2022 NFL Mock Draft: Is Kenny Pickett the future in Carolina?
By Brad Weiss
The 2021 NFL season is entering Week 12, and with that, we take another look at what the first round of the 2022 NFL Draft could look like next April.
The 2021 NFL season is entering Week 12, and we have seen some teams disappoint this year and some teams that have established themselves as the best of the bunch. As we come down the home stretch, it is easy to see that the top half of the first half of the first round of the 2022 NFL Draft will be loaded with some familiar faces, including Jacksonville, Detroit, and those two teams that play in New Jersey.
Here, we look at our latest 2022 NFL Mock Draft heading into Week 12
Edge. Detroit Lions. Kayvon Thibodeaux. 1. player. 50.
The Detroit Lions have yet to win a game this season, and usually, when you do that, you are destined to be picking at No. 1 overall in this year’s NFL Draft. This is a franchise that is lost right now, and it remains to be seen whether or not first-year head coach Dan Campbell is the right guy to lead this team in the upcoming rebuild.
Though Jared Goff has not panned out at quarterback, the Lions need to get the best player available next year, and that player is Oregon’s defensive end, Kayvon Thibodeaux. This is a guy who is going to bring instant pressure as a rookie, and for Detroit, they need to stack as much elite talent as they can next offseason.
30. . Safety. New York Jets. Kyle Hamilton. 2. player
With two of the first six picks in the 2022 NFL Draft, the New York Jets will have a lot of options, which is a good thing, because they have a lot of holes to fill. First-year head coach Robert Saleh is likely to stick with 2021 No. 2 overall pick Zach Wilson next season, so a quarterback does not come off the board here for the second straight year.
Instead, he turns his focus to his specialty, the defensive side of the ball, adding arguably the most NFL-ready defensive back in this draft class. Kyle Hamilton from Notre Dame has the size and athletic ability to be a terror from his safety position at the next level, and that is just what this Jets secondary needs in 2022 and beyond.
52. . Cornerback. Jacksonville Jaguars. Derek Stingley Jr.. 3. player
Once again picking in the top-3 next April will be the Jacksonville Jaguars, who selected Trevor Lawrence with the No. 1 overall pick in 2021. The Lawrence rookie season has not been great, and he has looked lost at times, but in the end, he is going to be a guy who brings this franchise back to responsibility, with or without Urban Meyer.
With this pick, the Jaguars turn their attention to the other side of the ball, adding Derek Stingley Jr., the best cornerback this draft class has to offer. Stingley has had first-round grades since putting on an LSU jersey, and in Jacksonville, he instantly becomes their top defensive back, even in Year 1.