There’s still four games left to play this season, but the 2022 NFL draft order is beginning to take shape. And with so many hurdles between the New Orleans Saints and the playoffs, it makes sense to start taking stock of where they might stand on draft day.
New Orleans is scheduled to pick at No. 13 overall after Week 14’s games wrapped up, per Tankathon’s latest projections. It’s not an easy road to get there, but that sort of draft positioning could lead to some high-quality talent landing in New Orleans — the last time they drafted that highly (at No. 11, in 2017) they left with cornerback Marshon Lattimore, the Defensive Rookie of the Year who reached three Pro Bowls in his first four years in the NFL.
But who are some realistic targets at No. 13? To find out, I surveyed recent 2022 mock drafts like this one from ESPN’s Todd McShay, or this projection from Austin Gayle at Pro Football Focus, as well as models from Pro Football Network’s Cam Mellor and Ryan Wilson with CBS Sports. I found six different players who were slotted in between picks No. 13 and 19, which suggests they might be evaluated on a similar tier together and be worth an early selection.
Ohio State Buckeyes wide receiver Garrett Wilson was the only player in the group to fall in this range in every mock draft sampled; the others either went too high, too low, or weren’t in the first round at all. Here they are: