Rookie undrafted free agents who could stick on NFL rosters in 2025

Here are some UDFAs from the 2025 NFL Draft who could make active rosters

Every year, there are a few quality prospects who don’t hear their names called in the NFL Draft. These players have the chance to defy the odds and make 53-man rosters, carving out roles for themselves in the highly competitive landscape. With rookies beginning to report for training camps across the league, this is the perfect time to examine the 2025 undrafted free agents with the best chances of sticking with their current teams.

Jalin Conyers, TE Miami Dolphins

Even after trading away Jonnu Smith, the Dolphins have a ridiculously crowded tight end room. The good news for Conyers? None of them are particularly good. The four veteran tight ends on the roster combined for just 181 yards in 2024, granted that’s counting Darren Waller who was retired until several weeks ago.

Conyers is only 6'3 1/2", but he’s a dense 260 lbs. with excellent arm length and the combination of explosiveness and built-up speed to rip defenses up the seam. He’s not much of an in-line blocker but offers impressive ball skills, some elusiveness and tackle breaking ability after the catch, and a mismatch option against both nickels and most linebackers.

Logan Brown, RT Minnesota Vikings (Scouting Report)

Brown comes with a lot of baggage. He suffered two season-ending injuries in college and was dismissed from Wisconsin in 2022 for fighting during practice. But his talent is undeniable. Brown has 33 7/8" arms with an 89th percentile wingspan, and he moves really well. His natural athleticism and build are complemented by his powerful hands and core strength.

Brown unleashes a barrage of early strikes, followed by chop counters or snatch-traps. Defenders can’t escape his vise-like grip. He also goes after pancakes in the run game and plays through the whistle. Despite all his potential, Brown is very rough around the edges. He might benefit from a year spent at guard.

Walter Rouse, a 2024 sixth round pick who played all of six snaps (all on special teams) in 2024, is the only player standing between Brown and the role of backing up Brian O'Neill.

Elijhah Badger, WR Kansas City Chiefs (Scouting Report)

The Chiefs have plenty of quality wide receivers on their roster, but they all come with limitations in how and where they win. Badger went undrafted due to injury and maturity concerns, but he’s a three-level threat with the speed to stack man coverage downfield and the elusiveness and vision to create on schemed touches.

Badger faces an uphill battle since the Chiefs already have four locks to make their roster at wide receiver (Marquise Brown, Rashee Rice, Jalen Royals, and Xavier Worthy), but there’s no reason he can’t take a spot from Skyy Moore or JuJu Smith-Schuster.

Jah Joyner, Edge Las Vegas Raiders

Joyner looks the part of an NFL player with his massive arms and well-built frame. Unfortunately, he’s an average athlete at best, and that might be generous when holding him up against other members of Las Vegas’ defensive line. He lacks bend and offers disappointing power, but he excels at attacking the B-gap with swipes, chops, rips, euro steps, and spins.

Joyner benefits from competing in an undermanned Raiders edge room. Maxx Crosby and Malcolm Koonce are established starters, but Andre Carter II, Charles Snowden, and Tyree Wilson aren’t guaranteed anything in the first year of a new regime. Jahfari Harvey, who is also a rookie UDFA pass rusher, could also make some noise after a career-year at SMU.

Xavier Restrepo, WR Tennessee Titans

There’s a chance Restrepo just isn’t an NFL-caliber athlete. He’s slow and undersized, but he’s also a route technician with a full bag of fakes and ways to manipulate leverage and spacing. Having chemistry with Cameron Ward from their time together at Miami doesn’t hurt. Restrepo and his sure hands were a massive help during Ward’s frequent scramble drills and occasional streaks of inaccuracy.

The Titans signed free agents Tyler Lockett and Van Jefferson and drafted Elic Ayomanor and Chimere Dike, which doesn’t help Restrepo’s odds of making the team. The Titans also already have Treylon Burks and young slot receiver Jha'Quan Jackson. If Restrepo finishes as the team’s second-best slot receiver and/or WR6, he should make the cut.

Joshua Simon, TE Atlanta Falcons

The Falcons currently have six tight ends on their roster, but Kyle Pitts was the only one to amass more than 50 receiving yards last year. Charlie Woerner had just 46. Simon isn’t a meaningful in-line blocker, but his value as a slot tight end or mismatch generator at H-back should help him contend for a back-of-the-roster role.

Simon is one of the smoothest, most explosive tight ends from the 2025 class. He’s only 239 lbs. but has the long speed to stretch defenses and outrace linebackers.

Seth McLaughlin, C Cincinnati Bengals (Scouting Report)

McLaughlin was on his way to earning a top 100 selection during an outstanding season with the Ohio State Buckeyes before he suffered a torn Achilles. The injury might cause him to have a redshirt year on the practice squad or IR. When healthy, McLaughlin displays quick processing in pass protection and excellent mobility in the run game to establish reach blocks or overtake second level defenders.

McLaughlin lacks an elite anchor and suffered losses against several defensive tackles in the 2025 class during his final college season, but his mobility is a legitimate trump card. Unfortunately for McLaughlin, current Bengals backup center Matt Lee possesses many similar traits and will be hard to unseat as McLaughlin works back from injury.

Xavier Truss, OL Denver Broncos (Scouting Report)

The Broncos had one of the best offensive lines in the NFL last year, meaning the path to earning a roster spot will be difficult for Truss. Hopefully, he finally gets to play at guard instead of getting thrust into a tackle role – where there is no long-term future for him in the league. Truss arguable showed the most potential when primarily playing left guard in 2022. That’s his ticket to making a roster.

Truss is lean because of his 6'7 1/8" frame but offers good arm length for a guard. He drives impressive power through his initial punches in pass protection and showcases good suddenness in the run game to establish and finish blocks.

Payton Page, DT New York Jets

The free agent losses of Javon Kinlaw and Solomon Thomas cleared out a ton of snaps for the Jets to redistribute. The team decided not to make life easy on Page by signing Byron Cowart, Derrick Nnadi, and Jay Tufele this offseason.

The good news is that Cowart and Tufele are on one-year deals for less than $1.4 million, making them both easy cuts if they’re beaten out by Phidarian Mathis, Page, or Leonard Taylor III. Mathis seems unlikely to make the cut given his previous performances, and Tufele isn’t much better. Page needs to beat out at least one of Cowart or Taylor (probably Cowart) to make the roster.

Page is lean for a defensive tackle and lacks ideal arm length, but he’s an explosive athlete who wins with quickness as a penetrator or by stacking and shedding blocks with a violent upper body in the run game. He’s surprisingly resilient against the run despite a lack of mass.

Los Angeles Rams UDFA Class

The Rams have had some of the best success in the NFL over the past several years at getting meaningful snaps out of UDFAs or late round selections. The team used volume over quality as they went without early round selections as a consequence of their previous Super Bowl build. Now, Los Angeles once again has several rookie UDFAs worth mentioning.

Los Angeles’ UDFA class notably includes undersized All-American offensive lineman Willie Lampkin, Buffalo do-everything linebacker Shaun Dolac, underrated Texas Longhorns nose tackle Bill Norton, Indiana right tackle Trey Wedig, and the American Athletic Conference’s leading receiver in 2024, former Lincoln Riley recruit Mario Williams.

Norton and Wedig face uphill battles due to the arrival of free agent veterans. The additions of Poona Ford and David Quessenberry likely push the two rookies off the roster. Lampkin is in a young, deep interior group, but he lacks the size to really contend for a traditional offensive lineman role.

Dolac has the talent to make a roster, but he’s fighting several incumbent players in addition to rookie draft pick Chris Paul Jr. and free agent signee Nate Landman. That leaves the undersized Williams with the cleanest path to make the roster, although he’ll need to outshine Britain Covey to do so.

Honorable Mentions

Joshua Gray, IOL Atlanta Falcons

Chandler Martin, LB Baltimore Ravens

Kaimon Rucker, Edge Baltimore Ravens

Jared Harrison-Hunte, DT Carolina Panthers

Luke Kandra, G Carolina Panthers

Xavier Carlton, Edge Chicago Bears

Caden Prieskorn, TE Denver Broncos

Nazir Stackhouse, NT Green Bay Packers

Eli Cox, C Houston Texans

Esa Pole, OT Kansas City Chiefs

Zakhari Franklin, WR Las Vegas Raiders

Shaun Dolac, LB Los Angeles Rams

Willie Lampkin, OL Los Angeles Rams

Bill Norton, IDL Los Angeles Rams

Trey Wedig, OT Los Angeles Rams

Mario Williams, WR Los Angeles Rams

O'Donnell Fortune, CB New York Giants

Antwane Wells Jr., WR New York Giants

Hollin Pierce, LT Philadelphia Eagles

Isaiah Neyor, WR San Francisco 49ers

Jared Ivey, Edge Seattle Seahawks

Jake Majors, C Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Nash Hutmacher, NT Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Brandon Crenshaw-Dickson, RT Tennessee Titans

Cam Horsley, IDL Tennessee Titans

Timothy McKay, G Washington Commanders