The first round of the NFL Draft was a wild affair full of trades but these five teams managed to really nail their picks in the first round.
The 2022 NFL Draft was expected to be a bit of a mystery since there were no franchise quarterbacks or elite prospects available in this class. The first round was an exercise in chaos as a run on wide receivers, including two big names who got moved via trade, and deals shook up everyone’s expectations entering Thursday night.
While eight teams entered the first round without picks, there was a lot of movement and some clear winners at the end of the night. Let’s take a look at five teams who really nailed the draft this year, beginning with the New Orleans Saints.
Teams that nailed the NFL Draft
5. New Orleans Saints
A curious trade in the weeks prior to the draft set up the Saints with a pair of first-round picks, leading to speculation that New Orleans was planning to target a quarterback to serve as the long-term heir to retired franchise icon Drew Brees. That would have been a mistake given the subpar quarterback class, which the Saints smartly avoided by using their two picks to land Day 1 starters.
New Orleans recognized a wide receiver run was underway and jumped up to the 11th pick to snag Ohio State’s Chris Olave, giving them a solid complement to Michael Thomas on the outside as weapons for Jameis Winston. Snagging Trevor Penning at 19 was also solid value for the Saints, who needed to find a new left tackle with Terron Armstead departing for Miami in free agency.
The NFC is wide open outside of top-tier teams like the Los Angeles Rams, Green Bay Packers and Tampa Bay Buccaneers. It makes sense for the Saints to make a push for the postseason by fortifying their needs like they did with these first-round picks.
4. Baltimore Ravens
It shouldn’t be a surprise to see the Baltimore Ravens among the teams that nailed the NFL Draft. Baltimore has been a perennial contender on the strength of its excellent drafting and their picks tonight secured some excellent value.
The first choice came at No. 14, where the Ravens benefitted from the poor workout numbers Kyle Hamilton posted in the run-up to the draft and snagged an impact safety who was rated among the five best players in the class by some pundits. Hamilton’s addition, when paired with Baltimore’s free-agent signing of Marcus Williams, gives the Ravens an elite safety duo that can wreak havoc in the AFC North.
The Ravens secured a second pick in the first round when they traded wide receiver Marquise “Hollywood” Brown to the Arizona Cardinals for No. 23, which they then moved to the Buffalo Bills to drop back two slots while adding an extra mid-round pick. That second first-rounder turned into center Tyler Linderbaum, who is another extremely talented player who was unlikely to be picked highly due to the fact he is a center.
That was an area of need for the Ravens, who have now secured a long-term building block for their offensive line alongside a defensive weapon in Hamilton. This draft did some excellent groundwork for Baltimore as they aim to catch Cincinnati in a tough division.
3. New York Giants
Having two Top 10 picks is an excellent way to kick off a rebuild and new GM Joe Schoen certainly has his hands full trying to fix the New York Giants. While there was speculation that Schoen would look to move one of his picks to add a first-round pick for the 2023 draft, the Giants did just fine by staying put.
A run of defensive players at the top of the draft left New York with its pick of offensive tackles but the Giants wisely realized they could still have a very good tackle at No. 7. Schoen used the No. 5 pick to add arguably the draft’s most talented pass rusher in Kayvon Thibodeaux, who will team with Azeez Ojulari to give the Giants a pair of bookend pass rushers who can help anchor their defense for years to come.
Picking Thibodeaux did cost the Giants a shot at Ikem Ekwonu, who was taken with the next pick by Carolina, but they still landed a starting right tackle in Alabama’s Evan Neal. While most speculation pre-draft had the Giants falling in love with Mississippi State’s Charles Cross, Neal was a much safer pick due to his size and versatility to play all over the line.
There is never a bad time to build in the trenches in the NFL and the Giants added two key building blocks on their lines with Top 10 picks. The pick of Neal, who will team with Andrew Thomas to give New York a pair of bookend tackles, is music to the ears of Giants fans who have seen their offensive line be neglected for years.
2. Philadelphia Eagles
At the start of the draft cycle, the Philadelphia Eagles held three first-round picks as the result of savvy trades by Howie Roseman. A conservative team could simply have stayed put and taken three players, but the Eagles like to act aggressively and capitalized on those three assets to improve their roster.
A pre-draft trade flipped one of those picks to New Orleans in a move that netted Philadelphia an extra first-round pick in 2023, a valuable resource in the event that the Eagles need to find a quarterback next season. The Eagles then moved up from 15 to 13 in order to land the draft’s best defensive tackle in Jordan Davis, giving them a complement to Fletcher Cox on the defensive line that was a weakness last season.
The 18th pick was then flipped in stunning fashion to land A.J. Brown from the Tennessee Titans, who promptly signed an extension to give Philadelphia the No. 1 receiver they were desperately looking for. Despite spending their past two first-round picks on receivers, the position was still a need and using the 18th pick to land a proven NFL star is a massive win.
Adding Brown and Davis gives the Eagles a legitimate case to be the NFC East favorites after the Cowboys took a step back this winter. Roseman deserves to take a bow for some truly excellent work during this year’s draft.
1. New York Jets
No team entered the NFL Draft with a more valuable set of picks than the New York Jets, who leveraged trades for Jamal Adams and Sam Darnold to land four of the top 40 picks in the draft. GM Joe Douglas used his assets tremendously to snag three difference-makers for the Jets in the first round, setting the stage for a class that could have a transformative impact on the franchise like the famous 2000 draft class did.
The first pick was a bit of a surprise as the Jets took Ahmad “Sauce” Gardner at No. 4 to add the draft’s best cornerback to their beleaguered secondary. Gardner, who didn’t allow a touchdown in his college career, has the ideal size and cover skills to dominate in Robert Saleh’s defense, which will make him an immediate asset in a division with Tyreek Hill and Stefon Diggs.
Next up was adding a go-to-guy for Zach Wilson in Ohio State’s Garrett Wilson, who was the class’ most pro-ready wide receiver. Wilson’s ball skills and acrobatic ability add another dimension to the Jets’ passing game, giving them a strong trio of pass catchers when Wilson is paired with Corey Davis and 2021 second-round pick Elijah Moore.
Douglas then took advantage of an unexpected slide by Florida State’s Jermaine Johnson, trading back into the first round to add a much-needed pass rusher to New York’s defense to go alongside returning Carl Lawson. The Jets managed to add three of the draft’s top prospects and still have a high second-round pick at No. 38, making them the clear winners of the draft at this point.