Thursday night’s 1st round of the 2022 NFL draft was dominated by the defensive side of the ball with the first 5 picks being defenders. Georgia edge rusher Travon Walker, who was projected to be a middle of the 1st round pick as recently as February, went number 1 overall to the Jacksonville Jaguars who were making the 1st selection of the draft for the second year in a row.
Michigan star Aidan Hutchinson went to Detroit with the 2nd pick. It marked the first time since the early 90s that an offensive player wasn’t taken in the first 5 picks.
Then the run on offensive lineman and wide receivers began along with a number of trades. Tennessee Titans star A.J. Brown was traded to the Eagles and Arizona acquired Hollywood Brown from The Ravens.
Embed from Getty ImagesOnly 1 quarterback was taken with Pitt’s Kenny Pickett landing with the Steelers.
12 SEC players were chosen including 5 from the National Champion Georgia Bulldogs. Michigan, Alabama and Ohio State also had multiple players drafted in the 1st round.
The NY Jets may have had the best night converting the 2 picks that they came into the evening with into Sauce Gardner out of Cincinnati and Ohio State wide receiver Garrett Wilson. They traded back into the 1st round to add ACC defensive player of the year Jermaine Johnson with the 26th pick.
