The 2025 College Football Playoff National Championship takes place Monday night, with Ohio State taking on Notre Dame. This is the final chance for a number of top draft prospects to show NFL scouts what they can do. Which players should Patriots fans be watching?
While the NFL is down to its final four teams, the College Football season officially wraps up Monday night. In the title game, No. 5 Notre Dame takes on No. 6 Ohio State in Atlanta to decide this year’s champion.
As that’s being decided, many of the players in this game will also be making their final in-game audition for NFL talent evaluators. Not all game tape is created the same, with quality of opponent and overall setting factored in. Big performances in postseason games have significantly altered players’ draft stocks in the past, and there’s once again a chance that could happen on Monday night.
On one side is Ohio State, which will be in contention for having the most players selected in the entire draft come April. As the board sits now, the team could have 10 or more players taken in the top 100. Notre Dame doesn’t have the overall volume of draft talent that Ohio State has. Still, there are certainly players in this game that will be names to know come April – especially a select few that stand out as New England Patriots fits.
Keep in mind this is just draft eligible players playing Monday night. Some players are definitely Patriots fits, but due to injuries won’t be on the field (hence they’re not players to ‘watch’ in this game).
That list is highlighted by Josh Simmons and Seth McLaughlin from Ohio State, and Benjamin Morrison and Rylie Mills from Notre Dame. We’re also not included players who aren’t draft eligible yet, but keep in mind there’s a real chance Ohio State’s two best NFL prospects overall may be true sophomore safety Caleb Downs and true freshman wide receiver Jeremiah Smith. This list does include underclassmen who are eligible, but haven’t announced whether or not they’ll declare.
