What Did We Learn from Round 1 of the NFL Draft?

Jacksonville Jaguars started 2022 NFL draft If it backfires, it’s a risky, irrational choice that could keep the franchise at the bottom of the rankings for years.

In other words, it was a typical start for a typically unpredictable first round.

The Jaguars selected Georgia’s fastest runner, Travon Walker, with the #1 overall pick in the draft. Walker recorded just six sacks for the College Football Playoff champions in the 2021 season, but his outstanding results on athletic tests such as 35.5-inch arms and the three-cone drill impressed the scouts in the pre-draft process and prompted the Jaguars to pick him. on higher-rated, more successful expectations.

Walker may have a deep reserve of long-range potential, but Jaguars may not be the best franchise to use it. Jaguars are set up if opponents protect their quarterback by hiding them behind cones or on a tall bookcase until the team proves otherwise.

Walker’s choice set the tone for the night, which turned into a big night for attackers, attackers, corners and wide gunners, but rather quiet for the quarterbacks.

Progressively less athletic than Walker but with 14 sacks in 2021, Michigan edge rusher Aidan Hutchinson fell to the Detroit Lions in the runoff. The Lions then moved up to 12th to pick Alabama receiver Jameson Williams. Ultra macho Lions Coach Dan Campbell couldn’t have been happier with the results of the first round had he scored a nine-pointer with nothing more than a determined scowl.

Louisiana State columnist Derek Stingley Jr. and Texas A&M guard Kenyon Green, selected third and 15th overall by the Houston Texans, is close to being stuck on the bottom rung of a multi-level marketing plan.

With two picks each from the top 10, The Jets and Giants shockingly made it through the night without any glaring, potentially catastrophic mistakes. The Jets named Cincinnati’s corner player Ahmad Gardner fourth and Ohio Statewide receiver Garrett Wilson 10th, then traded to Florida State’s leading offensive player Jermaine Johnson II in 26th overall. The Giants named Oregon sprinter Kayvon Thibodeaux fifth and Alabama guard Evan Neal eighth.

Gardner is 1.80 meters, sprints for 40 yards in 4.41 seconds, and his cool nickname, Sauce, is the three prerequisites for a top NFL corner player. Wilson combines pure speed with trail running, which is two parts Cooper Kupp and one part Bob Fosse. If Wilson needs three jukes to open, he will make three jukes, but some raters are worried because when Wilson needs one juke to open he makes three. Johnson had 11.5 sacks in 2021 after transferring from a Georgia program that produced five first-round picks on Thursday.

Thibodeaux was an All-America selection in 2021 and was one of the nation’s top defenders for three years. NFL’s gossips took an inexplicable displeasure from him this season, but it resulted in him falling under Walker and Hutchinson on the draft board. Justin Herbert, now a Pro Bowl quarterback for the Los Angeles Chargers, faced similar vague whispers when leaving Oregon in 2020. It’s worth noting that NFL scouting departments are still filled with guys who think anyone who chooses to play in Alabama in the Pacific Northwest would choose to play. Or Texas must be a dirty hippie.

Neal is a typical top offensive line contender who looks and acts like a video game boss. He must be able to protect Daniel Jones from anything but himself.

Rounding the top 10:

• Carolina Panthers pick North Carolina State challenge Ikem Ekwon At number 6: a surprising decision, as the Panthers were expected to choose a quarterback to replace Cam Newton. Newton.

• Needing enough caps to donate longtime quarterback Matt Ryan to 1-877-QBS-4-COLTS, the Atlanta Falcons picked Southern California receiver Drake London for eighth place.

• The Seattle Seahawks, which became a quarterback-needed team after trading Russell Wilson to the Denver Broncos, battled the Mississippi State ninth overall Charles Cross for the Charles Cross to Drew Lock, Geno Smith, or anyone else they could rustle in in the next rounds.

The Arizona Cardinals picked Marquise Brown from the Baltimore Ravens for the 25th overall pick, and the Philadelphia Eagles traded the 18th overall pick to the Tennessee Titans for AJ Brown. No deal was struck, although San Francisco buyer Deebo Samuel openly sought a trade.

Over the next three years, the New Orleans Saints made a series of pick swaps on a number of deals and took the board to pick 11th-rank Ohio State receiver Chris Olave, then added Northern Iowa’s fight against 19th-ranked Trevor Penning. The Saints have also spent their way out of the pay-cap purgatory, out of this season, by having many of their veterans’ contracts face-down mortgages. By 2024, Olave and Penning may be the only players the team can keep.

Neither trader nor picking a buyer, the Green Bay Packers selected Georgia linebacker Quay Walker and Georgia defender Devonte Wyatt with 22nd and 28th picks; they bought the first in March by trading Davante Adams to Las Vegas. . That rumble you hear on the horizon, the anger of Aaron Rodgers.

Kenny Pickett of Pittsburgh became the only quarterback finally selected, with the Pittsburgh Steelers making him the 20th overall pick. If he can snag a startup business from journeyman Mitchell Trubisky, he’ll be the heir apparent to retired Ben Roethlisberger. This is both a low bar and a big “if”. Liberty’s Malik Willis was not drafted Thursday night despite speculation he could be in the top 10.

Most analysts thought this year’s crop of quarterbacks was sparse, so many NFL teams filled the position earlier this season in creative ways: trades for Wilson, Deshaun Watson, or Carson Wentz (we said creative, not necessarily recommended); mortgaging their budgets and reputations for Rodgers; delaying filing Tom Brady’s retirement paperwork; Another year of peace and acceptance with Jones.

It’s visibly absent in Thursday night’s trades: the Rams themselves, who don’t plan on re-election in the first round until the draft is held in a colony on Mars.