2025 Senior Bowl week bold predictions: Ole Miss’ Jaxson Dart outperforms underwhelming QB field

The Senior Bowl is a tremendous showcase for NFL Draft prospects each year in Mobile, Alabama, and we often see stocks fluctuate at this unofficial start of the pre-draft process. 

Scouts and GMs often pay more attention to the week of practices leading into the game on Saturday than anything else, yet the exhibition outing is always a blast to watch as many of the best entrants into the draft get to compete against one another. 

Let’s get to some bold predictions before the players take the practice field ahead of the 2025 Senior Bowl. 

Texas A&M’s Shemar Stewart emerges as premier DL prospect

If he’s not widely considered a premier defensive line prospect in the 2025 class, Stewart will use the Senior Bowl as a catapult to that distinction. Stewart was the No. 3 recruit in the nation behind Walter Nolen and Mykel Williams, in the 2022 high school class, per 247 Sports. 

Did he meet those lofty expectations at Texas A&M? Not really. Many from those monstrous recruiting classes for the Aggies didn’t. 

Stewart measured in at 6-foot-5 and 281 pounds in Mobile on Monday. On film, you’d swear he’s 6-3 and 255 with how suddenly he moves. And that’s off the ball and when changing directions. Stewart is sudden and can sustain speed to the quarterback. Plus, he has an 83 1/2-inch wingspan, the second-longest of any defensive player in attendance this week. 

This event is ideal for a freaky specimen like Stewart to shine. The Senior Bowl is all about one-on-one drills, specifically in the trenches, and Stewart has the length, burst, and speed-to-power conversion to rock in clear man-on-man reps. After his week of practice in Mobile, he’ll remain a fixture in first-round mocks until he’s selected in Round 1 in late April. 

Ole Miss QB Jaxson Dart outperforms all the other quarterbacks

The collection of quarterbacks at this year’s Senior Bowl is … not good. Alabama’s Jalen Milroe is the only potential Round 1 pick, and the other quarterbacks are more Day 3 types than anything else. 

Dart is the biggest enigma of the group. He’s a former highly touted recruit who started and produced with outstanding efficiency the past three seasons at Ole Miss after transferring from USC. The main reason he’s not generating serious buzz at the outset of the pre-draft process — the gimmicky nature of the Rebels’ offensive system. Screens and go routes. Not much else. 

Yet when the scheme and environment is stripped away, Dart does possess a reasonably live arm and demonstrated sharp accuracy down the field in each of the past three seasons. The quarterbacks aren’t asked to make ultra-intricate reads during Senior Bowl week. So, Dart’s rawness in that regard won’t show. His mobility, throw-on-the-run skill, and deep-ball speciality will. 

After his time in Mobile, he’ll become a favorite late Day 2 or early Day 3 quarterback option in a very weak class at the position. 

Donovan Ezeiruaku is considered first-round talent after week of practice

Ezeiruaku turned 21 in September yet the defensive end boasts three seasons with more than 500 snaps at Boston College and gradually improved his production from a volume standpoint each year. At just over 6-2 and 248 pounds, Ezeiruaku will get the “undersized” label from some analysts — and teams — but Senior Bowl weigh-ins critically showed he has premier length for the position, with 34 1/2-inch arms and a ridiculously lengthy 82 3/8″ wingspan. 

His combination of burst, bend, and the ability to dip below enormous offensive tackles will be on display in the one-on-ones, and the blend he possesses is impressive enough that the Boston College product will be widely considered a first-round pick in this class after Senior Bowl week. 

Don’t even be surprised if he has a quality performance in the game. He has a well-rounded skill set — Ezeiruaku holds up as an edge-setting run defender too, and he can thank his low center of gravity combined with immense length for that. 

Toledo S Maxen Hook becomes household name 

Safeties have grown in importance over the past decade in the NFL, and the Senior Bowl has highlighted some previously lesser-known safety prospects in recent past, like Kyle Dugger, Jeremy Chinn, Kerby Joseph and Talanoa Hufanga. 

This year’s safety who springboards into the spotlight after Senior Bowl week is going to be Hook from Toledo. The fifth-year senior was a four-year full-time contributor for the Rockets and slowly but surely became a big-play fixture on defense, culminating with a 107-tackle, two-interception, four pass-breakup 2024. 

At just under 6-0 and 193 pounds with reasonably long arms, Hook is ideally sized for the modern-day NFL that asks more fluid in-space play from safeties than ever before. 

Kentucky DL Deone Walker is the best prospect at the Senior Bowl

This is the least bold of the predictions, but the idea is to actually get these predictions, not just throw crazy ideas at the wall and hope they stick. 

His 2024 wasn’t nearly as disruptive for Walker as his breakout 2023. It’s not overly worrisome though, because he saw significantly more double teams, and he’s unlikely to draw as much attention as a rookie in the NFL. 

Then again, Walker won’t go unnoticed as a professional at a legitimate 6-7 and 340 pounds with 34 5/8-inch arms and an 84 1/2-inch wingspan at defensive tackle. What’s so fascinating about Walker. His athletic skill set is much closer to that of comparably sized Dexter Lawrence than your normal block-gobbling nose tackle who doesn’t provide much more value than devouring space. 

In 2023, Walker generated 51 pressures on 425 pass-rushing snaps, good for a whopping 12% pressure-creation rate, a massive number for a nose tackle of his size. Walker will dominate in the one-on-ones, and I can envision a scenario in which he sits out the final practice because of how strong his showing is early in the week.