2025 Big Ten Preseason Top 25 Players: Future NFL Stars Highlight a Loaded Conference

• 
• 
• 
• 
• 

2025 Big Ten Preseason Top 25 Players: Future NFL Stars Highlight a Loaded Conference originally appeared on College Football News.

The top 25 Big Ten players going into the 2025 season will all soon be part of every list of best prospects in upcoming NFL drafts.

You could triple this list without having to try, but the guys in this bunch all belong among any All-America or top positions lists.

The conference is so big and so good that it lost a ton of players to the next level and graduation, and it didn't matter. It had a slew of great underclassmen in place, and the top teams went out and grabbed anyone they wanted through the transfer portal.

There aren't a ton of quarterbacks, but that's only because the next level talent at the other positions is just that strong. Going into the season, the 25 best Big Ten players are ...

Jeremiah Smith, WR Soph. Ohio State

He's the best wide receiver in college football, it's criminal that he's not allowed to be in the NFL already, and once again, he'll be a dominant force.

All he did in his true freshman season was catch 76 passes for 1,315 yards and 15 touchdowns - with a rushing score - as he turned into the signature star of the Ohio State national title run.

- Every Big Ten Team Preview

- 2025 CFN All-Big Ten Team

Caleb Downs, S Jr. Ohio State

He's the best player in college football, it's criminal that he's not allowed to be in the NFL already, and once again, he'll be a dominant force.

All he did in his first two seasons - his first year was at Alabama - was make 189 tackles with off-the-charts instincts and smarts.