ACC/NC In 2025 NFL Draft:
Miami, UNC, BC, ECU Superstars
Lead Parade Of High-Profile Prospects
By David Glenn
North Carolina Sports Network
(last updated April 24, 2025)
Prominent players from Miami, North Carolina, Boston College and East Carolina are expected to be selected in the early rounds of the 2025 National Football League draft, which begins Thursday night at legendary Lambeau Field in Wisconsin.
Top players from North Carolina-based programs such as Appalachian State, Campbell, Charlotte, Davidson, Duke, Elon, Fayetteville State, Gardner-Webb, Johnson C Smith, Lenoir-Rhyne, Mars Hill, North Carolina A&T, NC Central, NC State, North Carolina Wesleyan, Wake Forest, Western Carolina and Wingate also have a chance to hear their names called, either during the three-day (Thursday-Saturday), seven-round event or as undrafted free agents in its aftermath.
Miami quarterback Cam Ward, the 2024 ACC Player of the Year and Davey O’Brien Award winner as the nation’s top collegiate quarterback, is expected to be a very high first-round pick, perhaps even the #1 overall selection of the Tennessee Titans.
UNC running back Omarion Hampton (pictured above), Boston College defensive end Donovan Ezeiruaku and East Carolina cornerback Shavon Revel Jr. also have been projected as early round selections in a wide variety of mock drafts.
Over the past decade, the NFL draft regularly has drawn an average audience of more than 10 million viewers for its first-round coverage (8 pm, ABC/ESPN/ESPN Deportes/NFL Network/NFL+) and an average of more than 5 million over the event’s three days.
As usual, the Southeastern Conference and the Big Ten Conference are expected to have by far the most first-round draft picks and the most overall selections this year. Below are the combined numbers, by conference, from the 2023 and 2024 NFL drafts.
2023/2024 NFL Drafts
(Overall Selections By Conference)
122—Southeastern Conference (SEC)
97—Big Ten Conference
73—Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC)
70—Pac-12 Conference (now disbanded)
61—Big 12 Conference
15—American Athletic Conference (AAC)
15—Independents
15—Sun Belt Conference
9—Mid-American Conference
7—Mountain West Conference
6—Conference USA
2—Missouri Valley Conference
1—Atlantic Sun Conference
1—Big Sky Conference
1—Coastal Athletic Association
1—Great Lakes Conference
1—Ivy League
1—Northeast Conference
1—Ohio Valley Conference
1—South Atlantic Conference
1—Southwestern Athletic Conference
1—Western Athletic Conference
Since 2000, the ACC has produced the third-most first-round NFL draft picks (120), behind only the SEC (220) and the Big Ten (133), although this year only two or three ACC players are expected to be drafted that high.
Below is a summary of the top NFL draft prospects from ACC and North Carolina-based programs this year.
Top-Rated ACC Prospects
Miami QB Cam Ward (6-1, 219)
North Carolina RB Omarion Hampton (5-11, 221)
Boston College DE Donovan Ezeiruaku (6-2, 248)
Florida State CB Azareye’h Thomas (6-1, 196)
Louisville QB Tyler Shough (6-5, 219)
NC State OT Anthony Belton (6-6, 336)
Cal CB Nohl Williams (6-0, 199)
Miami TE Elijah Arroyo (6-5, 254)
Boston College OT Ozzy Trapilo (6-8, 316)
Virginia S Jonas Sanker (6-0, 206)
Syracuse QB Kyle McCord (6-3, 218)
Florida State DT Joshua Farmer (6-3, 305)
Stanford WR Elic Ayomanor (6-1, 206)
Top-Rated NC (Non-ACC) Prospects
East Carolina CB Shavon Revel Jr. (6-1, 202)
Other Prominent ACC Prospects
Virginia Tech WR Jaylin Lane (5-9, 191)
Louisville DE Ashton Gillotte (6-2, 264)
Clemson LB Barrett Carter (6-0, 232)
Louisville CB Quincy Riley (5-10, 194)
Miami RB Damien Martinez (5-11, 217)
Georgia Tech TE Jackson Hawes (6-4, 253)
Virginia Tech RB Bhayshul Tuten (5-9, 206) — formerly of North Carolina A&T
Virginia Tech CB Dorian Strong (6-1, 185)
Clemson S RJ Mickens (6-0, 199)
Miami DE Tyler Baron (6-4, 258)
Virginia Tech DT Aeneas Peebles (6-0, 282) — formerly of Duke
SMU RB Brashard Smith (5-9, 194)
Miami OG Jalen Rivers (6-6, 319)
Boston College OC Drew Kendall (6-4, 308)
Virginia Tech DE Antwaun Powell-Ryland (6-2, 258)
Cal S Craig Woodson (6-0, 200)
SMU DE Elijah Roberts (6-3, 285)
Syracuse RB LeQuint Allen (6-0, 204)
Miami WR Xavier Restrepo (5-9, 202)
Syracuse TE Oronde Gadsden II (6-4, 241)
Syracuse DE Fadil Diggs (6-4, 257)
Cal CB Marcus Harris (5-10, 188)
Virginia Tech WR Da’Quan Felton (6-4, 214)
Pitt TE Gavin Bartholomew (6-4, 246)
North Carolina DE Kaimon Rucker (6-1, 255)
Pitt OT Branson Taylor (6-6, 315)
Clemson TE Jake Briningstool (6-5, 241)
SMU DT Jared Harrison-Hunte (6-3, 290)
Boston College DT Cam Horsley (6-2, 312)
Clemson RB Phil Mafah (6-0, 234)
North Carolina OC/OG Willie Lampkin (5-11, 279)
Pitt WR Konata Mumpfield (5-11, 186)
Cal LB Teddye Buchanan (6-2, 233)
Miami LB Francisco Mauigoa (6-2, 233)
North Carolina CB Alijah Huzzie (5-10, 193)
Miami PK Andres Borregales (5-11, 202)
Florida State PK Ryan Fitzgerald (5-11, 194)
Pitt PK Ben Sauls (5-9, 186)
Florida State P Alex Mastromanno (6-1, 243)
Clemson OG Marcus Tate (6-5, 321)
Duke WR Eli Pancol (6-1, 205)
Pitt LB Brandon George (6-3, 246)
Syracuse LB Marlowe Wax (6-0, 227)
Wake Forest WR Taylor Morin (5-10, 186)
North Carolina TE Bryson Nesbit (6-5, 238)
NC State OC Zeke Correll (6-2, 303)
Wake Forest DE Jasheen Davis (6-3, 251)
Syracuse LB Justin Barron (6-3, 225)
Virginia DE Chico Bennett Jr. (6-3, 249)
Georgia Tech DT Zeek Biggers (6-5, 321)
North Carolina DT Jahvaree Ritzie (6-4, 288)
North Carolina LB Power Echols (5-11, 234)
NC State CB Aydan White (5-11, 182)
NC State OG Timothy McKay (6-3, 311)
Other NC (Non-ACC) Prospects
Elon WR Chandler Brayboy (6-0, 205)
NC Central WR Joaquin Davis (6-4, 194)
East Carolina WR Winston Wright Jr. (5-9, 182)
Gardner-Webb WR Jordan Bly (5-10, 175)
Appalachian State WR Kaedin Robinson (6-0, 203)
Charlotte WR Sean Brown (6-3, 193)
East Carolina OT Parker Moorer (6-4, 320)
Elon OT Kevin Burkett (6-2, 325)
North Carolina A&T OT Jason Ivey (6-4, 287)
Appalachian State LS Christian Johnstone (6-2, 248)
Appalachian State TE Eli Wilson (6-2, 239)
East Carolina TE Casey Kelly (6-2, 243)
Appalachian State RB Ahmani Marshall (6-1, 225)
Elon RB Rushawn Baker (5-10, 218)
East Carolina RB Rahjai Harris (5-9, 207)
East Carolina TE Tyler Savage (6-2, 239)
Lenoir-Rhyne DT Andre Jefferson (6-1, 304)
Elon QB Matthew Downing (5-11, 207)
Campbell CB Isaiah Greene (5-11, 188)
Western Carolina CB CJ Williams (5-8, 166)
NC Central CB Kole Jones (5-8, 190)
Appalachian State CB Seth Robertson (5-10, 191)
Western Carolina LB/DE Curtis Fann Jr. (6-1, 236)
East Carolina LB/DE Chad Stephens (6-0, 245)
Wingate LB/DE Marquise Fleming (5-11, 240)
Charlotte DE Chantz Williams (6-3, 265)
NC Central LB/DE JuJu Williams (6-1, 250)
East Carolina LB Mike Edwards III (5-11, 207)
Johnson C Smith LB Benari Black (6-0, 227)
Wingate LB Dontorian Best (5-10, 219)
Appalachian State DE Montez Kelley (6-3, 266)
East Carolina DT Elijah Morris (6-0, 280)
Wingate DT Daniel Morrison (6-1, 279)
NC Central DT Quantez Mansfield (6-1, 281)
Davidson DT Darryn Kindles (5-11, 291)
Fayetteville State S Kolby Merritt (5-11, 205)
East Carolina S Omar Rogers (5-11, 197)
East Carolina S Devon King (5-10, 187)
Mars Hill S Tristan Rankin (5-11, 191)
Lenoir-Rhyne S Nic Cheeley (5-11, 185)
Elon S Khalil Baker (5-10, 187)
Charlotte OG Jonny Hassard (6-5, 304)
East Carolina OG Hampton Ergle (6-5, 305)
Western Carolina OG Jordan Daniels (6-3, 308)
East Carolina OC Dustyn Hall (6-3, 297)
North Carolina A&T TE Nicholas Dobson (6-1, 271)
North Carolina Wesleyan OC Desmond Barnes (6-0, 299)
Prominent Former ACC/NC Players
Texas S Andrew Mukuba (5-11, 186) — formerly of Clemson
Notre Dame QB Riley Leonard (6-3, 216) — formerly of Duke
Missouri RB Nate Noel (5-7, 194) — formerly of App State
Notre Dame WR Beaux Collins (6-3, 198) — formerly of Clemson
