Only 24 hours earlier, Mel Kiper’s Mock Draft went perfectly for Washington. Bucky Brooks has produced his 2022 Mock Draft 2.0 and it has a significantly different result for the Commanders.
Ron Rivera has been nothing short of absolutely clear, Washington is looking for an upgrade at quarterback. Kiper’s 2.0 mock draft Tuesday saw everything fall perfectly for the Commanders at No.11, enabling them to select the first quarterback off of the board, Pitt’s Kenny Pickett.
Brooks sees it differently; quite differently. Brooks feels the Carolina Panthers at No. 6 will take the first quarterback off of the board, and he agrees that is Pickett.
Brooks does not have Washington reaching for a quarterback with Pickett off of the board. He sees the Commanders taking whom they feel is the best player on the board. Therefore, at No. 11 the Commanders take the second cornerback off of the board Derek Stingley (LSU), according to Brooks.
Thus, Brooks and Kiper agree that quarterback Malik Willis (Liberty U) will go at No. 20 to the Steelers. Kiper believes Willis will be the second quarterback off of the board. However, Brooks has Ole Miss QB Matt Corral going earlier at No. 18 to New Orleans.
Other significant differences were the No. 1 overall choice for Brooks, with Jacksonville selecting Evan Neal, OT Alabama while Kiper selected OT Ikem Ekwonu (NC State).
Notre Dame safety Kyle Hamilton has thus far been a very early consensus pick by analysts, including Kiper who has the Jets at No. 4 selecting Hamilton. Surprisingly, Brooks has Hamilton sliding all the way down to No. 15 and taken by NFC East rival Philadelphia.
When seeing Brooks have Carolina take Pickett at No. 6, and Washington picking at No. 11, my thought was, “Wow, if Kyle Hamilton remains available, I think Rivera might want a big safety with the range and versatility of Hamilton to pair with Kamren Curl.”