Tag: 2022 Mock Draft

Mel Kiper’s final mock causes fan freakout with first-round reach by Cowboys

Conventional wisdom says Dallas could go OL with at 24, but the name Kiper turns in has thrown Cowboys Nation for a loop with hours to go. | From @ToddBrock24f7

It’s no secret that the Cowboys have some patching to do on their offensive line after the departures of La’el Collins and Connor Williams. Most draft analysts seem to believe the team could be looking to spend their first-round pick on one of this year’s top prospects in hopes of landing the next perennial All-Pro to go alongside Tyron Smith and Zack Martin.

Boston College’s Zion Johnson and Texas A&M’s Kenyon Green are the names most commonly being bandied about as a possibility with the 24th overall selection. Northern Iowa’s Trevor Penning gets the occasional mention, as do Alabama’s Evan Neal, North Carolina State’s Ikem Ekwonu, Mississippi State’s Charles Cross, even Iowa center Tyler Linderbaum.

In his final mock exercise for ESPN before the first round on Thursday night, draft guru Mel Kiper Jr. agrees that the Cowboys need to beef up their front five.

But he does it with Tulsa tackle Tyler Smith.

The pick was met with a collective eleventh-hour freakout from a sizable chunk of Cowboys Nation.

Smith has received second-round grades from most major draft analysts. Cowboys Wire listed him as a third-rounder in our player profile on him earlier this week.

The 6-foot-4 redshirt sophomore is an intriguing prospect, to be sure, but he’s raw. He just turned 21 this month and still has much about his game that he needs to develop.

So to pass on a lineman (or wide receiver or edge rusher) who seems ready to start Week 1 in order to lay claim to a long-term project in the first round would feel like a reach by Dallas, a squad looking to win now.

And while owner Jerry Jones spoke just this week about being more conservative than he used to be with draft picks- especially when it comes to a player’s availability- history shows that if the Cowboys brain trust has themselves convinced they’ve identified a diamond on the rough that no one else sees, it’s not out of the realm of reality that they pull a stunner at No. 24.

The Cowboys traded back in the first round in 2013 and took Travis Frederick in the 31st slot. While Frederick obviously went on to a spectacular career that will send him to Canton, he was, at the time, a second- or third-round prospect. Jones is quick to use him to this day- and did just two weeks ago– as an example of the team sticking to its guns when they believe in a player, despite what the “experts” say.

Perhaps making Tyler Smith an even bigger Day 1 surprise in the 2022 draft, though, would be Kiper’s prediction that Dallas isn’t even looking to move the Fort Worth native to guard- which he can do, and which would fill an immediate need- but instead would be drafting him to play tackle. The Cowboys currently have an eight-time Pro Bowler in Tyron Smith at left tackle and a third-year man on the right side in Terence Steele, a player so promising that they let former first-round talent La’el Collins walk out the door with little more than a goodbye wave.

“I thought about a wide receiver,” Kiper says of his choice for Dallas at No. 24, “but the Cowboys’ offensive line is aging. Smith would play right tackle in this scenario. He was a dominant pass-blocker in college, though he can get a little too physical at times; he was called for 12 penalties last season.”

Would Tyler Smith be ready to start at guard for the time being? Serve as depth at tackle? Mean Terence Steele’s job isn’t safe? Signal come other unthinkable upheaval on the O-line?  Goodness knows spending a first-round pick on a tackle of the future doesn’t do anything to fill the holes in the Cowboys roster here and now.

With just a few hours to go before the Cowboys are on the clock, Tyler Smith is a potential curveball that could have all kinds of ripple effects: on the rest of the first round’s draft board and the Cowboys roster and future plans.

Not to mention the psyche and blood pressure of the team’s fanbase.

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Here’s who the Packers are getting in final mock drafts of 2022

Looking at the first-round picks for the Packers in final mock drafts of the 2022 draft cycle.

It’s the final day for first-round mock drafts during the 2022 NFL draft cycle. The first 32 picks will be made Thursday night, and by early Friday morning, the Green Bay Packers – who hold picks at No. 22 and No. 28 – could have two new players.

All of the top draft analysts and prognosticators are submitting their final mock drafts for the first round on Thursday morning.

Here’s who the Packers are getting in those mocks:

Mark Schofield’s last-gasp mock draft

In a few hours, 32 young men will have their dreams come true. How might that unfold? Mark Schofield tries his hand at predicting the first round.

We made it.

For a while, it looked like all hope was lost. The draft takes were flying all over the internet and it seemed like this day would never arrive. But tonight, 32 young men will have their dreams realized, as they will hear their name called on the first night of the NFL draft.

Sometimes that gets lost in the yearly draft coverage. Hours upon hours are spent breaking these prospects down, nitpicking every aspect of their young lives, and debating their professional futures for the world to see. But for these 32 young men, this is the culmination of years, if not more, of hard work and effort. To see a dream realized.

It is an awesome thing to see.

However, the work goes on, and with just hours to go, it is time for one final mock draft. Last week it was the “what I would do” version, and now, the final, predictive mock draft. Here is how just one more football writer thinks the first round unfolds.

2022 7-Round Lions mock draft 2.0: A surprise trade-up

2022 7-Round Lions mock draft 2.0: A surprise trade-up in Cam Garrity’s final mock draft

Well, as the days roll into NFL draft night, there is still a lot of uncertainty about who will land where all across the board, which excites me. For the first time in a while, we are going into this thing without a true No.1 prospect. This means all of us are going in blindfolded Thursday and will have to be at the will of the big board.

Today I am releasing my final mock draft after just releasing my official 2022 NFL draft kit. Enjoy the draft!

2022 NFL mock draft: 7-round projections for the 49ers

Here’s how all seven rounds of the 2022 NFL draft could shake out for the San Francisco 49ers

The 2022 NFL draft is just hours away, and your favorite NFL team is about to add tons of young talent to help improve their chances of success in the upcoming season.

Here’s how all seven rounds of this year’s draft could shake out for the San Francisco 49ers:

2022 NFL mock draft: 7-round projections for the Browns

Here’s how all seven rounds of the 2022 NFL draft could shake out for the Cleveland Browns

The 2022 NFL draft is just hours away, and your favorite NFL team is about to add tons of young talent to help improve their chances of success in the upcoming season.

Here’s how all seven rounds of this year’s draft could shake out for the Cleveland Browns:

2022 NFL mock draft: 7-round projections for the Colts

Here’s how all seven rounds of the 2022 NFL draft could shake out for the Indianapolis Colts

The 2022 NFL draft is just days away, and your favorite NFL team is about to add tons of young talent to help improve their chances of success in the upcoming season.

Here’s how all seven rounds of this year’s draft could shake out for the Indianapolis Colts:

2022 NFL mock draft: 7-round projections for the Bears

Here’s how all seven rounds of the 2022 NFL draft could shake out for the Chicago Bears

The 2022 NFL draft is just days away, and your favorite NFL team is about to add tons of young talent to help improve their chances of success in the upcoming season.

Here’s how all seven rounds of this year’s draft could shake out for the Chicago Bears:

2022 NFL mock draft: 7-round projections for the Bengals

Here’s how all seven rounds of the 2022 NFL draft could shake out for the Cincinnati Bengals

The 2022 NFL draft is just days away, and your favorite NFL team is about to add tons of young talent to help improve their chances of success in the upcoming season.

Here’s how all seven rounds of this year’s draft could shake out for the Cincinnati Bengals:

2022 NFL mock draft: 7-round projections for the Chiefs

Here’s how all seven rounds of the 2022 NFL draft could shake out for the Kansas City Chiefs

The 2022 NFL draft is just days away, and your favorite NFL team is about to add tons of young talent to help improve their chances of success in the upcoming season.

Here’s how all seven rounds of this year’s draft could shake out for the Kansas City Chiefs: