2022 NFL Draft Round 1 Takeaways: Did the Packers blow it again?
You’re the Green Bay Packers. You haven’t spent a first-round pick on a wide receiver in 20 years. In fact, you’ve used more first-round selections on backup quarterbacks than you have on wide receivers, tight ends and running backs combined during Aaron Rodgers’ time with the franchise.
You recently traded away Davante Adams, the top target of your recently re-signed quarterback who just happens to be the back-to-back reigning MVP. Your team desperately needs to add pass-catchers and you’ve got not one but two first-round picks in the 2022 NFL Draft with which to work. You wouldn’t dare sit back again and watch a slew of quality WR prospects get picked by other teams, would you?
Ah, who are we kidding? Green Bay picked at 22 and 28 and of course by that time the top six receiver prospects had already been taken, which means this running storyline has been given another year of life.
Rodgers was a guest on The Pat McAfee Show during the first round and appeared cool, calm and collected, not frustrated, when reacting to the Packers drafting two defensive players.
The team ended up choosing Georgia teammates Quay Walker and Devonte Wyatt with the 22nd and 28th picks, respectively. Those additions should immediately have a positive impact on the defence, but generally speaking that’s not how Packers fans had hoped Thursday would’ve played out.
The Atlanta Falcons got things rolling by taking Drake London at No. 8 before the Jets took Garret Wilson at No. 10. Then Green Bay watched as fellow NFC teams New Orleans and Detroit traded up to snag the specific WRs they liked.
Rodgers noted that a division rival selecting Alabama’s Jameson Williams caught his attention. Many scouts and pundits think Williams is the best WR in this draft class and his stock only fell because of the ACL injury he sustained early this year.
Rodgers explained it was his understanding the Packers had first-round grades on those top six WRs and he wasn’t surprised his team prioritized defence in those spots once Washington at 16 and Tennessee at 18 also took WRs.
Green Bay can still turn to free agency to add weapons for Rodgers. Jarvis Landry, Odell Beckham Jr., Julio Jones and Cole Beasley are among the veteran wideouts that remain unsigned.
“There’s some veteran guys out there that I think could be possibilities and also we have two picks in the second round and I’m sure there’s some guys on the board that they like,” Rodgers said, noting that Adams was a second-round pick in 2014 and developed into an All-Pro.
Green Bay has picks 53 and 59 in Friday’s second round.
“At this point you just gotta have some faith in the organization,” Rodgers added.
MASSIVE NIGHT FOR GEORGIA BULLDOGS
Round one began with six consecutive defensive players getting selected beginning with Travon Walker. The versatile defensive lineman, who Jags fans are hoping can develop into an elite menace up front, was the first Georgia player to be taken first overall since Matthew Stafford in 2009.
More significantly, Walker was the first of five Georgia Bulldogs taken in the opening round Thursday. This marked the first time in NFL history that five teammates from the same college defence were selected in the first round of a draft. Florida State in 2006 and Miami in 2004 each previously produced four first-round picks.
Walker’s first teammate taken was the behemoth defensive tackle Jordan Davis No. 13 to the Eagles, the only other Bulldog alumnus taken in the top 20. Good luck running between the tackles against the Eagles next season with Davis added to a d-line that brought back Fletcher Cox.
Linebacker Quay Walker and defensive tackle Devonte Wyatt both went to the Packers, as mentioned above, and the opening round was closed out when the Vikings added safety Lewis Cine to their secondary.
It’s no wonder Georgia won a national title and rarely allowed opposing touchdowns this past season with all that talent.
NEW YORK TEAMS BOTH WIN BIG IN OPENING ROUND
The Jets and Giants each had two picks inside the top 10 entering the night and both teams made good on those prime drafting positions.
The Giants focussed on the trenches and went with Oregon defensive end Kayvon Thibodeaux at No. 5 and imposing Alabama tackle Evan Neal at No. 7. The Giants are a better team today because of it.
Not to be outdone, the Jets one-upped their state rivals with what they ended up pulling off.
The Jets wanted to target the passing game on both sides of the ball. Taking Ahmad “Sauce” Gardner at No. 4 after Houston opted for Derek Stingley Jr., ensures the Jets have a shutdown corner. Selecting Ohio State’s Garrett Wilson with the 10th pick will no doubt have Zach Wilson smiling.
What cemented the Jets’ dominant showing, though, was trading back into the first round to select Florida State defensive end Jermaine Johnson, who had been a top-10 pick in many a mock draft prior to Thursday and was also on that Georgia defence before transferring last year.
Suffice it to say there was no butt-fumble energy from the Jets front office Thursday that’s for sure.
TRADES SPICE UP WHAT WAS SUPPOSED TO BE A DULL DRAFT
The first 10 picks flew by rather seamlessly…and then the trades began.
This year’s event lacked buzz compared to previous drafts but midway through the opening round there was a whirlwind of activity.
A handful of the standard draft night picks-for-picks trades got things rolling, however it was a pair of trades involving established NFL receivers that took many fans across the league by surprise.
First it was Baltimore that sent Marquise “Hollywood” Brown to Arizona to be reunited with former Oklahoma teammate Kyler Murray. The Ravens got the No. 23 pick which they flipped to Buffalo. This move comes three years after the Ravens selected Brown with the 25th-overall pick in 2019.
Tennessee then sent star receiver A.J. Brown to the Eagles for the 18th overall pick and a third-round pick. Eagles QB Jalen Hurts and Brown have been friends since high school so Brown’s addition adds a legit WR1 threat downfield plus some instant chemistry to Philly’s burgeoning offence.
The Titans are a team built to win now, so trading your No. 1 receiver is certainly not ideal. But when that receiver is asking for a hefty pay raise and you get a touted rookie in exchange it becomes easier to digest. They used the 18th pick to select Treylon Burks out of Arkansas. Ironically, or not, a common pro comparison for Burks just happened to be A.J. Brown.
Hollywood has 2,361 yards and 21 TDs in three NFL seasons and is coming off his first 1,000-yard campaign. A.J. Brown, meanwhile, was a second-round pick in 2019 who has 2,995 yards, 25 career TDs and averages nearly 20 yards per game more than the newest Cardinal.
It’ll be interesting to monitor how the Browns, A.J. and Marquise, will compare to each other on their new teams considering the similarities in timing and value of both trades.
A PAIR OF HOMECOMINGS IN DETROIT AND PITTSBURGH
One week ago, it didn’t look like the Detroit Lions were going to have a shot at landing Aidan Hutchinson. After all, Hutchinson was the consensus best defensive player in the draft and had been the projected top pick for months. When Jacksonville went with Walker at No. 1 the Lions pounced.
Hutchinson is from Plymouth and attended the University of Michigan where he was a star for the Wolverines. He wreaked havoc on the Big Ten with 14 sacks in 2021 and could be a defensive rookie of the year contender in Detroit.
Another notable pick where an NFL team kept a college talent in-state was when the Pittsburgh Steelers chose Kenny Pickett over Malik Willis as the first quarterback selected.
Pickett went 20th overall after throwing for 4,319 yards and 42 touchdowns in just 13 games this past season at the University of Pittsburgh. He was the only QB drafted on Thursday. You could see and hear how elated the Pickett family was that Kenny will remain in Pennsylvania.
DAY 2 HAS PLENTY TO OFFER
Perhaps the most notable name not called Thursday was Liberty QB Malik Willis. Believed to have the highest ceiling of all passers in this draft class, Willis was the odds-on favourite to be the first quarterback taken.
The Giants pick 36th and reportedly won’t pick up Daniel Jones’s fifth-year option. Would they consider Willis or Desmond Ridder in that spot? The Seattle Seahawks and Atlanta Falcons are also among the teams with a QB on their wish list and both have a pair of second-round picks.
Georgia could’ve had six players taken but linebacker Nakobe Dean dropped out of the top 32. He’ll be among the first defensive players taken in Round 2.
Day 2 should also be where we see star Iowa State running back Breece Hall go and when the first Canadian prospect, John Metchie out of Alabama, could be selected.