The ’22 draft class at quarterback has proven to be one of the worst ever
Looking back on the 2022 NFL Draft, the narrative going in was the mixed bag of a quarterback class. It was headlined by Pittsburgh Panther Kenny Pickett, Cincinnati’s leader in Desmond Ridder and the explosive Liberty quarterback Malik Willis. Fast forward to just two drafts later, and none of the top quarterbacks from that class find themselves in a starting role, and most of them find themselves hanging on a thread for their NFL career.
In just the past week, three of the quarterbacks from that class who opened the last season as their team’s starter found themselves shipped off to another team. Sam Howell, Kenny Pickett, and Desmond Ridder were all moved off in favor of a veteran or a future rookie draft pick.
The only reason this class will likely not be considered a total bust is, ironically enough, the final pick in the entire draft with former Iowa State quarterback Brock Purdy, who is coming off a Super Bowl appearance. It goes to show that the quarterback draft process can, at times, be a bit of a crap shoot. With top projected talents falling out of the first round, others quickly failing at the next level, and the ones no one ever expected becoming heroes of their franchise.
A look at all the NFL draft first-round picks over the years who ended their college careers being coached by Nick Saban
Legendary head coach Nick Saban announced his retirement this week. The longtime Alabama coach had tremendous success at the college level. He also helped produce a plethora of NFL prospects over the years at his coaching stops.
Saban coached at Alabama from 2008 to 2023, and most of the first-rounders come from that era. There were 43 Saban-coached players selected in the first round of the NFL draft between the 2009 and 2023 editions. He was also responsible for the first-round picks selected from LSU between the 2001 and 2005 drafts, as well as Michigan State from 1996 to 2000.
Here are all 49 players selected in the first round who finished their college careers being coached by Nick Saban at his various stops, from the most recent to the very first.
Ranking the best players ever selected in the NFL Supplemental Draft
The NFL will hold its supplemental draft on Tuesday. It will be the first time since 2019 the event, which allows players whose draft eligibility has changed since the regular draft period to be selected, will take place.
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There have been over 40 players selected in the supplemental draft over the years, dating back to the first in 1977. Here are the five best players who came out of the supplemental draft ranks.
This trip down memory lane is not so pleasant. But it’s an important one nonetheless.
Who were my biggest misses in the draft evaluation process?
Most of these are players who I expected to be very good in the NFL but didn’t pan out. There are a couple of notable prospects where I grossly underestimated their impact at the next level, too.
The point here is to learn from the misses. Why were my evaluations off? What did I think I saw that made me miss? If you’re not trying to get better and learn from your mistakes as an evaluator, you’re destined to keep missing.
Draft Wire’s Jeff Risdon reveals his top-graded draft prospects at each position since 2004
On a recent radio appearance, I was asked an intriguing question.
“Who was the best prospect you’ve ever graded?”
I’ve been evaluating prospects and covering the NFL draft professionally since 2004, which meant the 2023 draft was my 20th. The question and the timeframe was a nice catalyst to go back and examine some of the older evaluations.
To answer the question directly, my highest-graded player ever was Wisconsin OT Joe Thomas in 2007. The grading scales and systems I use have changed over the years, but Thomas topped any iteration.
Here are the top-graded players from my evaluations at each position since the 2004 NFL draft.
Matt Ryan’s move to the broadcast booth leaves just 3 active players from the 2008 draft still in the NFL
Matt Ryan has traded in his cleats for a microphone. The former MVP and longtime quarterback of the Atlanta Falcons will be calling games on CBS this fall instead of playing in those broadcasts. Ryan denies he’s retired, but it’s difficult to envision him returning from the broadcast booth after the underwhelming 2022 season he had with the Colts.
With Ryan’s departure, there is almost nobody left from the 2008 NFL draft still active in the league.
Ryan was the No. 3 overall pick in that draft. He was the only top-15 overall pick in that draft class who had played a regular-season snap after the 2018 season. Ryan was one of just eight players from the 2008 draft class who played in 2022. The list:
That leaves three actively rostered players from the draft class: Brown, Campbell and Slater. Brown is penciled in as the starting left tackle for the Jets. Campbell recently signed with Ryan’s old team in Atlanta to play another year of defensive end.
Slater deserves special mention for embarking on his 16th season with the New England Patriots, who drafted him out of UCLA as a wide receiver despite the fact he never caught a pass in college. Slater has been one of the NFL’s preeminent special teams players for the bulk of his career, earning 10 Pro Bowl berths.
5th-round QB Clayton Tune isn’t the first member of his family to be drafted by the Cardinals organization
It only made sense that the Arizona Cardinals selected Houston quarterback Clayton Tune in the fifth round of the 2023 NFL draft. Tune has a great historical draft tie to the Cardinals organization.
As related by the Cardinals media relations, Tune is the great-great nephew of Jim Lawrence. As in, the same Jim Lawrence who was the first-ever draft pick by the Cardinals franchise back in 1936.
Lawrence was a running back out of TCU when the then-Chicago Cardinals drafted him fifth overall in the inaugural NFL draft some 87 years ago. Lawrence played four seasons for the Cardinals, leading the team in rushing in 1938.
Tune gets a chance to further the family legacy in Arizona.
Cardinals take Houston QB Clayton Tune in the 5th round.
Tune's great-great uncle was Jim Lawrence, a back from TCU who was the *first-ever* Cardinals draft pick.
Lawrence (pictured below) was the 5th overall pick in the NFL's inaugural draft of 1936. pic.twitter.com/frKFbXSRmD
It worked for the Los Angeles Rams, but other NFL teams that want to copy their strategy should be aware of the pitfalls
During their Super Bowl victory parade back in February, Los Angeles Rams general manager Les Snead was famously seen wearing a shirt said colorfully illustrated his strategy for dealing early draft picks for established stars.
This ideology clearly turned out well for Snead and the Rams, who parlayed some blockbuster deals into star players who had a huge impact on winning a ring.
But how much of an impact did those moves actually have? Have other teams used a similar strategy, and to what degree of success? Was the Rams’ title run just as much a result of other moves that flew under the radar by comparison?
If you truly dig into the heart of that Super Bowl run, there are a few key contributors that stick out for the defending champs. Funnily enough, there’s no consensus path they all took to this roster.
You have drafted players like Aaron Donald and Cooper Kupp, who were both in contention for Offensive and Defensive Player of the Year, respectively. You have Matthew Stafford, Von Miller, and Jalen Ramsey, who were all involved in those big trades that sent away three first-round draft picks and a handful of Day 2 picks. You have free-agent additions like Odell Beckham Jr. and Andrew Whitworth, both of whom were instrumental in getting the Rams to the top of the football mountain last year.
(Photo by Ronald Martinez/Getty Images)
So while the star players acquired via trade certainly put a nice bow on the Rams’ excellent team-building up to that point, it was ultimately a combination of those factors, and would simply not have happened had the Rams also not hit big on excellent talent in the draft.
There’s also an argument to be made for just how important it is to maintain a solid rotation of successful draft picks coming through the door each year. It adds depth, allows players to develop on cheaper contracts, and prevents the floor from falling out from underneath you. Should some of that talent slip away, you still have that depth, and the ability to replace declining veterans.
To put it simply, the more draft picks you have, the more likely you are to hit on players that can come up big for you in an economical way. That keeps you from being susceptible to the ultimate fallout from aging talent and other departures, which the Rams may very well be experiencing this season.
Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports
The most proven way to build a successful roster still requires you to succeed across the board in many different ways: Hit on your draft picks, understand when to deal players for more draft capital, and occasionally make the splashy trade or signing to put the team over the top. This has been shown by multiple teams in the NFL with sustained success who aren’t in danger of the floor falling out from under them, such as the Buffalo Bills, Kansas City Chiefs, and Philadelphia Eagles.
The Rams’ strategy obviously paid off for them with a championship, but other teams that might want to copy that plan need to realize that it might only have worked because they were successful in other areas of the team-building process.
Detroit Lions wide receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown is still fueled by his long wait on draft weekend last year
Every year, there are NFL hopefuls who wait quite a while to hear their name called on draft weekend, and the experience of watching a long list of other players come off the board at their position builds a massive chip on their shoulder.
Such is the case for Detroit Lions wide receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown, who was the 17th wide receiver selected in the 2021 NFL draft.
The Lions finally took St. Brown with the 112th overall pick in the fourth round, and the USC product still hasn’t forgotten the name of every receiver taken ahead of them, including where they went to college (video contains profanity):
St. Brown obviously channeled that frustration into success as a rookie, racking up 90 receptions for 912 yards and five touchdowns in his first NFL campaign.
Don’t be surprised if he eclipses those numbers this year, fueled by that long list of fellow pass-catchers.
Georgia head coach Kirby Smart has a new 10-year contract, after sending a long list of top prospects to the next level
Kirby Smart’s first season as the head football coach at Georgia wasn’t earth-shattering, as the Bulldogs went 8-5 after back-to-back 10-win seasons under Mark Richt. They went 4-4 in conference play, and finished third in the SEC East.
The following offseason, the Bulldogs had just one player selected across all seven rounds of the 2017 NFL draft, fifth-round wide receiver Isaiah McKenzie.
Since then, Smart has not only turned the Bulldogs into a legitimate powerhouse program and national champion, but he’s also been recruiting and developing loads of top prospects for the next level.
In the wake of his new 10-year contract extension, here’s a look at every draft pick to come out of Athens under Smart’s watch:
