The NFL 2022 draft cycle finally pays off. The last of the undeclared free agents are finding their homes as teams plan their rookie minilamps and turn their attention to the 2022 season. An angel who wriggles out of his straitjacket every time he closes his eyes – but he’s finally done.
With one night to sleep for last thoughts, here are my thoughts on this year’s draft.
Everyone hated quarterbacks so much, so much
There was a lot of history set by this year’s quarterback class – all bad. The only quarterback selected in the first two rounds was Kenny Pickett, who finished 20th for the Pittsburgh Steelers. This is the longest we’ve been waiting to see the first quarterback leave the board since 1997. A second quarterback was not selected until 74th overall when the Atlanta Falcons selected Desmond Reeder. This is the longest we’ve been waiting to see the second quarterback get off the board since 1996. We had not passed in the first two rounds, with only one quarterback selected since 2000.
In the modern NFL, it seemed unthinkable – legally impossible – for a quarterback class to be so bad that several teams would not smoke in the top 50. The position is too important – and the competitive advantage gained by a winning quarterback in a rookie deal so valuable – for to think that teams can ignore it, as they did this weekend. All of the 2022 QB class, except Pickett, passed later than Kyle Trask (64), Kellen Mond (66) and Davis Mills (67) from last year’s class and after Christian Hackenberg, Mike Glennon and Brock Osweiler from the classes last decade.
The teams weren’t just scared or impressed with this class. They hated him.
This was especially evident when viewed through the lens of Baker Mayfield’s trade rumors. Brown has needed an exchange at Mayfield since acquiring Deshon Watson more than a month ago. But they have not been able to find a suitor with a largely settled quarterback market. There seems to have been some movement on this front since the first round on Thursday. The Panthers who passed when choosing a quarterback with no. 6 choices (instead they chose an offensive match Ikem Ekwonu), reportedly discussed Mayfield’s trade with the Browns, but these negotiations fell apart due to the details of Mayfield’s compensation. Carolina eventually caught Ole Miss QB Matt Corral with the 94th pick.
The Texans are reported to be exploring both the Mayfield and Jimmy Garopolo markets in the coming days, a logical choice as they are currently starting Davis Mills’ second quarterback. But the report came after the first round, when only Pickett left the board, a player with whom the Texans were tied just hours before the start of the first round. The Texans, of course, had the opportunity to picket twice in the draft, including the number. 15, five picks before the Steelers. They also had two selections from the second round of no. 37 and 44 when Desmond Reeder, Malik Willis and Coral were available. But they refused to take a quarterback and instead reportedly asked about the availability of Mayfield and Garopolo. This is an indicative sequence of events from two needy quarterback teams. There seemed to be little movement in the Mayfield trade negotiations before the design. That changed after Pickett, often described as the most “professional” quarterback in the draft, was offboard. Outside of Pickett, the league did not want any part of this quarterback class. But if that was the case, why not lay the groundwork for a possible deal with Mayfield sooner? I’m not sure. A truly confusing weekend in the world of quarterback.
The league is probably wrong about this quarterback class for no other reason than that the league is usually wrong about the quarterback classes. He drafted Mitchell Trubischi before Patrick Mahoms, Sam Darnold before Josh Allen and Tua Tagovailoa before Justin Herbert. He chose Brandon Widen two rounds before Russell Wilson and Jared Goff three rounds before Duck Prescott. This is good news for this quarterback class, because most of the league prefers to have a swing outside at Baker Mayfield than anyone in a class other than Kenny. And if the league is really wrong about this class and one or two of these late-round QBs continue to be starters, then these players will be the biggest stolen in the draft – and I’m not sure we’ll see a quarterback class treated with this level of contempt again.
Good days in the office
Tennessee Titans
I’m so impressed with the Titans’ project. Not just for their chosen players – although they have some good ones, as we will discuss. But for an honest assessment of their list.
Last season, the Titans were a number. 1 placed in the AFC, winners in the only first round of farewell in an extremely competitive conference. In 2020, they won the AFC South. In 2019, they were a wild card team that managed to reach the match for the conference championship. Mike Vrabel’s tenure as head coach is four years, and the Titans have three consecutive playoff appearances – only the Chiefs have a longer active post-season series.
But the Titans did not behave like a long-time contender on the day of military service. During Round 1, they swapped Philadelphia Eagles’ star receiver AJ Brown for the 18th overall pick. The Eagles immediately gave Brown a four-year extension of $ 100 million; The Titans immediately selected Arkansas WR Traylan Burks, a player that many have competed with Brown for his fat physique and dangerous YAC abilities.
The message was clear: the Titans need to get younger and cheaper. GM John Robinson clarified these motivations in his press conference after Round 1, saying: “We had back and forth discussions and realized that we had reached a point where it would be difficult to reach a deal.” Brown told ESPN’s Turn Davenport that the Titans’ best offer reached $ 16 million a year, with incentives that could raise the deal to $ 20 million. “I would stay if they offered me $ 22 million,” he said.
The Titans could offer that amount with a little smart accounting – they only have $ 5 million for limited space this season and $ 2.2 million for limited space next year, according to current figures. This would only be achievable if you were committed to the current body of Titans players. Quarterback Ryan Tanehill, who has the biggest success in the league this year with 38.6 million dollars, could restructure his contract and transfer more of his money in future years, but this would lock the Titans in Tanehil’s contract after 2023 when the transaction expires at the moment. The same could be done to undo Derrick Henry’s deal – which this year has a $ 15 million limit for a deal that expires in 2023 – or to let it go with Taylor Lean’s deal this year. a limit of $ 14.7 million, with two years remaining.
Instead, they drew left-hander for development in Round 2 at Nicholas Petit-Frere, quarterback for development in Round 3 at Malik Willis and rotating quarterback in Round 4 at Hassan Haskins.
The Titans are in no way aiming for the 2022 season and do not admit defeat in a busy AFC. They still have a strong core and selected rookies like Burks, who has huge shoes to replace Brown, and Petit-Frere, who can compete for the initial job with the right coping that can make an impact in the first year. This Titans team has proven time and time again, in very close matches, that they should not be counted.
But with every AFC contender looking in the short term at this insane climb to the top of the conference, the Titans have very quietly taken a step back and invested in the long-term health of their franchise. After moving all-in last season with Bud Dupree and Julio Jones, the Titans will leave their big money contracts to work as they develop young insurance in key positions.
This is a mature, responsible team building. It’s not fun or sexy. It’s much more exciting to be fooled into thinking you’re a contender (what I call Mickey Luming). But Tennessee understands how to build a permanent contender and keep this post-season series.
The Baltimore Ravens
It’s an old hat at the moment, but it’s still worth mentioning: the Baltimore Ravens project is good. Former GM Ozzy Newsom has been doing it for two decades, and his successor Eric DeCosta has not missed a step. Baltimore’s classes are always at least solid and sometimes homey (as in 2018, when they took Lamar Jackson, Orlando Brown Jr., Mark Andrews and Bradley Bozeman).
This year, the Ravens did the same thing they always do: stay patient and take advantage of the mistakes of other teams. Even when the Eagles jumped to no. 13 before Baltimore to catch Georgia DT Jordan Davis, considered by many to be Ravens’ perfect choice (Davis himself thought he would be a Raven), Baltimore calmly grabbed the other elite athletic defender in Kyle Hamilton, 6- foot-4 safety from Notre Dame to match their stellar safety of free agent Marcus Williams. Several teams were worried about the size and strength of Iowa center Tyler Linderbaum – not the Ravens, who swapped successor Marquise Brown to return to the first round and catch Linderbaum to replace Bozeman and become their new foothold in the offensive interior. .
In the second round, the Ravens took a potential choice from the top 20 in the Michigan champion David Ojabo, who fell to the mid-40s only because of the Achilles tear suffered during his professional training in March. In the third round they took UConn DT Travis Jones, who was a long shot in the first round given his impressive athleticism (4.92 seconds 40-yard dash, 7.33 seconds 3-cone, 9 feet, 2 inches wide jump) in his huge size (6 feet 4, 325 pounds). The Ravens missed Davis in the first round and got the discounted version at Jones two rounds later.
And then they had six choices in the fourth round. six. Why? Because …
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