Would Nebraska QB Dylan Raiola be the top pick in the 2025 NFL Draft if eligible?

Let's play pretend for a moment. Would NFL teams select the freshman phenom first if they could?

Sep 7, 2024; Lincoln, Nebraska, USA; Nebraska Cornhuskers quarterback Dylan Raiola (15) passes against the Colorado Buffaloes during the second quarter at Memorial Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Dylan Widger-Imagn Images / Dylan Widger-Imagn Images

It is a down year to need a quarterback in the 2025 NFL Draft class, leaving some looking forward to the future with names like Texas' Arch Manning and Nebraska Football freshman phenom Dylan Raiola.

With Manning going through some growing pains in his first career start for the Longhorns against Louisiana-Monroe, we turn our attention to the Cornhuskers and their dynamic playmaker under center. The multitude of arm angles he can throw from to manipulate windows is stunning. His ability to throw from multiple platforms is simply fun to watch. Most impressive, however, are some of the throwing windows he is anticipating well before receivers get out of their breaks.

As names like Colorado's Shedeur Sanders, Texas' Quinn Ewers, and Georgia's Carson Beck fail to separate from the pack early on, it leaves us wondering what the landscape would be like if the NFL made an exception for Raiola. This poses the question: if Raiola was draft-eligible for the main event this upcoming Spring, would he not only be the first quarterback off the board but the first overall pick in the draft?

We can take this a step further as well. Even if Raiola were to wait to be removed from high school for three years before being able to head to the NFL level, would a general manager in the NFL use the first overall pick on the rights of Raiola to guarantee he would be on their roster in 2027?

His tools are rare. Rarer than Caleb Williams' was last year. Raiola is a gifted and rare prospect who may earn the comparison to the quarterback he does the best to emulate on the field. Looking at the Carolina Panthers, who are multiple pieces away but still need a quarterback, there is a real chance they would pull the trigger on an opportunity like drafting the rights of the Nebraska Football gunslinger.

Raiola has better tools than anyone in this draft class, and in a league where quarterback reigns supreme, there is a strong chance that Dylan Raiola would hear his name called as the first overall pick in the 2025 NFL Draft if he were allowed to enter his name into the pool of players.

This full conversation was posed in the latest episode of the Daft on Draft Podcast. You can find the full episode on Apple, Spotify, or on YouTube.

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