2022 NFL draft – Page 194 – Syndication Server

Summer Scouting: Oklahoma QB Spencer Rattler

Rattler is getting a ton of attention as a potential QB1 next cycle, and with good reason. This video dives into his game.

The Olympic Summer games are set to kick off later this summer, and the eyes of the world will be on one of the planet’s greatest athletes, Simone Biles. Biles is set to take the stage again as one of the dominant forces in gymnastics, and is coming off securing her seventh national all-around championship at Fort Worth earlier this month.

One of her best events is the balance beam, and at the nationals this month Biles secured the top spot in that event with a score of 29.250.

What does this have to do with Oklahoma quarterback Spencer Rattler? Well, beyond reminding you to tune in when Biles an the rest of the national team competes in Tokyo later this summer, Rattler is like many quarterbacks in that he needs to balance his athletic ability and creativity outside the pocket, with how he manages life inside the pocket.

Rattler is getting a ton of attention as a potential QB1 next cycle, and with good reason. Athleticism, confidence and the ability to create outside the pocket are desired traits at the next level. In this video we’ll dive into these traits, and also highlight areas where he can clean up his pocket management a bit:

https://youtu.be/IhioOLzF2uU

Rattler does a number of things well as a quarterback, including his ability to create outside the pocket. If he improves at how well he handles things inside the pocket, he has the makings of QB1 next spring.

Summer Scouting: Texas Tech QB Tyler Shough

New Texas Tech quarterback Tyler Shough is a name worth watching this fall. Let’s dive into his tape from Oregon to see what he offers.

We continue our Summer Scouting series here at Touchdown Wire with a look at new Texas Tech quarterback Tyler Shough. Shough was a four-star recruit coming out of high school and was ranked as the top quarterback in the state of Arizona. He entertained a number of scholarship offers, and began his collegiate career at Oregon. After redshirting Shough served as the team’s backup behind Justin Herbert as a redshirt freshman in 2019. He took over as the team’s starter for the 2020 season, and guided the Ducks to a win in the Pac-12 Championship game and a berth in the Fiesta Bowl against Iowa State.

While Shough completed 62.7% of his passes last year for 1,489 yards and 13 touchdowns, the team started using Anthony Brown, a transfer from Boston College, more and more at the QB position as the season wore on. That included the Fiesta Bowl, where Brown orchestrated a 98-yard touchdown drive for the Ducks in Oregon’s loss to the Cyclones.

With his status as the starter in doubt, Shough announced in February that he would be transferring. A few weeks later he announced he would be heading to the Big-12 to enroll at Texas Tech. He completed eight of 15 passes for 106 yards in the Red Raiders’ Spring Game, and expectations are high for him and the rest of the Texas Tech offense as the fall looms.

That could make Shough a draft cycle riser, should he put up impressive numbers this fall in Lubbock. Let’s dive into his game to see some of his strengths, as well as an area or two where he could improve.

Summer Scouting: Mississippi QB Matt Corral

It is never too early to get a read on the next draft class. We kick off summer scouting with a look at Mississippi QB Matt Corral.

Summer is known for any number of things. Grilling with your friends and neighbors, vacations to the shore, enjoying a cold adult adult beverage on the porch as the sun surrenders to the horizon at the end of the day.

In the football world, it is also prime scouting season for the next draft cycle.

But summer scouting should be approached with the right lens. This is not the time to make definitive statements about players, but rather to identify a solid baseline for the fall season. Where the players perform well, and areas where they can improve. Then in the fall when games kick off in earnest, you can measure their performance against those baselines.

We kick off the summer scouting with a look at Mississippi quarterback Matt Corral. As we will for each of these pieces, we will identify an area where the player performers well, as well as an area of their game that could benefit from some improvement in the fall.

Steelers miss out on a quarterback in new 2022 mock draft

Pittsburgh lands a franchise left tackle in this 2022 mock draft.

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CBS Sports put out a new 2022 NFL mock draft and we decided to give it a close look at the Pittsburgh Steelers pick. The NFL and college football seasons are starting in just a few short months and it never hurts to get an understanding of who pundits consider the top prospects.

Chris Trapasso has the Steelers selecting No. 15 overall and selecting Ohio State offensive tackle Thayer Munford. Here’s what he had to say about Munford and his fit with the Steelers.

The offensive line reconstruction process doesn’t stop for the Steelers after the 2021 draft — where they picked two blockers. Munford has franchise left tackle talent.

This is a tough scenario for Pittsburgh because Trapasso has five quarterbacks coming off the board before the Steelers go on the clock. This would be less than ideal given this is almost certainly Ben Roethlisberger’s last season.

Nevertheless, Munford is a nice consolation prize and would fill a significant need for Pittsburgh on offense.

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Top 10 2022 NFL draft prospects for the Steelers to watch

Here is a partial watchlist for Steelers prospects for the 2022 NFL draft.

This fall, college football will be back in full swing and Pittsburgh Steelers fans need to stay ahead of the curve when it comes to prospects for the 2022 NFL draft. We will be sure to keep you up to date all season long on the top prospects for the Steelers but here is a quick watchlist of the 10 best as of right now. Spoiler alert, quarterbacks will feature prominently on this list.

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Texans should keep tabs on Northwestern safety Brandon Joseph in 2022 NFL draft

The Houston Texans will have holes to fill in the 2022 offseason. Northwestern S Brandon Joseph could fill one of them.

It is possible the Houston Texans will be picking in the top of the 2022 NFL draft.

While draft analysts are focused on the Texans’ first-round pick, which could be a top-5 pick, Houston will also have the benefit of selecting in the mid to late thirties overall at the beginning of Round 2.

Houston could get two first-round talented players to really complete the rebuild.

One player the Texans should consider throughout the 2021 college season is Northwestern safety Brandon Joseph. Anthony Treash from Pro Football Focus has Joseph ranked as the third-best returning safety to watch this season.

Joseph played only 13 snaps in his first season on campus in 2019 before taking a redshirt, but he exploded in 2020 and established himself as one of the game’s top cover safeties. He intercepted six passes while being responsible for only one explosive pass play of 15-plus yards.

It didn’t matter if he was playing single- or two-high deep safety or if he was down in the box or manning the slot, Joseph’s coverage ability was on full display all season, and it ended in a top-three coverage grade among FBS safeties (88.5).

Expect interception regression from Joseph in 2021, but don’t let that change your opinion on the Northwestern safety.

If the Texans choose to move on from Justin Reid, whose contract will expire at the end of the 2021 season, Joseph could be a bridge to another youth movement on the back end. If Houston elects to re-sign Reid, Joseph would a great mentor to acclimate him to the pro game.

The one hangup would be if Joseph decided to return to college. He is a redshirt sophomore. While he would be eligible to enter the NFL draft, he would also still have some seasons remaining at Northwestern. Nevertheless, the Texans need to keep tabs on Joseph in 2021.

CBS Sports projects Texans select North Carolina QB Sam Howell in 2022 NFL draft

CBS Sports projects the Houston Texans will select North Carolina QB Sam Howell No. 1 overall in the 2022 NFL draft, according to a latest mock.

Davis Mills is not the answer at quarterback, and the Houston Texans will have to go in a new direction with the No. 1 overall pick in the 2021 NFL draft.

So says Josh Edwards of CBS Sports. In their latest mock draft, the Texans go with North Carolina quarterback Sam Howell to summarily end the Mills era and once again try to reboot the quarterback position following the debacle with Deshaun Watson.

It seems like the Deshaun Watson era is coming to an end in Houston one way or another. If you believe that Houston is not going to take a quarterback No. 1 overall because they took a quarterback in the third round this year (Davis Mills), then this is probably not the pick for you.

If the Texans went with quarterback with their first-round pick, then it would certainly indicate the team didn’t have any solutions under center. It would also mean Mills had no redeeming qualities to allow the organization to give him another shot to be the true replacement for Watson.

It would also mean the Texans had a horrendous season with hardly any wins — a tough start for first-year coach David Culley.

Spencer Rattler from Oklahoma is the second quarterback taken off the board in the mock, but not until No. 13 overall with the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Steelers land franchise QB in new 2022 mock draft

Is Spencer Rattler the answer for the Steelers?

If you are a true football fanatic, you can never get enough of the NFL draft. CBS Sports put out a new 2022 NFL mock draft and you know we had to see what direction they chose to go for the Pittsburgh Steelers.

First observation, the Steelers are picking 13th overall which doesn’t exactly inspire confidence in the upcoming season. However, the reward for picking so his is landing Oklahoma quarterback Spencer Rattler.

Here’s what they had to say about the pick:

I am not totally sold on Spencer Rattler, but it would be foolish to forge a headstrong opinion on any 2022 draft prospect right now. Pittsburgh should be in the market for a quarterback and Rattler could be in the mix.

There’s no denying Rattler’s potential but he’s far from a finished product. However, it isn’t about the prospect at this point, it’s the position. Pittsburgh is set at most positions heading into the 2022 offseason and has a ton of salary-cap space. Finding a player to replace Ben Roethlisberger should be and will be the team’s top priority so this franchise doesn’t take a huge step backward.

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Ravens projected to receive three compensatory picks in 2022 NFL draft

The Baltimore Ravens have been one of the best teams at securing compensatory picks. They are slated to receive three more in the 2022 draft

The Baltimore Ravens have been one of the best teams at acquiring compensatory picks ever since they entered the league in 1996. The formula was introduced in 1993, and since then, Baltimore leads the league in total compensatory picks awarded.

With the 2021 NFL draft complete, Lance Zierlein of NFL.com released projections for who will be awarded 2022 compensatory picks based off of the unrestricted free agents that each team added and lost before May 3rd, the date where signing free agents no longer impacts the compensatory pick formula.

Zierlein anticipates that Baltimore will receive three extra picks in 2022 based off of their transactions during the 2021 offseason, as the team saw multiple free agent edge rushers depart in Matthew Judon, Yannick Ngakoue and Jihad Ward. While they did sign wide receiver Sammy Watkins, the team also saw assistant coach David Culley leave town to become the head coach of the Houston Texans, and under the reworked Rooney Rule, he qualifies as someone who will give the Ravens extra compensation.

“The Ravens will receive their second third-round compensatory selection in 2022 due to the hiring of David Culley, head coach of the Houston Texans. They will also receive fourth-round selections for the loss of defensive players Judon and Ngakoue. The latter basically became a three-month rental, and the fourth-rounder gained by his departure this offseason helps to mitigate the loss of the third- and fifth-round picks the Ravens gave up to bring him in.”

Judon signed a four-year, $56 million contract with the New England Patriots while Ngakoue inked a two-year, $26 million deal with the Las Vegas Raiders. As Zierlein notes, those contract numbers have the Baltimore in-line for two fourth rounders, plus the extra third-round selection that the team will get for Culley.

The Ravens use the compensatory picks they acquire to assure that they have plenty of swings at selecting talent during each draft, but now that they’re able to be traded, the team also utilizes them to acquire veterans or even move up and down the draft board. Baltimore values their compensatory selections, and are slated to get a few more to play around with in 2022.

Touchdown Wire mocks Texans taking Oregon DE Kayvon Thibodeaux with 2022 No. 1 overall pick

The Touchdown Wire released its way too early mock for the 2022 NFL draft, and the Houston Texans select Oregon DE Kayvon Thibodeaux.

What if the Houston Texans selected an edge defender with the No. 1 overall pick in the draft? It could either be the year 2006 or the year 2014, which means also that either Gary Kubiak or Bill O’Brien is about to take the reins on the sidelines.

According to Mark Schofield from the Touchdown Wire, that is precisely what the Texans do with the No. 1 overall pick the 2022 NFL draft. Instead of taking a look at Oklahoma’s Spencer Rattler or North Carolina’s Sam Howell, the Texans take Oregon defensive end Kayvon Thibodeaux.

Certainly if the Houston Texans indeed select first-overall in the 2022 NFL draft, there is a chance that the quarterback situation — or more specifically the Deshaun Watson legal situation — necessitates that Nick Caserio address the quarterback position.

Assuming that is not the case, and the involved parties are all entitled to their day in court, then Caserio likely goes in a different direction. Things can certainly change, but Oregon pass rusher Kayvon Thibodeaux looks like the real deal with his technical skills and explosiveness off the edge.

For Houston to even pass up on upgrading the quarterback position would have to mean that either someone emerged out of the three-man group of Tyrod Taylor, Ryan Finley, or Davis Mills as a viable starter for the near future, or that the situation with Deshaun Watson amicably resolved. Either of those outcomes is unlikely in 2021.

Part of why the Texans went with Mario Williams in 2006 and Jadeveon Clowney in 2014 was due to the anemic quarterback class. While Vince Young and Jay Cutler were Pro Bowlers in their careers, they weren’t exactly can’t-miss prospects the way Watson was in 2017. The 2014 quarterback class had decent late-first prospects in Teddy Bridgewater and Derek Carr, but they weren’t worthy of the No. 1 overall pick.

If the 2022 quarterback class is similarly anemic, that would be the only plausible reason to take an edge defender — again — at No. 1 overall. Otherwise, Houston needs to use their premium resources to complete the great reset at quarterback.