2022 NFL Draft Thread

[Mdot21]

Few thoughts

Patriots are getting crushed for reaching for Cole Strange, and rightfully so.  But they only did because the Chargers also reached to grab Zion Johnson, at a position where they didn't really have a need.  He was easily the best OG in the draft, but would have been perfectly fine for the Patriots, who needed one, at the end of the round.

Ravens clearly are just going best on their board, position be damned

Only 3 of the top 30 on my board are still out there.  QB Malik Willis (#18), CB Andrew Booth Jr. (#19) and ILB Nakobe Dean (#21)

A lot of rumors there will be a run on QBs early in the round, so Lions should have their pick have back seven help at #46.  Hopefully, obviously Booth or Dean.  If Dean is gone, hopefully secondary help.  Jalen Pitre and Jaquan Brisker would be the safeties worth looking at; and beyond Booth, Roger McCreary and Kyler Gordon would be options at CB


My top 10 going into Day 2

• QB Malik Willis, Liberty
• CB Andrew Booth Jr., Clemson
• ILB Nakobe Dean, Georgia
• EDGE Boye Mafe, Minnesota
• EDGE David Ojabo, Michigan
• QB Matt Corral, Ole Miss
• CB Roger McCreary, Auburn
• CB Kyler Gordon, Washington
• EDGE Arnold Ebiketie, Penn State
• OT Bernard Raimann, Central Michigan

Patriots always have WTF drafts, and Belichik figures it out. Especially when it comes to linemen picks. I don't trust the guy to pick skill players, but he's pretty money on the line guys. Watch this guy be a top guard and no one should be shocked if he is.

Ravens are a pretty good team who have the luxury of going best player available imo.

Lions get Booth, Dean, or Ojabo and I think they have to be jumping for freaking joy. I'd prefer Dean but I fear he may be gone at #46. Ojabo would be hard to pass up if he's there. Kid was a top 15-20 pick if he doesn't injure his achilles at the Pro Day. His upside is insane. This was really his first year of playing meaningful football and he had 11 sacks. Kid is from Africa and Scotland and didn't play football until his junior year of high school. 

[OrangeAfroMan]

Ah, the NFL draft.....where players go from high-interest for me to no-longer-give-a-damn.  

[Mdot21]

Ah, the NFL draft.....where players go from high-interest for me to no-longer-give-a-damn. 

[ELA]

Teams with active QB needs are taking FCS LBs over him in the 2nd round now?

[Cincydawg]

All three starting UGA LBs were drafted now.  I think they are losing a lot on defense.

I still think Zamir White is a good get if he stays healthy (knees).

[CatsbyAZ]

Ravens are a pretty good team who have the luxury of going best player available imo.

There's probably less than 5 teams at any given time that can afford to take the approach of drafting the best available talents over addressing immediate needs. The Arizona Cardinals used to do this when Whisenhunt was coaching during Kurt Warner's quarterbacking. This gave the Cardinals immediately fieldable talent at low cost across the roster while certain needs, such as the OL, lingered as an Achilles heel season after season.

Franchises that can take this approach have the confident advantage of player development. Meaning they'll draft a stud LB despite having a stable group of LB while also badly needing a Center, who they draft at a later round where development can hopefully make up for passing up better Center prospects.

The Cardinals were excellent at developing skill positions and the secondary, which lead to the misthinking they were effective at player development across the board, which lead to a talented yet unstable roster.

[Mdot21]

Ravens freaking crushing the draft so far. As usual. Kyle Hamilton inexplicably falls to them at 14. Steal. Then they get maybe the best OL in the entire draft in Tyler Linderbaum late in the 1st, and then they steal David Ojabo- who would've been a top 15 pick if he didn't tear his achilles a month ago- in the 2nd round. Then they get DT Travis Johnson from UCONN who ESPN had as the #42 prospect overall in this draft at pick #76. 

Jets are crushing it too. Shockingly. Gardner is going to be a better NFL CB than Stingley imo and they just sat there and got to take him. Garrett Wilson was the best WR in the draft imo. DE Jermaine Johnson was a really nice value pick at the end of the 1st rd. He's a very talented athlete. Then they got Breece Hall at RB in the 2nd and Jeremy Ruckert at TE in the 3rd. Those were all really good picks.

Giants did really well too, getting Thibbodeaux at #5, Evan Neal at #7 and Wan'Dale Robinson in the 2nd rd. Thibbodeaux is a boom or bust prospect imo, but they didn't have to reach to get him and if he puts it together- he could wind up being the best DE in the draft. Neal isn't quite talented enough to play LT in the NFL imo- but he'll be a rock solid RT for a decade and again..they didn't have to reach up to get him. Robinson is just explosive, he can do a lot in the slot and in the backfield on reverses and special teams. 

I like what the Eagles did as well when you take the AJ Brown trade into consideration. Smith & Brown are going to be a hell of a young WR duo. Smith is 23 and Brown is 24. Jordan Davis paired up with Fletcher Cox in the middle is going to be a problem, and they needed to look to the future as Cox is on the last year of his deal. They stole Nakobe Dean in the 3rd rd- and he's going to come in and start for them right away. 

I loved what the Lions did in the 1st round. After that....ummm...not so much. Ojabo goes literally the pick before them in the 2nd, and they take another DE- Josh Paschal- when they needed secondary and linebacker help more than they needed another DE. I'd understand taking another DE if that DE was Ojabo- that's a big value pick once he rebounds from the injury. They should've taken Nakobe Dean or Jaquan Brisker there imo. Don't really have a problem with their 3rd rd pick- but I'd have loved to see them take David Bell from Purdue there and really build their WR corps. St. Brown, Jameson Williams, and David Bell would be a hell of a young cheap WR corps to build around for the next 4-5 years.

Atlanta's draft looks kinda bad to me. They massively reached for Drake London. He does not have the speed/quickness to be a dominant #1 WR in the NFL today.

[Mdot21]

Lions just need to tank this year so they can get Bryce Young or CJ Stroud in 2023. I'd be happy as hell with either one. I think Stroud has a bit more NFL upside, just due to more size and better arm strength.

Pairing Will Anderson up with Aidan Hutchinson would also be incredibly enticing though.....talk about wreaking havoc on offensive lines and QB's....

[Mdot21]

Don't know why Hutchinson slipped to #2 or why some are talking noise about him just because he didn't run an insane 40 time like Walker or Thibbedoux.

At the combine his 40 time was 4.74- which is a better time than either Bosa brother ran. His 3-cone time of 6.73 and his short shuttle time of 4.15 are the fastest times for any player over 6'4 and 250+ pounds since 2003- according to Mina Kimes of ESPN. Hutchinson is 6'7 and 260 pounds. Don't get people talking like he's not athletic or that he's maxed out lol. He's not. He's only played 2 years in college, his true freshman year he was a rotational bench warmer behind a pair of 1st rounders in Rashan Gary and Kwity Paye and a pair of 2nd rounders in Chase Winovich and Josh Uche. 

He started as a sophomore and had a really nice season- then his junior year was COVID year in which he missed basically that entire season with a broken leg which required surgery. He basically started just two years in college- his sophomore and senior years- and he was productive as a sophomore in his first year as a starter with 10 TFL's and 4 sacks, and well his senior year he developed into a f**king animal. He's not a redshirt, he's a true senior that is only 21 years old and his frame could easily carry another 15-20 pounds of muscle and he's a plus athlete for the position.

[Cincydawg]

Don't know why Hutchinson slipped to #2 or why some are talking noise about him just because he didn't run an insane 40 time like Walker or Thibbedoux.

He slipped one spot, in what may have been a coin flip between two very accomplished athletes.  The folks who do this for a living chose the other guy, who also is pretty good.  One spot.  And I've seen criticism of the choice of Walker, which is to be expected of course.  Those who can do, those who can't write about it.

[OrangeAfroMan]

The fun part is judging a draft before any of them play a down.

[Honestbuckeye]

As I have said before, if I had to make a living accurately predicting which college players would be good pros I would be a very poor man.

Having said that, this concept that the NFL has become a passing league has never been more obvious than this draft. I think we all understand the lack of QBs taken, but so much focus on wide receivers, edge rushers, and defensive backs and virtually little to no focus on running backs.

[Cincydawg]

Yup.  I read an article that analyzed how many first rounders end up playing significantly.  It was better than random of course, but it didn't speak well for talent evaluations.  There will be 3-4-5 total busts in the first round, and 3-4-5 more who play some but don't reach expectations.  If the "pros" can't do this well, I know I couldn't do better.

I wish good things for the former Dawgs, but with emphasis on "former" and I rarely watch pro football, or care about it.  I certainly can't evaluate the draft order at this point.

[OrangeAfroMan]

I don't doubt their talent evals, but whether or not a player is successful involves so many other things besides talent.
Rating a draft in the moment is silly, of course, because it's simply rating it compared to the consensus...nothing more.  And as you said, the consensus isn't great.
.
Maybe we could judge each draft 8 years down the line? 
Cover the current draft, all the focus on the first 2 rounds.  But for the lagging later round coverage, do a deep-dive on the draft from 8 years prior.  Then it makes some sense, no?