Tag: Ahmad Sauce Gardner

Doug Farrar’s three-round ‘What I would do’ mock draft

In his final mock, Touchdown Wire’s Doug Farrar puts on his GM hat for the first 105 picks in the 2022 NFL draft.

There are almost as many ways to do mock drafts as there are mock drafts, which is saying something this time of year. There are the mocks that try and get into the heads of every team. There are the mocks that are more like big boards, that align the best players overall down the first round. And there are those mocks in which the Mocker in Charge puts his or her general manager hat on, and tries to anticipate the best moves for every NFL team.

This particular mock, for the most part, is one of those “What I would do” mocks, in which I try to marry the best overall prospects with teams and team needs through the first three rounds. There are no trades in this particular mock; it’s more about fits and situations.

So here, with a few explained exceptions, is how the first three rounds of the 2022 NFL draft might go were I in charge of the whole thing.

As always, thank your deity of choice that I am not.

2022 NFL draft: The top 50 players in the 2022 NFL class

Touchdown Wire’s Doug Farrar and Mark Schofield unleash their Big Board: The top 50 players in the 2022 NFL draft class.

Every team has its own scouting methods to get where they need to get before the draft begins. Area scouts compile their reports through the season, directors of scouting compile those reports over time, and then, everything is funneled up to coaches and general managers. Then, team musts and needs are considered, best players available regardless of position are listed, and eventually, NFL teams will put together their Big Boards — the players most highly regarded in the building as the draft goes down.

At Touchdown Wire, our two-person staff (Doug Farrar and Mark Schofield) did it a little differently. We had to act as our own area scouts, directors, coaches, and general managers, and we didn’t have any team needs to consider — we’ll save those for the mock drafts.

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So, this Big Board is all about the players we think are the 50 best overall in this draft class. We started the process by putting together our best players at every position, from quarterback to safety…

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…and then, we each put together their individual Top 50 lists. After a bit of thumb-wrestling, we came up with what you have before you. With well over 20,000 words, and more than 200 individual tape examples, and scads of advanced metrics, we feel that this is as comprehensive a top prospect list as you’ll see anywhere outside of an NFL front office.

Here are Touchdown Wire’s Top 50 prospects in the 2022 NFL draft class.

(All advanced metrics courtesy of Pro Football Focus and Sports Info Solutions unless otherwise indicated. All testing data comes from the 2022 scouting combine, with percentile per position, courtesy of MockDraftable.com. Certain biographical information was gleaned from Dane Brugler’s “The Beast” draft guide over at The Athletic, which is a must-read every year).

2022 NFL draft: Touchdown Wire’s scouting reports for all the top prospects

Touchdown Wire’s Mark Schofield and Doug Farrar have done over 100 highly-detailed scouting reports on the 2022 NFL draft class. You can find all of them right here.

Each year, Touchdown Wire’s Doug Farrar and Mark Schofield drill down to discover the top prospects at every position in the upcoming draft class. 2022 was no exception, and all of the top prospect lists are right here.

Using tape examples from copious study, and advanced metrics to fill out the picture, Doug and Mark go through testing data, biographies, player strengths and weaknesses, overviews regarding their NFL value, and comparisons to current NFL players.

This year, Mark did quarterbacks, receivers, tight ends, interior defensive linemen, linebackers, and cornerbacks.

Doug took care of running backs, offensive tackles, interior offensive linemen, edge defenders, and safeties.

You won’t find more detailed scouting reports on the 2022 draft class’ top players at every position — at least 11 for each — so dive in and enjoy!

Seahawks use official top-30 visit on Cincinnati CB Ahmad ‘Sauce’ Gardner

According to Aaron Wilson at the Pro Football Network, the team is using one of their official top-30 visits on Gardner.

For the first time since 2010, the Seahawks hold a top-10 pick in the NFL draft. Last time, they used it on Russell Okung, who became their franchise left tackle during their peak championship run.

It’s anybody’s guess which direction they’ll go this year, but for what it’s worth Seattle needs another boundary cornerback after allowing D.J. Reed to sign with the Jets. The best one in this year’s draft class is supposed to be Cincinnati’s Ahmad “Sauce” Gardner. According to Aaron Wilson at the Pro Football Network, the team is using one of their official top-30 visits on Gardner.

Garnder (6-foot-2, 188 pounds) has the length you’d expect from a prototypical Pete Carroll cornerback. He also has ball skills to spare – having totaled nine interceptions in college despite not being targeted much.

Here’s a look at his 2021 highlights.

If the Seahawks want him, they’ll have to use their No. 9 overall pick.

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