NFL mock draft: What each top overall selection hopeful should do with the No. 1 pick

We are so far away from the 2025 NFL Draft, but that does not mean some awful NFL teams are not gearing up for the big event in Green Bay later this spring. Unless your favorite NFL team has four or fewer wins at this point of the season, you have next to no shot of getting the No. 1 overall pick. However, there is a steaming pile of crap at the bottom of the bag of the league anchoring it all down.

While there are a lot of interesting candidates to potentially go No. 1 overall, we know how this league works. Barring something unforeseen, it will probably be a quarterback. Although this is not the best quarterback draft class in recent memory, there will be at least three or four going in the first round. Expect for Colorado's Shedeur Sanders and Miami's Cam Ward to be coming off the board very soon.

With that in mind, I decided to take a look at a handful of teams still potentially in line to end up with the No. 1 overall pick in the 2025 NFL Draft and put a dude on their team. For the sake of argument, I have listed eight teams still mathematically alive for the top overall selection heading into the better part of Week 16, as well as one different potential first-overall pick candidate for everyone to choose.

Here is every team in the mix for the No. 1 pick, based on record and ESPN's FPI percentage chance.

Carolina Panthers

3-11 (13.1 percent)

The Carolina Panthers are slightly better than what their pitiful record indicates. I loved the hiring of head coach Dave Canales when it happened. More importantly, it seems as though their normally meddling owner David Tepper has decided to remove himself from the kitchen in order to allow Canales and general manager Dan Morgan to cook in the war room. Who should they target No. 1?

My thought is Carolina is going to trade down from the No. 1 overall pick if they end up with it, especially since there would be a slew of quarterback-desperate teams potentially picking behind them. If nobody wants to strike a deal with Carolina, I would think targeting one of the best receivers in the draft might be the way to go. This would help ensure Bryce Young of being a success for them.

Amid a bad year for the program, Tetairoa McMillan still got his and then some starring for Arizona.

Carolina Panthers' No. 1 overall pick: Arizona Wildcats wide receiver Tetairoa McMillan

Cleveland Browns

3-11 (2.4 percent)

While the Carolina Panthers have a halfway decent shot at the No. 1 pick, the Cleveland Browns have a percentage-points chance of obtaining that selection. Cleveland may want an upgrade at quarterback, but they are in purgatory with the albatross of a Deshaun Watson deal. Although they could be a candidate to pursue either Shedeur Sanders or Cam Ward, I feel that is way too unlikely.

Despite the fact that I do not think the Browns would trade back from No. 1, they may look to accentuate their offense with that selection. As wtih Carolina, Arizona wide receiver Tetairoa McMillan could be a good selection for them, give me another Power Four star wideout who played in the midwest over the southwest in Luther Burden III out of Missouri. Burden was all they were offensively.

Burden may end up being the Browns' selection anyway, especially if they do not land the No. 1 pick.

Cleveland Browns' No. 1 overall pick: Missouri Tigers wide receiver Luther Burden III

Jacksonville Jaguars

3-11 (6.1 percent)

The Jacksonville Jaguars have made it an art form when it comes to perennially be picking inside the top five. While they have hit on occasion, their regular misses with their draft selections play a huge part in why they are one of the most moribund franchises in the NFL. While I do not think Trevor Lawrence is the answer for them under center, it feels like they are a ways away from replacing him.

So what I would do is look to amplify Jacksonville's increasingly lousy defense. When this team is even the least bit good, they have the defense to back it up. There are a handful of high-end players who could be cornerstone pieces to build a defense around. I would look at adding a defensive back of note. The guy to target is Michigan cornerback Will Johnson above all else if I were Jacksonville.

There is not going to be any nonsense with Johnson, just stupendous play in the defensive backfield.

Jacksonville Jaguars' No. 1 overall pick: Michigan Wolverines cornerback Will Johnson

Las Vegas Raiders

2-12 (13.8 percent)

The smart money to end up with the No. 1 overall pick would be on one of two teams. The first team I will touch on would have to be the Las Vegas Raiders. The Silver and Black have not won a game in months. They are in dire need of a quarterback. Fortunately, there are two quality ones for them to choose from at the top of the 2025 NFL Draft. Would they go with Shedeur Sanders or Cam Ward?

It is splitting hairs between the signal-caller of the Colorado Buffaloes and the Heisman Trophy finalist of the Miami Hurricanes, but I think Sanders fits the Raiders' rebel brand far better. More importantly, his father Deion Sanders starred for one of the New York Giants' biggest rivals in the Dallas Cowboys. Coach Prime wants his son to play for the Raiders, so we need to make it happen.

The Raiders would settle for Cam Ward, but I know they would much rather draft Shedeur Sanders.

Las Vegas Raiders' No. 1 overall pick: Colorado Buffaloes quarterback Shedeur Sanders

New England Patriots

3-11 (23.6 percent)

The New England Patriots are the one team that could end up with the No. 1 overall pick that I know for a fact will not be looking to draft a quarterback. New England has a lot of things going against it as a franchise right now, but quarterback is not one of them. The team is going to be built around Drake Maye on the offensive side of the ball going forward. Now, the Patriots need to procure another star.

Without question, the Patriots should take the best player available in the draft in Shedeur Sanders' Colorado Buffaloes teammate in Heisman Trophy-winning cornerback and wide receiver Travis Hunter. I would want for Hunter to play cornerback for the Patriots initially, just so that he can get his footing at the professional level. He needs to pick one position in the NFL, but he can play both well.

The Patriots may be between a rock and a hard place organizationally, but Hunter can get them out.

New England Patriots' No. 1 overall pick: Colorado Buffaloes cornerback/wide receiver Travis Hunter

New York Giants

2-12 (37.4 percent)

The New York Giants are the other team I have a very strong feeling will end up with the No. 1 overall pick, along with the Las Vegas Raiders. New York is in the midst of its worst season of my lifetime. The Daniel Jones era of the G-Men is over, and the not-so-dynamic partnership of Brian Daboll and Joe Schoen is about to be. The Giants need so much to turn this around, but it starts with a quarterback.

Truth be told, I do not think they can go wrong with either Colorado's Shedeur Sanders or Miami's Cam Ward, but they are probably going to end up with the later. Ward nearly carried the Hurricanes into the College Football Playoff. He offers a ton of arm talent and the necessary leadership to get the Giants out of their perpetual quagmire. The Giants could end up drafting Ward no matter what.

I would not be surprised to see the Giants and the Raiders trade up inside of the top two if need be.

New York Giants' No. 1 overall pick: Miami Hurricanes quarterback Cam Ward

New York Jets

4-10 (<0.1 percent)

The New York Jets are the least likely team to end up with the No. 1 pick that is still mathematically in the mix for it in the 2025 NFL Draft. While it remains to be seen what the Jets want to do about Aaron Rodgers, the best thing they need to do organizationally is get back to basics and do what the Jets do best, which is win with defense. Anytime they are good, they usually win on that side of the ball.

With the insane amount of leverage they would possess if they ended up with the No. 1 pick, the Jets would almost certainly trade back to help set up the new regime for success. The building block I would target near the top of the draft, or at the very top of it if nobody wants the No. 1 pick, would be Michigan defensive lineman Mason Graham. He is my pick to be a sure-fire, can't-miss draft prospect.

Graham has the potential to be the next Fletcher Cox, Aaron Donald or Chris Jones at the next level.

New York Jets' No. 1 overall pick: Michigan Wolverines DL Mason Graham

Tennessee Titans

3-11 (3.6 percent)

Who knows what the Tennessee Titans are even doing? While I like their head coach Brian Callahan, I am not sure the pairing with general manager Ran Carthon is going to work. More importantly, Amy Adams Strunk is not the owner I would want to play for, coach for, or build a team for. Regardless, someone has to do it, so I will tell you my rudimentary plan for turning the Titans around in a hurry.

Rather than draft a quarterback this spring, I would wait until 2026 or 2027 to do that. In the meantime, I would give Sam Darnold a two-year deal to be my starter. I would also entertain potentially trading for Kirk Cousins to help the transition process towards the next guy. So with that in mind, I would target an elite player in the middle of the defense in Penn State linebacker Abdul Carter.

Tennessee is a trade-back candidate, but I think Carter will probably end up being their guy anyway.

Tennessee Titans' No. 1 overall pick: Penn State Nittany Lions linebacker Abdul Carter