National Football League

2022 NFL Draft: Jets, Georgia, receivers steal first-round show

Updated Apr. 29, 2022 1:48 p.m. ET

By Rob Rang
FOX Sports NFL Draft Analyst

The opening round of the 2022 NFL Draft is in the books, and it turned out to be every bit as exciting and chaotic as one might expect for a late night in Las Vegas.

With plenty of action still on tap Friday and Saturday, here are my top 10 first-day takeaways.

1. Georgia Bulldogs bark the loudest

Any thought that NFL scouts viewed the Georgia's defense as anything less than a historic unit was put to rest Thursday night. The first round featured a record five UGA defenders, including edge rusher Travon Walker No. 1 overall to the Jacksonville Jaguars.

Travon Walker goes No. 1

Bucky Brooks breaks down game film of Georgia defensive end and No. 1 overall pick Travon Walker and sees similarities to the Rams' Aaron Donald.

Given that Walker's selection started the draft, it was fitting the Minnesota Vikings ended the frame with his former teammate, free safety Lewis Cine at No. 32.

In between, the Philadelphia Eagles got bigger and nastier up front with nose guard Jordan Davis at No. 13, the Green Bay Packers made Quay Walker the surprising first linebacker off the board at No. 22 and then circled back to Athens to nab defensive tackle Devonte Wyatt with the 28th overall selection.

And what is even crazier is that we likely won’t have to wait long to see Butkus Award-winner Nakobe Dean and fellow speedy linebacker Channing Tindall come off the board in the second round Friday.

Of course, the NFL is also allowed to draft players from Georgia’s offense, and that run could begin Friday, too, with running backs Zamir White and James Cook, offensive lineman Jamaree Salyer and wideout George Pickens all potential top 100 selections.

2. The run on edge rushers is coming

With all due respect to the receivers, a positional group that clearly won big Thursday night, the smart money is on the edge rushers to ultimately prove the most talented positional group of this year’s draft class.

There are a handful of them likely to come off the board within the first 10 to 15 picks of the second round, with Minnesota’s Boye Mafe, Penn State’s Arnold Ebiketie, Oklahoma's Nik Bonitto, Mississippi’s Sam Williams, USC’s Drake Jackson and Michigan’s David Ojabo all strong candidates.

3. Jets steal the show

It is one thing to have multiple first round picks — as an unprecedented eight clubs had heading into Thursday night — it is another to nab arguably the best player at three different positions.

Jets general manager Joe Douglas did just that by selecting CB Sauce Gardner at No. 4, WR Garrett Wilson at No. 10 and somehow still finding Florida State edge rusher Jermaine Johnson II at No. 26 overall.

I’m still stupefied as to how Johnson — the best player on the field at the Senior Bowl — made it that far down the board.

Regardless, the trio is sure to create plenty of excitement for Jets fans. Coach Robert Saleh is exactly the kind of defensive wiz to coax the best from Gardner and Johnson, while his quarterback, Zach Wilson, now has a legitimate No. 1 receiver.

4. Two giant steps for Big Blue

While the Jets left most of the league in their contrails, their crosstown rivals also enjoyed a stellar night, nabbing both Oregon's Kayvon Thibodeaux and Alabama’s Evan Neal to completely overhaul the line of scrimmage in Gotham.

The duo will forever be linked, and that could be a very good thing for Giants fans. Thibodeaux and Neal will literally and figuratively push each other in practice, making both players that much better prepared to star against opponents.

Kayvon Thibodeaux's outlook

Geoff Schwartz analyzes Kayvon Thibodeaux's strengths and what he will bring to the table for the New York Giants.

It is tough to say which player coach Brian Daboll should be more excited about. Thibodeaux is the perfect finisher to complement an already stellar interior defensive front featuring Leonard Williams and Dexter Lawrence.

While Neal boasts all the traits to be a star at left tackle immediately, his experience at guard and right tackle, as well as the blind side, gives the Giants a great deal of flexibility up front. Neal will help give QB Daniel Jones and RB Saquon Barkley their best opportunity yet to make a massive step forward in 2022.

5. Stingley and Sauce make history

While it was the receivers who stole the show later, it was cornerbacks Derek Stingley Jr. and Gardner going back-to-back with the third and fourth overall selections that served as a fantastic opening act in Las Vegas.

Stingley’s selection by Houston at No. 3 tied Detroit’s Jeff Okudah (2020) and Seattle's Shawn Springs (1997) as the earliest a cornerback has ever been selected in an NFL Draft. The Jets then made history by nabbing Gardner a pick later. Never before had two corners gone among the top four overall selections.

6. Receivers – rookies and veterans alike – take flight

It might have been the edge rushers who generated the most hype prior to the draft, but it was the pass-catchers who had the last laugh Thursday night, with a position-best six being selected, starting with USC star Drake London going to Atlanta with the eighth overall pick.

It appeared that the receiver frenzy had hit its peak a few selections later, when the New Orleans Saints and Detroit Lions boldly traded up to land Chris Olave (Ohio State) and Jameson Williams (Alabama) after the Jets nabbed Wilson 10th overall, making it three straight receivers to come off the board.

But as it turned out, the roulette wheel of receivers was just getting started. The Baltimore Ravens traded Marquise Brown to the Arizona Cardinals, and then the Tennessee Titans shipped AJ Brown to the Philadelphia Eagles, sending shockwaves throughout the league and NFC cornerbacks into hiding.

It's easy to see what drew each of these clubs to their new prized pass-catchers, but don’t sleep on the final two receiver picks. Washington's addition of Jahan Dotson (Penn State) at No. 16 overall is a sneaky good fit, and Tennessee replaced Brown almost immediately with a similarly built and competitive Treylon Burks (Arkansas) two picks later.

7. QB class drops the lowest since 1997

For the first time since 2013, only one quarterback — Pitt's Kenny Pickett — heard his name called in the first round, but that doesn’t even begin to describe how infamous this class of signal-callers appears.

It has been a full quarter-century since it took as long for the first passer to come off the board, with the Pittsburgh Steelers nabbing the local product at No. 20 overall. Back in 1997, it wasn’t until the San Francisco 49ers were on the clock at No. 26 overall that the first quarterback — Jim Druckenmiller from Virginia Tech — came off the board.

While there remain plenty of skeptics as to how Pickett will perform for the Black and Gold, he won’t have to do too much to outproduce Druckenmiller. He started just one game in the NFL and played in six over two seasons in San Francisco before the club traded him to Miami.

Loaded with tools but raw, QB Malik Willis (Liberty) was one of the few players invited to the NFL Draft not selected in the first round. He is expected to go in the second round, as could Cincinnati's Desmond Ridder, Mississippi’s Matt Corral and North Carolina’s Sam Howell, each of whom had generated at least some first-round buzz prior to the draft.

8. Running backs, tight ends shut out … for first time ever

Perhaps among those celebrating the most Thursday were those from the analytics crowd, as statheads have pounded the table for years against teams investing first-round picks in running backs. And, after seven consecutive NFL Drafts in which at least one running back was selected among the top 32, the streak has come to an end.

That's all the more surprising given how well Najee Harris performed in Pittsburgh last year after he was selected 24th overall a year ago. Plus, this year’s top two runners — Iowa State’s Breece Hall and Michigan State’s Kenneth Walker III — each possess sub-4.4 speed to go along with eye-popping production last season.

While I was a bit surprised to see no running backs selected on Day 1, most expected tight ends to get shut out of the Top 32. This year’s TE class has solid depth but lacks a headlining talent such as Kyle Pitts a year ago.

Still, I looked up the last time in NFL history when a first round took place with no running backs or tight ends selected … and this year’s class was the first.

9. Patriots’ Strange selection drops jaws

Perhaps we should have anticipated a shocker selection coming once the Seattle Seahawks, a club that often trades down or makes surprising picks, stuck with their No. 9 overall pick and made a logical choice. The Seahawks nabbed Mississippi State's Charles Cross, generally viewed as the top pass-blocking left tackle in this class.

New England has been one of the few teams to rival Seattle recently when it comes to picks seemingly out of left field, and Bill Belichick & Co. certainly responded to the challenge, selecting UT-Chattanooga guard Cole Strange with the No. 29 overall choice.

It isn’t that Strange is a bad player. The five-year starter for the Moccasins was one of my favorite sleepers after all, especially after strong performances at both the Senior Bowl and combine. Still, in a night full of surprises, the Pats taking a "Moc" in the first round felt a little like Belichick mocking the rest of us.

He certainly will be should Strange prove New England's small school roll of the dice was a winner.

10. Where better to be 21 than in Las Vegas?

The annual draft is proof that youth prevails, and this year’s class certainly proved that again. Appropriately enough, there were 21 players drafted Thursday night who are 21 years old or younger.

While players of this age have been fairly common in recent drafts — many of the top prospects leave after just three years of college, after all — the NCAA’s ruling to allow an extra year of eligibility due to the pandemic bumped up the average age of prospects this year a bit.

So, it was a perfect time to have the draft in Las Vegas.

One of the most recognized names in the industry, Rob Rang has been covering the NFL Draft for more than 20 years, with work at FOX, Sports Illustrated, CBSSports.com, USA Today, Yahoo, NFL.com and NFLDraftScout.com, among others.