Mel Kiper releases final ranking for all 32 eligible quarterbacks ahead of 2025 NFL Draft

The 2025 NFL Draft is just days away, with the first day of the three-day event to kickoff Thursday evening at 8 pm ET from Green Bay, Wisconsin. And with that, much like the 32 NFL teams, draft pundits everywhere are putting the final touches on their personal draft boards.

That includes longtime ESPN draft guru Mel Kiper Jr., who dotted the I’s and crossed the T’s on his final Big Board ranking to include the Top 150 overall prospects. Kiper also provided a detailed positional ranking, including a list of the Top 32 available quarterbacks, led once again by his personal favorite QB, Colorado‘s Shedeur Sanders.

Beyond Sanders at No. 1, there isn’t a lot of change among Kiper’s Top 10 QB ranking, at least until the end where Notre Dame‘s Riley Leonard gets a slight boost to No. 9 overall, dropping Texas QB Quinn Ewers to the final spot in his Top 10 after ranking ninth for much of the last few months.

Check out Mel Kiper Jr.’s complete Top 32 quarterback ranking for the 2025 NFL Draft:

As mentioned above, Kiper continues to extoll the virtues of the polarizing QB prospect out of Colorado, despite nearly every other draft prognosticator — and most of the 32 NFL teams — ranking Miami‘s Cam Ward as the draft’s consensus No. 1 quarterback.

Controversial or not after anonymous criticism described him as “arrogant” during team meetings at the NFL Combine, Kiper has great appreciation for Sanders’ combination of toughness, relisiency and accuracy after posting a FBS-leading 74-percent completion rate along with 4,134 passing yards and 37 touchdowns in 2024.

Cam Ward (Stephanie Amador Blondet-Imagn Images)

The expected No. 1 overall pick on Thursday evening comes in at No. 2 in Mel Kiper Jr.’s personal quarterback ranking, which is where he’s been throughout much of the pre-draft process.

Despite Kiper’s ranking, Ward has managed to establish himself as the top-rated QB in this year’s class after directing Miami’s NCAA-leading offense with a FBS-best 39 passing touchdowns and 4,313 passing yards in 2024.

Amid some pre-draft buzz he could become a potential Top 10 pick, Dart holds steady at No. 3 in Kiper’s personal ranking following a record-breaking senior season in Oxford, where he surpassed Eli Manning as the Rebels’ all-time leading passer.

Dart capped his Ole Miss career by leading the SEC with 4,279 passing yards and a 29-to-6 touchdown to interception ratio in 2024 to finish his time in Oxford with 10,617 career passing yards.

The well-traveled former Louisville QB is another likely Day 2 selection that has heard his name attached to a potential Day 1 surprise pick after impressing during his lone season with the Cardinals.

The 25-year-old Shough has continued to climb NFL draft boards this offseason as scouts scour his tape from last season following several injury-plagued years at both Oregon and Texas Tech.

Jalen Milroe (Kirby Lee-Imagn Images)

The athletically-gifted Crimson Tide quarterback remains a polarizing figure in the 2025 NFL Draft, with several NFL scouts and GMs extolling his potential at the next level, albeit as a project that will require some time to refine himself as a passer.

Nevertheless, Milroe’s superior talent is unquestioned after tallying 6,935 total yards and 71 combined touchdowns over the past two seasons as Alabama’s QB1. That includes 20 rushing scores in 2024.

The veteran McCord remains a buzzy Day 2 option following a transformative senior season at Syracuse, where the 6-foot-3, 220-pound QB led all of college football with 4,779 passing yards and 34 touchdowns in 2024.

McCord famously bet on himself last offseason, opting to transfer away from Ohio State, the eventual national champions, and would be a welcomed addition to any NFL team’s QB room.

Howard, McCord’s replacement in Columbus, proved instrumental in leading the Buckeyes to the 2025 College Football Playoff National Championship, and continues to draw attention throughout the pre-draft process.

The 6-foot-4, 235-pound Howard capped his stellar five-year collegiate career by leading the Big Ten with 4,010 passing yards and 42 total touchdowns, including seven rushing scores.

Dillon Gabriel (Vasha Hunt-Imagn Images)

Though a bit undersized at 5-foot-11, Gabriel established himself as one of college football’s most productive quarterbacks of all-time after combining for 18,722 career passing yards and 72 touchdowns over six collegiate seasons at Oregon, Oklahoma and UCF.

Given that production, not even NFL teams can deny Gabriel’s protential at the next level, especially after his Oregon predecessor, Bo Nix, turned heads as a rookie with the Broncos in 2024.

Although there’s not much movement in Kiper’s Top 10, the ESPN expert made it a point to bump up the 6-foot-3, 210-pound Leonard from tied at 10th to No. 9 in his final ranking.

The Notre Dame QB is a natural talent at the position that is already drawing some comparisons to dual-threat Bills quarterback Josh Allen after tallying 17 rushing touchdowns and 21 passing scores in 2024.

Kiper dings the former Longhorns quarterback in his final positional ranking, rounding out his personal Top 10 with Ewers after ranking him ninth throughout much of the pre-draft process.

Nevertheless, Ewers could be a late Day 2 or early Day 3 gem for a NFL team after throwing for 9,128 yards and 68 touchdowns over 36 career games over three injury-riddled seasons in Austin.

Kurtis Rourke (Trevor Ruszkowski-Imagn Images)