The NFL Draft has been something of a sore spot for Big 12 fans over the last decade or so. While leagues like the SEC and Big Ten churn out huge numbers of first-round picks, the Big 12 is lucky to produce a handful.
That’s not to say that the league hasn’t had NFL talent — it certainly has. The league had back-to-back first overall picks in 2018 and 2019 when Baker Mayfield and Kyler Murray each went No. 1 overall.
However, the league hasn’t had a top-five pick since 2019, and before Mayfield or Murray, the Big 12 had gone since 2013 without a top-five pick.
Last year, the Big 12 had two first-rounders — one from Texas and one from Oklahoma — and in 2023, the league had its best showing in the draft as a ten-team league with six players taken in the first 32 picks. — for context, the SEC had 11 first-rounders in the 2024 Draft and another nine first-round picks in 2023
In 2023, each of the first five players taken off the board was from a Big Ten or SEC school. In 2024, five of the first ten were from those conferences. However, it appears the script might be flipped in 2025, and it might be the Big 12 that dominates the early portion of the draft.
According to the latest mock drafts from CBS Sports, the Big 12 not only has the No. 1 overall pick — it has three of the first four players taken off the board.
CBS Sports’ Josh Edwards has the Jacksonville Jaguars taking Colorado’s Travis Hunter with the No. 1 overall pick, followed by the Tennessee Titans taking Arizona’s Tetairoa McMillan with Pick No. 2.
Then, after Miami quarterback Cam Ward goes off the board to Cleveland, Colorado signal-caller Shedeur Sanders is next at No. 4 to the New York Giants.
Not to be outdone, Arizona has two more players go off the board in this mock draft, with offensive tackle Jonah Savaiinaea going to Chicago with the 14th pick and defensive back Tacario Davis going to Kansas City with pick No. 31, giving the Big 12 a total of five first-rounders and three of the first four players taken.
It’ll be interesting to see how the experts spin that one when the time comes.
The 2025 NFL Draft is scheduled for Thursday, April 24, 2025, outside of Lambeau Field in Green Bay, Wisconsin.
