Late to the Party

The 2022 NFL Draft is here, and I need to admit the obvious… I haven’t been around.

I’m not going to make a lot of excuses, mostly because I don’t have any. I’ve been working on a new draft tool that will be ready for the 2023 NFL Draft. It will be amazing. But it required a lot of work, and so posting mocks took a back seat.

But no way can I let a draft go by without at least posting my official mock. Just because I haven’t been posting about doesn’t mean I’m not thinking about it. Constantly. I’m playing close to the vest with trades this year (just one) in an attempt to get a bunch of 11-point bangers. But that’s the only spoiler you get! You’ll have to check the mock for the rest.

And of course, as always, I’m entering it into the Main Event over on the MockOut app. You need to do the same:

 

 

We’ve created the ONLY mobile tool you need to easily create and save your mock drafts. Then create a private mock draft contest and invite your friends to make EVERY. SINGLE. PICK. matter on draft day.

And if you’re like me, you’re going to want to take a joyride on the PFN Mock Draft Simulator a few (hundred?) times before the draft starts to see all the different ways the draft can unfold and all the potential player-team pairings that seem so obvious and perfect in retrospect.

And now… on to the Final Mock Draft for the 2022 NFL Draft.

 

Final 2022 NFL Mock Draft

 

1. Aidan Hutchinson, EDGE Michigan

There’s a lot of Travon Walker chatter here because he’s the “higher upside” pick, but I don’t see that at all. Both have immense upside — one has better production. Let’s stick with what we’ve thought all along.

 

2. Travon Walker, EDGE Georgia

Versatile and athletic and I imagine a better culture fit with Dan Campbell than Thibodeaux, and further along in his development than Malik Willis, who has to be a consideration at 2 as well.

 

3. Evan Neal, OT Alabama

I know I would take Malik Willis here in a heartbeat, but there doesn’t seem to be any momentum in that direction, and I’ll defer to the more plugged in, consensus choice here and give them the big boy from Bama.

 

  4. Kayvon Thibodeaux, EDGE Oregon

Yes, there are rumors of a Kayvon Slide (the new dance craze?) but how could someone so good and talented, at a premium impact position, fall past a team with such a glaring need at said impact position? He can’t. Not in my mock.

 

  5. Ikem Ekwonu, OT NC State

I bet the Giants are hyped to get Ekwonu at pick 5, as he could easily go to Houston or the Jets before them.

 

via CAR   6. Malik Willis, QB Liberty

I can’t do it — I can’t allow Malik to fall past pick 6. I firmly believe he’ll go to either Houston or Carolina, so this trade solves that problem. I like his fit better with the Panthers, who can do a lot with a QB who can move (didn’t Darnold lead the league in rushing TDs for a week last year, or am I crazy?) but both teams need to consider taking a chance on his talent.

 

7. Ahmad Gardner, CB Cincinnati

A lot of talk has Stingley climbing back up to take the top CB crown that Draft Twitter has bestowed upon Sauce, but since it’s the Giants taking the first CB off the board, I’m going to go with the safer choice.

 

  8. Garrett Wilson, WR Ohio State

Maybe a shocker, but I am seeing a LOT of Wilson-to-ATL love, and surprisingly seeing his ADP above Jameson Williams as well. They’d probably love Willis, but alas…

 

9. Jermaine Johnson, EDGE Florida State

I think Seahawks fans will rejoice if Johnson is available here (and if he is the pick… we all know what our first round history looks like) and all the talk about him being a sure-fire top-10 pick is confirmed.

 

10. Jameson Williams, WR Alabama

For the Jets, who lost out on Tyreek, to have a speed demon like Jameson have an ADP in the range of their second first-round pick makes this the kind of “put it in ink” pick you look to build the rest of your mock around.

 

11. Kyle Hamilton, S Notre Dame

Ditto Hamilton to the Commanders. It feels like a great combination of safe prospect, value, need, and consensus.

 

12. Derek Stingley Jr., CB LSU

Double ditto Stingley to the Vikings. Death. Taxes. A first round CB in Minnesota. Though I think this is the best one they’ve gotten in a while, and the LSU connection with Jefferson makes this a real fun match. Imagine those practices…

 

via HOU  13. Charles Cross, OT Mississippi State

I had a real hard time placing Cross anywhere, and I don’t like this draft slot for him if I do end up getting the Evan Neal pick right, but this is… you got it! A classic hedge. I’m not totally confident in going Neal over Malik Willis and I’m not confident in Carolina passing up the chance to get Willis either, but between picks 3, 6, and 13 here, I feel good about scoring some points.

 

14. Jordan Davis, DL Georgia

Well ain’t that a sonofobitch. Don’t we all just know Jordan Davis is going to be one of those “how in the HELL did that man fall to pick 14”-type players, and of course it’s the Ravens who benefit from it? It feels cosmically correct.

 

15. George Karlaftis, EDGE Purdue

I don’t necessarily love or hate the real-world match here of Karlaftis in Philly, but I do love the ADP and player-team data matching up nicely here. In fact, all the PHI and NO picks in this range are beautifully mapped out for us.

 

16. Trevor Penning, OT Northern Iowa

Continuing the run of easy picks is giving Penning to the Saints. I don’t like the player, don’t like the pick, but Saints fans seem to be all aboard.

 

17. Tyler Smith, OT Tulsa

This is my first (I hope my first) head-scratcher of the mock. Tyler Smith has been climbing draft boards like mad lately, and those guys always — always — go in the first round to some unexpected team. He’s my “nobody had him but me” pick, which always has to be spent on a team that doesn’t have a consensus prospect mocked to them, which LAC does not for me.

 

18. Devin Lloyd, LB Utah

I know PHI hates drafting LBs in the first, but jesus does that give them a true need at LB. So they do it here.

 

19. Chris Olave, WR Ohio State

If there’s any player Saints fans are more excited to draft than Penning, it’s Olave. When in doubt, I follow the fans of the franchise, and they are calling for the Penning-Olave combo.

 

20. Daxton Hill, S Michigan

With Willis gone, this was the single hardest pick in the mock for me. I think Hill has the best chance of falling out of the first round of all my picks, but they seem to like him, so I’ll just write it in pencil.

 

21. Trent McDuffie, CB Washington

This is the range where the second tier of CBs starts to go, and of the whole group, McDuffie seems to be the most sought-after. So he goes first.

 

22. Drake London, WR USC

The Packers and Drake London was another one of those “just write it in pen and build the mock around it” type picks.

 

23. Andrew Booth Jr., CB Clemson

Booth Jr. and McDuffie are neck-and-neck with Kaiir Elam, but since his ADP is slightly higher and Cards fans are slightly more interested in him, I’ll go in order here and take the Clemson corner.

 

24. Zion Johnson, G Boston College

Cowboys fans are expecting an interior lineman, big time. Lots of love for Green here as well, but knowing their love for athletic lineman, I’ve got to give them the uber-athletic Zion instead.

 

25. Kaiir Elam, CB Florida

The run on CBs is complete, and the Bills have to be ecstatic that they were able to land one of them. If Elam is gone they might consider McCreary or Gordon, but that would be a real big reach.

 

26. Nakobe Dean, LB Georgia

We are getting into the range here where it’s more valuable to pick the guys you think will be first rounders first, and focus on team-fit second. I think Dean is a first rounder, and the Titans sure seem interested.

 

27. Kenyon Green, G Texas A&M

Green should be a first rounder as well, and adding more beef up front to protect Brady has to be considered.

 

28. Treylon Burks, WR Arkansas

Could they do it? Could they go WR-WR? I think definitely. They’ve gone CB-CB recently, and they have a big need at the position (as well as a QB they need to make happy.)

 

29. Arnold Ebiketie, EDGE Penn State

I love these next two picks. Both players are rising fast and feel like momentum first-rounders, and both play positions the Chiefs could use.

 

30. Christian Watson, WR NDSU

Explosive and dynamic at a position where they just lost a bunch of explosion and dynamism. Slam dunk.

 

31. Tyler Linderbaum, C Iowa

I really really wanted to have someone snipe Linderbaum from Cincy, to have them relive the sniping of Ragnow by the Lions (I know it still stings) but I had to give them their guy this time.

 

32. Lewis Cine, S Georgia

I’m not certain about the positional value here for the Lions, but I firmly believe (probably wrongly so, according to ADP and every other mock) Pickett falls to the second and Cine, who feels like a Dan Campbell Fantasy, is a first rounder.