the ground, especially later in the 2024 season, is impressive. From a footwork perspective, there was panic in his feet during the 2023 season. When he had to move off of his first read, his feet wouldn’t follow. Now, he’s reading the field, and his feet follow. His release has shortened up, as well, allowing him to get the ball out quicker. Throwing into tight coverage over the middle of the field is Allar’s specialty, and that’s because he throws well with anticipation and timing. Is it perfect? No, he still has room for improvement across the board. Accuracy has been somewhat inconsistent, though his misses are generally not back-breaking; he is also completing 75.2% of his passes when removing the 13 Penn State drops. I’ll leave you with a short passing comparison.
Drake Maye in 2023:
63.3% completion
3608 yards
8.5 yards per attempt
24 touchdowns
5.6% touchdown rate
9 interceptions
2.1% interception rate
1.9% turnover-worthy plays
75.3% adjusted completion
Drew Allar in 2024:
69.1% completion
2894 yards
8.9 yards per attempt
21 touchdowns
6.5% touchdown rate
7 interceptions
2.2% interception rate
1.6% turnover-worthy plays
75.2% adjusted completion
Allar is my personal QB1, and a big playoff run could open the eyes of many national NFL Draft analysts.
If you haven’t, check out Quarters: An NFL Draft & College Football Podcast, hosted by Kevin Coleman, Christian Williams, & Randy Hall. The guys bring their film analysis and NFL draft grades to mock drafts and big boards and analyze the upcoming NFL Draft each week. Available on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.
RJ Harvey (RB - UCF)
Harvey has consistently been one of the most overlooked backs in an extraordinarily deep class. Harvey is the perfect combination of burst, tackle avoidance, and proof of a large workload. In the three years he’s received snaps at UCF, his lowest yards per attempt is 6.3 in 2023. He has 43 career touchdowns, averages over 3.65 yards after contact per attempt, and has a breakaway percentage of just under 50%. And it’s not straight-line running; it’s letting blocks develop, making guys miss in space, and breaking tackles. Over his last six career games, he averaged:
119.7 rushing yards
2.2 touchdowns
6.33 missed tackles forced
76.8 yards after contact
Many will knock him for his size — he’s listed at 5090 and 208 pounds. Still, his elusiveness in the open field, combined with his low center of gravity, gives me little pause to think that he’ll be able to continue his success at the NFL level. He’s a big play waiting to happen, and NFL Draft analysts will catch up as he goes through his pre-draft process. Harvey is my No. 5 running back, and I will finish the process with a top-100 grade on him.
Bhayshul Tuten (RB - Virginia Tech)
Like Harvey, Tuten is getting lost in an absurdly deep running back class, but when NFL fans emerge from the NFL draft in April, it wouldn’t be shocking if Tuten received higher draft capital and a better landing spot than many of the favorites in the class. Statistically, Tuten isn’t dissimilar to Harvey. He has 40 career touchdowns, averages over four yards after contact per attempt, and his breakaway percentage of 46.6% is just 3% lower than the UCF star. Tuten is arguably more slippery, using his above-average change of direction to evade oncoming tacklers and presenting opportunities for chunk runs. He has above-average vision, and he finishes runs with authority. He’s scheme-versatile, with some of his best film coming from 2022 when Virginia Tech was heavily a gap-scheme team. Still, his work in the zone-blocking scheme they’ve implemented over the past two seasons is impressive. Tuten is my No. 6 running back.
Dorian Strong (CB - Virginia Tech)
Let’s stick with Virginia Tech Hokies for a moment and recognize Strong, the talented fifth-year corner many will return to and discover as the college football season wraps up. Strong is a fluid athlete with oily hips and a high football IQ who can cover virtually anyone in college football right now. His change of direction is remarkable, and his ability to click and close is only enhanced by early identification of what he’s seeing. Strong is a physical corner who plays much bigger than his listed 6004 and 183-pound frame. His long arms allow him to get into wideouts on their releases, making things more challenging out of press coverage. Strong was incredibly productive in 2024. He averaged 14.4 snaps per reception, had a passer rating against of 69.4, broke six balls up, and wrapped up nearly everyone he met in the open field, missing just 2.9% of his tackle attempts. Strong is currently my No. 4 cornerback with a Quality NFL Starter designation. If he continues to impress through the pre-draft process, he should become a top-50 pick next April.
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Xavier Watts (S - Notre Dame)
It’s difficult not to get unreasonably excited when watching Watts’ 2024 film. The Notre Dame defense rounded into form after the Northern Illinois loss early in the year, and Watts’ leadership skills and elite play have been a significant reason for that. It’s not new — he was quite good in 2023, too. Over the last two years, Watts has 12 interceptions and six pass breakups. His passer rating against this year is 30.4, an improvement from his already elite mark of 37.8. He’s working more as a free safety this year than ever before, and his coverage skills are on full display. Despite the advanced numbers suggesting he misses tackles consistently, he's a sound tackler. Watts always plays under control; he’ll break down and wrap up before going for a big hit, a quality that more college football safeties could stand to improve upon. Watts hasn’t gotten the national recognition yet, but an extended run for Notre Dame in this year’s College Football Playoff could vault him up boards in the eyes of the national analysts. He’s my No. 1 safety prospect in this class, and he should leave the board before the 51st pick when the 2025 NFL Draft rolls around.
Donovan Ezeiruaku (EDGE - Boston College)
Early in the 2024 college football season, Ezeiruaku received praise from every angle. His production was off-the-charts good, and the film showed a scrappy, albeit undersized, edge rusher with a high motor and a nose for the football. For whatever reason, the hype slowed down. Ezeiruaku didn’t, though. He had six sacks through five games when the hype peaked. He went through a sackless three-game period (which probably killed the hype) before finishing the season with eight sacks in his last four games. Sacks don’t tell the whole story, though, as the pressure he consistently generated throughout the season never ceased. His 61 pressures rank third in the nation behind SMU’s Elijah Roberts and Marshall’s Mike Green (whom I also love, but he’s becoming properly rated, so he didn’t make this list).
Some edge rushers who aren’t necessarily the prototypical size can be inconsistent against the run. Still, Ezeiruaku is a physically strong player with power behind his punches, and he consistently gets involved as a run-stopper. He’s one of the most complete edge rushers in the class, with detractors only having size to cling to as a major negative. The hype should return through Ezeiruaku’s pre-draft process, and he’ll be firmly in top-75 conversations once again.