Which Day 2 or Day 3 rookie in the 2025 NFL Draft would be a first-round pick in a redraft?
This was the question posed to NFL Draft analyst Ian Cummings and NFL analyst Jacob Infante on the most recent episode of PFSN’s Football Debate Club.
Cummings went with Seattle Seahawks safety Nick Emmanwori, while Infante went with Chicago Bears wide receiver Luther Burden III.
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Why Nick Emmanwori Belongs in Round 1
Emmanwori was drafted at No. 35 overall in the 2025 NFL Draft and finished his rookie season as a Defensive Rookie of the Year finalist who came in second in voting behind Cleveland Browns linebacker Carson Schwesinger. He helped Seattle win the Super Bowl, playing a key role on defense.
Cummings’s pitch on the show built around archetype as much as numbers.
“He was a Defensive Rookie of the Year finalist,” Cummings said. “He had an 80.2 Safety Impact grade that was top-20 in the entire NFL. And then he also had an interception, 11 pass breakups, 9 tackles for loss.
“Physically, we knew this guy was an alien,” Cummings added. “But I think the archetypal revolution that he has spearheaded, right, in the [two-high] revolution, you’ve got to have a big nickel who’s got the size to play physical and run support, but also can match up tight ends, wide receivers, anyone. Nick Emmanwori is the skeleton key.”
Emmanwori finished his 14-game rookie season with 81 tackles, 2.5 sacks, 9 tackles for loss, 11 pass breakups, and an interception. He was the only player in the NFL to log at least 80 tackles, two sacks, 10 pass breakups, and eight tackles for loss. In Week 14 vs. Atlanta, he became the first NFL player since Adrian Wilson in 2010 to record a sack, a blocked field goal, and an interception in the same game.
Tom Brady named Emmanwori his “LFG Defensive Rookie of the Year” before the Super Bowl. Brady’s read on him was tidy: “He’s big, he’s fast, he’s physical.” That’s the archetype the league is paying for. If the 2025 NFL Draft gets redrafted today, he easily goes in Round 1.
Why Luther Burden III Belongs in Round 1
Burden, the No. 39 overall pick by the Bears, was projected by many as a first-rounder before sliding into the second. His rookie production retroactively justified that pre-draft tape.
“I’m going to go Luther Burden and the Chicago Bears,” Infante said. “The efficiency was off the charts. Tied for seventh in the entire NFL with 2.34 yards per route run, tied for fourth in the NFL with 7.2 yards after catch per reception, graded 11th in the NFL in PFSN WR Impact. That second half of the year especially was tremendous.”
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The second-half production is the story. After catching just 13 passes for 171 yards through Week 9 while stuck behind DJ Moore, Rome Odunze, and Olamide Zaccheaus on the depth chart, Burden finished with 34 catches for 481 yards across the back half of the season.
“In his last eight games, he averaged 60.1 receiving yards per game,” Infante noted. “That’s over a 1,000-yard receiving pace after a very minimal role in the first half.”
Burden ended 2025 with 2.71 yards per route run, the highest mark by a rookie wide receiver since 2015. That group includes A.J. Brown (2.68), Justin Jefferson (2.66), Puka Nacua (2.60), and Ja’Marr Chase (2.51). When the underlying numbers say a rookie is generating yards more efficiently than four future stars at the same career stage, you don’t leave him out of Round 1.
The Bears traded Moore to the Buffalo Bills this offseason, clearing the deck for Burden to operate as a full-time starter alongside Odunze and tight end Colston Loveland in 2026. Head coach Ben Johnson has already called him “a dynamic playmaker” with “some of the best run after catch in the game right now.”
It’s clear both of these players should’ve gone earlier in last year’s draft. Burden delivered on the talent that had him pegged as a first-round prospect pre-draft, while Emmanwori delivered on a positional archetype the modern NFL is now building defenses around.
