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Exhale football fans. The 2022 NFL Draft is finally over and now we’re a few days closer to actual games being played. While most viewed this as a “down year” for draft prospects, there is sure to be franchise players, pro bowlers, and perhaps even a couple Hall of Famers in this draft class.
If last year taught us any lessons, it’s that nobody really knows anything until these newly drafted players take the field. Congrats to all the players that were drafted or signed with a team as an undrafted free agent. Now, here’s a few of my biggest takeaways from draft weekend.
1. Why did the quarterbacks fall so far?
For a quarterback class that was deemed as “weak” by draft experts, it definitely seems like most of those “experts” and the media in general overrated how teams felt about these signal callers. For the first time since 2000, only one quarterback was selected in the first two rounds of the draft. Pittsburgh super senior Kenny Pickett was selected by the Pittsburgh Steelers with the 20th overall pick and the next QB, Cincinnati’s Desmond Ridder, didn’t hear his name called until the 3rd round as he was taken by the Atlanta Falcons with the 74th overall selection.
This year’s draft darling, Liberty’s Malik Willis, heard his name called 12 spots after Ridder as he was taken by the Tennessee Titans with the 86th overall pick. Some mock drafts crafted by the “experts” we all know and love had Willis going in the top 10!
Let’s be honest, Willis was overhyped by the media and Twitter GMs due to his “traits.” Willis is a mobile QB with a great arm, but he’s only about 6 feet tall, he was terrible on the two occasions when he played a Power 5 opponent, and most of the league viewed him as someone who needs about a year to adjust to the NFL due to the oversimplified offense he ran at Liberty. Why would any team spend a top 10 pick on that type of player? I think Tennessee got excellent value while also giving Ryan Tannehill motivation to step his game up.
Panthers QB Sam Darnold will also be looking over his shoulder this season, thanks to Carolina trading into the third round this year to take Ole Miss QB Matt Corral. And speaking of the 2000 NFL draft, is it possible that we’ve witnessed another Tom Brady-esque origin story? To the disbelief of many, UNC quarterback signal-caller Sam Howell waited until the 5th round (pick 144) to hear his name called by the Washington Commanders.
Going into the 2021-2022 college football season, Howell was seen as a favorite to be the #1 overall pick in this draft. However, lack of team success and a drop in production put a huge damper on those dreams for Howell. As someone who’s watched every game of his career, I’m confident he’ll outplay his draft position.
2. The New York teams killed it.
The Jets and Giants both came into the 2022 NFL draft needing to add talent and equipped with two top 10 picks. However, in a draft class lacking blue chip prospects it’s important to get value with each pick.
The Jets strategy was clear: sure up with defense and put weapons around sophomore QB Zach Wilson. New York hit a homerun by selecting Cincinatti CB Sauce Gardner (No. 4 overall) and Ohio State WR Garrett Wilson (No. 10 overall) with their early picks and then got excellent value by taking FSU pass rusher Jermaine Johnson II with the 26th overall pick and Iowa State star Breece Hall with the 36th overall pick. It’s hard to say how good the Jets will be in the competitive AFC East next year, but this draft is a step in the right direction.
The New York Giants made 11 selections in this year’s draft and made the interesting choice not to draft a quarterback to put pressure on their quarterback, Daniel Jones (as if not picking up his fifth-year option wasn’t enough). Still, the Giants got two studs in Kayvon Thibodeaux and Evan Neal with their 5th and 7th picks and addressed other team needs with the remainder of their picks. Keep an eye on the New York teams this year.
3. Who will Lamar Jackson throw to?
The Baltimore Ravens sent their franchise quarterback’s favorite target (WR Hollywood Brown) to Arizona and then replaced him with… well… nobody. Jackson didn’t seem too happy about the trade in real time.
This isn’t to say that the Ravens did poorly in the draft. Baltimore got incredible value in Notre Dame safety Kyle Hamilton (No. 14 overall), Iowa center Tyler Linderbaum (No. 25 overall), and Michigan pass rusher David Ojabo (No. 45 overall).
In a great draft class of wide receivers, the Ravens didn’t draft one with any of their 11 selections, but they did pick up Iowa State tight end Charlie Kolar (No. 128 overall) who has been labeled as a Mark Andrews clone. Jackson, who’s expected to sign a lucrative extension in the near future, better hope his team has a good plan for surrounding him with weapons if they expect to compete in the brutal AFC North.
4. The biggest loser?
Every draft comes with grades, winners, and losers, but nobody really knows who did well or poorly in a draft until about 3-5 years after the event. With that being said, the New England Patriots made some really head scratching decisions over the weekend.
Bill Belichick is probably the best head coach of all-time in any sport, but he’s made some really questionable decisions as a GM over the last few years. We’ll just focus on this draft. According to Sharp Football Analysis New England took the most “overdrafted” players in the first and second round. Overdrafted means there was a huge gap between where the player was taken and where they were expected to go. The Pats first round pick, Chattanooga guard Cole Strange, was taken 57 spots higher than expected. Their second round pick, Baylor wideout Tyquan Thorton, was taken 67 spots higher than expected.
Overall, New England was ranked 28th out of 32 NFL teams in draft value according to Sharp’s methodology. This isn’t to say the Pat’s selections won’t be good NFL players, but you have to wonder if New England could have gotten better talent, especially in the first and second round.
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