This is it. The Mock Draft that everyone has been waiting for…

The 2022 NFL draft will begin tonight, at 8pm ET, and end on Saturday, April 30^th. The first round will take place on Thursday with rounds two and three airing on Friday. The last four rounds will air on Saturday.

The 2022 draft will be held in Sin City, with Roger Goodell making the announcements on a constructed stage near the Caesars Forum. The 21 draft prospects that have been invited to attend the draft will then march their way across a floating stage in the fountain of the Bellagio Hotel & Casino, once they have been selected.

There is proper excitement around the draft this year, as people haven’t a notion which way teams will go. The uncertainty around the quality of this year’s QBs, mixed with the amount of talented WRs and Edge Rushers is certainly making it difficult for myself and my fellow expert mock drafters to put our fingers on team pulses.

I am keeping this at a first-round mock draft only, as I haven’t a clue what will happen after that. The fun is had in the first round anyway. Screenshots can be found below, but you can also see the drafting tool with selections in the attached link. Writeups for the top ten are under the screenshots. Work commitments are calling now, so hopefully I will get back to write up the other 32 later on today.

Disclaimer: I obviously know nothing about college football but have a general understanding of the positional needs of teams and feel like I know who to listen to and who not to listen to when it comes to these types of things. I have also been looking at mock drafts every day for about a month, so will hopefully get a few of these right. I love the bets outlined below, so check them out and see what you think.

Best Bets:

Washington Commanders to draft a Safety: 6/1 – 5 points

I love love love this bet. Every mock draft under the sun has Kyle Hamilton to the Commanders at 11. He was one of the top prospects in the draft until a slow 40 time at the combine and his pro day, so he slips right into the lap of Washington at 11.

Sauce Gardner under 4.5: 7/4 – 2 points

The Texans could also draft Gardner at 3, so under 4.5 looks a good thing, as draft analysts think the Jets are very keen on him at 4.

Derek Stingley over 8.5: 5/4 – 2 points

Very hard to see Stingley going eight or better. I haven’t seen many mocks drafting him that high. I think he either goes to the Vikings, Texans or Ravens.

Buffalo Bills to draft a running back in the first round: 11/2 – 1.5 points

The Bills are stacked in every position, bar corner and running back. It is a reach to take a RB in the first round, but by all accounts Breece Hall is head and shoulders above the rest. I think the Bills are all in for the Super Bowl this year and they sure up a position that they have been weak at the last couple of years.

Breece Hall #1 running back: 4/7 – 2 points

Wherever he goes, he will be the number one running back off the board.

Under 6.5 receivers drafted in the first round: 4/5 – 1 point

Seven is pretty high. Most analysts have mocked six going, so I am going to trust in their predictions.

Hutchinson #1 overall: 5/2 – 1 point

I have to stick with my guns here and take Hutchinson at one. The better price and Shad Khan’s desires edge him over Travon Walker here. If you feel the same, you could double up and back Walker at #2 at 11/2.

My top three in that exact order: 45/1 – 0.25 point

Bit of laugh this one, but it would be cool to predict.

https://www.nflmockdraftdatabase.com/user-mock-drafts/2022/user-mock-865966

1. Aidan Hutchinson

In recent days, all the money has come for Travon Walker to be selected the number one pick. Rumours have come out that Jaguars GM Trent Baalke loves Walker’s athleticism and wants to draft him over Hutchinson. Jaguars owner Shad Khan is keen on Hutchinson, and I think he will get his way. He needs to save face here and by all accounts, Hutchinson has the higher floor of the two.

2. Travon Walker

As mentioned, Walker is a freak athlete. His combine results made him skyrocket up draft big boards and the Lions seem interested according to Insider reports. He has been smashed into odds on favourite to go first, but John Sheeran (no relation of Ed, but as Irish as the Tricolour) the head bookie for Fan Duel (Paddy Power’s US arm) has said that the odds change is purely on them managing their position and not inside information. Bookies are trustworthy sources, right? Walker to go number two overall.

3. Kayvon Thibodeaux

Disclaimer: I have this backed at 8/1 (now 12s) so I am a little biased here. I think the Texans go Edge here and it could be anyone from Thibodeaux to Jermaine Johnson. They are in the market for an O-Line as well, but I think they will save that for the 13^th pick. But they could also go wide receiver there. Who Knows! Certainly not me.

4. Sauce Gardner

Best corner in the draft, per every draft analysis on planet earth. The Jets couldn’t stop the pass last year and they plug that gap with the Cincinnati CB.

5. Ikem Ekwonu

Big Blue need help up front and they go with Daniel Jeremiah’s number one lineman in the draft. Icky has been mock drafted as high as number one in some mocks, but he slides to five here, which is sure to warm the hearts of Giants’ fans.

6. Evan Neal

The draft kicks up a notch here. Most mocks have the Panthers drafting a QB, but the Panthers need O-Line help immediately and the current crop of draft prospects don’t really get the juices flowing.

7. Jermaine Johnson

An athletic specimen out of Florida State. If the Giants hold on to this pick and don’t draft back, they fill a glaring hole in their pass rush. Johnson could easily go higher but I like him to land in the laps of the Giants with their second first round pick.

8. Garrett Wilson

If the Falcons could draft a whole new team here, they would. They are a dumpster fire in a nuclear wasteland. They need help all over the field, so this pick is very hard to predict. Head Coach Arthur Smith is offensive minded and with Calvin Ridley out for the year with suspension, they look to replace him and give QB Marcus Mariota another small sliver of hope to compliment star TE Kyle Pitts.

9. Charles Cross

The Hawks are another candidate to trade out of a first-round pick, but they could also start their rebuild with one of the best linemen in the draft. Protecting the QB has been non-existent over the last few years, so they look to fill that gap here and look out for whoever they have starting at the gunslinger position in 2022.

10. George Karlaftis

Karlaftis is an aggressive edge rusher out of Purdue and probably has caught the eye of defensive minded Head Coach Robert Salah. The Jets went Sauce Gardner at four to sure up the secondary and now they add a strong piece in the pass rush. They badly need to strengthen up their defence in order to try and stop their divisional rivals, the high-powered Bills and Dolphins.

They say to have a quality mock draft you need to nail the top ten and then match up the positional needs of teams with the best players available. So, we should know fairly quicky if this mock draft is ready for the bin or the Hall of Fame. For context, they say Josh Norris’ mock draft last year was the greatest first round ever, as he nailed 16/32 first round draft picks. Could we go 17 this year? I highly doubt it.