Top 2025 NFL Draft prospect suffers devastating injury

It’s way too early in the season to be producing any significant draft content. Unlike 2023, when Caleb Williams was Sharpied in as the No. 1 overall pick shortly after the prior year’s draft, there doesn’t appear to be any sure things in the 2025 NFL Draft class. Still, one of college football’s most exciting cornerbacks, Shavon Revel of East Carolina, was a good bet to be a Day 1 selection. That draft stock took a hit with a torn ACL that will end Revel’s senior season, per ESPN’s Pete Thamel.

Revel’s path in football has not been a usual one. Heading to junior college out of high school, Revel was a major piece for the Louisburg College Hurricanes. Still, he didn’t jump off the page as a JUCO recruit, and as a three-star, Revel signed with the nearby Pirates.

His first year with the team didn’t amount to much as he appeared in nine games and only totaled eight tackles. Revel broke out in his junior year last season. He gained a reputation as a lockdown corner in the AAC, recording 13 passes defensed and an interception. His electricity showed up all over the field, helping him tally four tackles for loss, a sack and a fumble return for a touchdown. His senior season was off to a hot start, too. In only three games, Revel already had two passes defensed and two interceptions, including one that he returned for a 50-yard touchdown.

ESPN’s draft specialists were extremely high on Revel in early rankings. Mel Kiper listed him as the second-best cornerback prospect behind only Michigan corner Will Johnson (and, technically, Colorado’s Travis Hunter). Jordan Reid, Matt Miller and Field Yates all ranked Revel in their top five players at the position, as well, with Reid even tagging him as the No. 14 overall player in the class.

It’ll be interesting to see how the injury impacts Revel’s draft stock moving forward. Despite playing in the Group of Five, Revel was being compared to another top G5 talent in Quinyon Mitchell, a first-round pick for the Eagles this past year. With elite size at 6-foot-3, 193 pounds, and amazing production in the short sample of a year where most expected quarterbacks to avoid him, Revel will almost certainly get drafted next April. Exactly when he hears his name called, though, will depend on his recovery and his interviews in the predraft process.