NFL DRAFT REVIEW - DAY 1

Aubrey Riczker

Wow.

What an incredible first 2 days of the 2022 NFL Draft. It was pure entertainment in Las Vegas on Thursday & Friday evening, beginning with 5 consecutive defensive players taken, with many teams changing positions throughout the draft, and not one, but two receivers named Brown being dealt. Kayvon Thibodeaux was dancing, Aidan Hutchinson was manifesting and commissioner Roger Goodell’s back was breaking. The 2022 NFL Draft truly had it all. With that, here are the 7 biggest winners and losers from last night

WINNERS

Baltimore Ravens

Although they may have upset their franchise quarterback, Lamar Jackson and the rest of the Ravens flock should be very pleased with their performance on Day 1 of 3. First, they laughed as the superstar safety from Notre Dame, Kyle Hamilton, fell into their laps at pick 14. Hamilton is a giant at 6’4 and has shown off his versatility at times with the Fighting Irish, thriving all over the field on defense and special teams. Next, some cried, as fan favorite, and great friend of Lamar, Marquise “Hollywood” Brown was packaged with a 3rd round pick and shipped to Arizona for the 23rd overall pick.

With the trends of the wide receiver market right now, it somewhat justifies the incredible value Arizona sent them for an underperforming receiver. The Ravens looked even smarter when they traded down again with Buffalo, from 23 to 25, and still ended up with the best center in the draft, Iowa’s Tyler Linderbaum, while securing another 3rd round pick in the process. The Ravens are looking to rebound from a disappointing 2021 season, and seem to be heading in the right direction after last night.

Grade: A-

New York Giants

Exactly one year ago today, the Giants foolishly passed on drafting young stars Northwestern OT Rashawn Slater and Penn State OLB Micah Parsons, instead trading down to pick 20 to select Florida WR Kadarius Toney, who has shown signs of promise. The Chicago Bears dealt a plethora of picks to the G-Men so they could take franchise QB Justin Fields at pick 11 in 2021, although one of those picks ended up being the 7th overall pick this year, turning into an elite offensive line prospect in Alabama OT Evan Neal. Neal has it all: size, strength, athleticism, polished fundamentals and was considered a valuable presence in the Alabama locker room.

The Giants now have their tackle of the future, and added another potential franchise player in EDGE Kayvon Thibodeaux at pick 5. The Oregon superstar possesses electric energy, which he displayed by laughing, smiling and dancing after he was selected, even taking selfies with the Giants fans in attendance. Don’t be fooled though, Thibs is a bad man on the football field, accumulating 7 sacks, 12 tackles for loss and 2 forced fumbles in 10 games during his final season in the Pacific Northwest, while battling back from a season-ending injury one season prior. The Giants revamped their coaching staff and added two potential stars to their roster who can contribute right away to try and snap a long playoff drought in the upcoming season.

Grade: A

Philadelphia Eagles

Much to the surprise of Eagles fans, they sure had an unbelievable day. First, they took a unique physical specimen at DT, Georgia’s Jordan Davis, standing at 6’6 and clocking in at 341 pounds. He’s much more than a typical run stuffing defensive tackle with his athleticism and great mobility, running a 4.78 40-time with a 10’2 broad jump, extremely impressive considering his size.

Davis is lucky enough to be able to learn from the great Fletcher Cox, who’s on his last year of his contract. Last season, Howie Roseman somehow managed to turn QB Carson Wentz into an extra 1st round pick, proceeding to turn that pick into former Titans WR AJ Brown, who happens to be best friends with QB Jalen Hurts. Although they had to extend the superstar receiver from Ole Miss right away (4 year, $100M), they’ve been searching for a bonafide stud for the last 3 seasons at wideout. Sure, Devonta Smith is good, but now they finally got their top dog.

Grade: A-

New York Jets

Gang Green Nation walked away from Day 1 of the 2022 NFL Draft with a haul of talent. They wisely followed Houston by selecting Cincinnati CB Ahmad “Sauce” Gardner at pick 4, a big corner with all the confidence in the world, calling himself the best player in the draft prior to last night. 6 picks later, the Jets kick-started a crazy run on receivers by drafting Ohio State WR Garrett Wilson.

Known for his downfield speed and crisp route running, many consider him the best receiver in the draft. They weren’t finished there, trading back into the first round to stop the shocking slide of Florida State EDGE Jermaine Johnson II, regarded as a consensus top 12 prospect just days ago. JJ2 looks like a stud and should terrorize opposing quarterbacks opposite Carl Lawson for years to come. Expect to hear the notorious “J-E-T-S JETS JETS JETS” chants louder in mid-January sooner rather than later.

Grade: A+

LOSERS

Washington Commanders

According to Todd McShay of ESPN, Washington was considered to be “all-in” on finding another wide receiver to pair with star WR Terry McLaurin in the first round. Their original pick, 11, was at the front end of the run on receivers, however, they traded down to 16, missing an opportunity to draft college stars Chris Olave and Jameson Williams, along with arguably the most unique prospect in the draft, Notre Dame S Kyle Hamilton.

They settled for Penn State WR Jahan Dotson. While Dotson is a quality option with elite hands, he is undersized and does not possess elite speed or elusiveness after the catch. Washington received 3rd and 4th round picks for trading down, although they foolishly missed a golden opportunity to add one of the blue chip prospects as aforementioned above.

Grade: C

Minnesota Vikings

Formerly known as the “Purple People Eaters”, the Vikings defense, especially their secondary, has been a liability in the last few seasons. The Vikings had an opportunity to add Kyle Hamilton at pick number 12, but elected to trade down 20 spots to 32, giving the Detroit Lions, their NFC North divisional rivals, a chance to jump up and select star Alabama WR Jameson Williams. Lions QB Jared Goff now has the best weapon since his messy breakup with the Rams.

Many expected the Vikings to use the 32nd pick as trade bait for a QB needy team, since a 1st round selection provides a 5th-year option, an extra year on a player’s rookie contract. This is very valuable from the perspective of salary cap management, however, new general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah couldn’t get anyone to bite, having no choice but selecting hard-nosed Georgia S Lewis Cine. By no means is Cine a bad selection, he has the great Harrison Smith as a mentor and fills a need in their secondary, but the Vikes certainly could have gotten more draft capital than picks 32, 34 and 66 for the 12th and 46th picks.

Grade: C+

Arizona Cardinals

The Cardinals elected to deal their 23rd overall pick to Baltimore for speedy WR Marquise “Hollywood” Brown. Sure, Cards QB Kyler Murray was very happy after the trade, tweeting “Let’s run it back…Hollywood to the desert!”, as he and Hollywood were college teammates at Oklahoma for two seasons, one of those being Kyler’s Heisman Trophy winning campaign. As aforementioned earlier, the trends of the wide receiver market recently somewhat justifies the value they gave up for an underperforming receiver whose rookie contract expires in two seasons.

Brown hasn’t shown much versatility to his game, lacking the route running and reliable hands possessed by the NFL’s top wideouts, and he will likely ask for a significant raise once his contract is up, the main reason why former Cardinals WR Christian Kirk left the desert to sign with the Jacksonville Jaguars this past offseason. The Cardinals will certainly be an entertaining team to watch, but they’ve made no improvements to a mediocre defense that lost future Hall of Fame EDGE Chandler Jones in the offseason, potentially putting the future status of head coach Kliff Kingsbury and general manager Steve Keim’s jobs in question.

Grade: D