2022 NFL Draft - 1st Round Dueling Mocks

So, here’s my round 1 mock, which is two mocks, how I think it will go, and how I’d do it. Team needs were taken from the Ringer Draft Guide and the mock draft consensus was taken from averaging out the draft position for each player from, literally, all of the NFL.com and ESPN.com mocks. I’ve decided to write this up four picks at a time, noting the picks and the differences in each.

Pick	Team	Needs	Mock Draft Pick	Who I'd Pick
1	JAX	OT, Edge	Travon Walker, Edge, Georgia	Kayvon Thibodeaux, Edge, Oregon
2	DET	Edge, QB, DB, WR	Aidan Hutchinson, Edge, Michigan	Sauce Gardner, CB, Cincinnati
3	HOU	QB, OL, DL	Desmond Ridder, QB, Cincinnati	Devonte Wyatt, INT, Georgia
4	NYJ	Edge, DB, OT	Sauce Gardner, CB, Cincinnati	Kyle Hamilton, S, Notre Dame

You’ll notice two things when looking at these drafts, that I have Wyatt in my top four which is high for him, but then again, it’s a what I’d do. The other is… holy shit, Desmond Ridder at 3? I decided this was the biggest splash that would match the level of rumors in NFL circles. Safety isn’t the most prestigious position in the NFL but I think Hamilton is a true difference maker.

Pick	Team	Needs	Mock Draft Pick	Who I'd Pick
5	NYG	OL, Edge	Ickey Ekwonu, OT, NC State	Travon Walker, Edge, Georgia
6	CAR	QB, OL, WR, S	Malik Willis, QB, Liberty	Drake London, WR, USC
7	NYG f/CHI	OL, DL, CB, Edge	Kayon Thibodeaux, Edge, Oregon	Derek Stingley, CB, LSU
8	ATL	QB, WR, Edge, S	Garrett Wilson, WR, Ohio State	Jameson Williams, WR, Alabama

Picks 5-8 hold only one surprise and that’s Malik Willis at 6, I know the reports are that Carolina likes none of the QBs but I don’t believe anything reported over the last week, unless it’s the presumption that Houston is gonna do something insane, but that aligns with my pre-draft perception of the Texans font office.

Pick	Team	Needs	Mock Draft Pick	Who I'd Pick
9	SEA f/DEN	RT, DT	Evan Neal, OT, Alabama	Evan Neal, OT, Alabama
10	NYJ f/SEA	Edge, DB, OT	Jermaine Johnson, Edge, FSU	Aidan Hutchinson, Edge, Michigan
11	WAS	OBLB, DB, OT	Derek Stingley, CB, LSU	Nakobe Dean, OBLB, Georgia
12	MIN	CB, Edge, WR	Drake London, WR, USC	Trent McDuffie, CB, Washington

I think the Commanders are going to go non-traditional in the first round, and they won’t do it but the Seahawks picking Neal makes too much sense.

Pick	Team	Needs	Mock Draft Pick	Who I'd Pick
13	HOU f/CLE	QB, OL, DL	Charles Cross, OT, Mississippi State	Ikem Ekwonu, OT, NC State
14	BAL	Edge, INT	Jordan Davis, INT, Georgia	Travis Jones, INT, UCONN
15	PHI f/MIA	Edge, S, WR, CB, OBLB	Kyle Hamilton, S, Notre Dame	Devin Lloyd, OBLB, Utah
16	NO f/IND f/PHI	QB, LT, WR	Trevor Penning, OT, Northern Iowa	Treylon Burks, WR, Arkansas

Houston goes crazy and then makes a sensible pick that doesn’t quite make sense considering they have a tackle playing guard poorly at the moment. Baltimore gets better on the defensive line and Philadelphia gets Hurts some protection or a weapon.

Pick	Team	Needs	Mock Draft Pick	Who I'd Pick
17	LAC	OL, CB	Trent McDuffie, CB, Washington	Zion Johnson, G, Boston College
18	PHI f/NO	Edge, S, WR, CB, OBLB	Devin Lloyd, OBLB, Utah	Chris Olave, WR, Ohio State
19	NO f/PHI	QB, LT, WR	Jameson Williams, WR, Alabama	Garrett Wilson, WR, Ohio State
20	PIT	DB, INT, Edge	Zion Johnson, G, Boston College	Logan Hall, INT, Houston

Philly doubles down on the Hurts help in the what I’d do mock which seems slightly short-sighted. Hall may be one of my more ambitious reaches at 20 but I think he can be that impactful of a defensive lineman.

Pick	Team	Needs	Mock Draft Pick	Who I'd Pick
21	NE	CB, OBLB, OT	Kaiir Elam, CB, Florida	Quay Walker, OBLB, Georgia
22	GB f/LVR	WR, DL, DB	Treylon Burks, WR, Arkansas	Alec Pierce, WR, Cincinnati
23	ARI	CB, DL, WR	Chris Olave, WR, Ohio State	Jahan Dotson, WR, Penn State
24	DAL	OL, Edge, S, WR	Tyler Smith, OL, Tulsa	Tyler Linderbaum, C, Iowa

A lot of late round receivers in my mock, which seems intuitive but could also point to a number of them slipping to the second round. Pierce to the Packers makes a lot of sense since he’s the big-bodied receiver the Packers seem to gravitate towards at the receiver position.

Pick	Team	Needs	Mock Draft Pick	Who I'd Pick
25	BUF	CB, INT, RT	Devonte Wyatt, INT, Georgia	Kaiir Elam, CB, Florida
26	TEN	RT, WR, TE	Jahan Dotson, WR, Penn State	Charles Cross, OT, Mississippi State
27	TB	G, Edge, S	George Karlaftis, Edge, Purdue	Lewis Cine, S, Georgia
28	GB	WR, DL, DB	Travis Jones, INT, UCONN	George Karlaftis, Edge, Purdue

Karlaftis falls into the bottom third of the round in both mocks which seems like too far if we’re being honest. He’s strong, athletic and productive. If he does fall here it would seem like a pretty good first round value.

Pick	Team	Needs	Mock Draft Pick	Who I'd Pick
29	KC f/SF f/MIA	WR, RT, CB	Daxton Hill, S, Michigan	Daxton Hill, S, Michigan
30	KC	WR, RT, CB	Christian Watson, WR, NDSU	Christian Watson, WR, NDSU
31	CIN	CB, Edge	Andrew Booth, CB, Clemson	Andrew Booth, CB, Clemson
32	DET f/LAR	Edge, QB, DB, WR	Kenny Pickett, QB, Pittsburgh	George Pickens, WR, Georgia

Never a horribly comfortable feeling when I matchup up this well with a mock, that either means the NFL really doesn’t have a grip on this class, this class is really mediocre, or I’m getting much better at this, I’d lean one of the former options.