The 10 Best Mock Drafts of the 2022 NFL Mock Draft Season
By Kyle Koster
Few nights on the NFL league calendar are as inspiring and happy as the NFL Draft. Thirty-two prospects will realize a lifelong dream tonight with hundreds more sharing in the delight this weekend. But because nothing would be as sweet without a little sour, we must also solemnly nod our heads and understand that this also marks the end of mock draft season. What was once a niche industry has exploded in popularity and reached the point of total saturation. And yet people still click. Curious!
Like a wise AIM profile from the early 2000s, let's smile because it happened instead of cry because it's over. Here are the 10 best NFL mock drafts of the 2022 season.
10. Seven-round NFL mock draft 2022: Jordan Reid's predictions for 262 picks, filling needs for all 32 teams
Anyone can simply throw a dart at a first-round board and get lucky. It takes real talent and patience to go through the entire weekend event and try to predict how literally everything is going to go. Knowing full well that there's absolutely no chance any of the resulting document is going to be close to correct. There's honestly something endearing about the fact a football fan will pore over what his or her team is going to do at No. 234. How bad can life really be if that's the case?
9. Bucky Brooks 2022 NFL mock draft 1.0: Kenny Pickett, Matt Corral only QBs selected in Round 1
It really wasn't so long ago that Malik Willis wasn't a household name and Kyle Hamilton was seen as someone who could slip to the bottom half of the first round. Has to be a bummer for Evan Neal to go from being the presumptive top overall selection to potentially sliding out of the top-five. Important lessons abound for young players. The content churn is a marathon, not a sprint.
8. 2022 NFL MOCK DRAFT: Four OTs climb into top six
Perhaps this is an example of bias, but we really loved The Big Lead founder Jason McIntyre riding hard for the biggest, beefiest dudes. Is there anything better than hearing that championships are won in the trenches? Never gets old.
7. 2022 NFL Mock Draft 3.0: Jets trade up to select first wide receiver, Derek Stingley Jr. soars up draft board
CBS' Will Brinson envisioned a world where the New York Jets snag Aidan Hutchinson and then trade up to take Jameson Williams. If that were to happen, we may actually get the first-ever reaction shot where a Jets supporter isn't royally pissed off. Important to appreciate history when it's nigh.
6. 2022 NFL Mock Draft: Carolina Panthers select QB Sam Howell at No. 6, New Orleans Saints land Ole Miss QB Matt Corral at No. 16
Sam Howell! Haven't heard that name in a while.
Look, not telling you anything you don't know but it remains wild that one person can surmise 40 percent of the first 10 picks are going to be used on a quarterback while others think only one signal-caller will go in the entire first round. This may be an inexact science.
4. A Way Too Early 2022 NFL Mock Draft
What a document. Barstool Sports' Steven Cheah had Spencer Rattler to the Detroit Lions at No. 2. J.T. Daniels to the Pittsburgh Steelers at No. 16. This is the future we could have had.
3. NFL mock draft 2022: Todd McShay's final predictions for all 32 first-round picks, QB landing spots, trades, more
This is how you sell a post. Are you telling us you aren't interested in Todd McShay's final predictions for all 32 first-round picks, QB landing spots, trades and more? Because then you're a liar.
2. Peter Schrager 2022 NFL mock draft 1.0: Seahawks trade for QB; run on WRs in mid-teens
At the time, sources were telling the Good Morning Football host that Kenny Pickett was a real possibility to the Carolina Panthers at No. 6. It hijacked the news cycle for a few hours. Now he has Pickett at No. 32 to the Detroit Lions. We love our combustible variance, don't we folks?
1. Daniel Jeremiah 2022 NFL mock draft 3.1: Chiefs add receiver in Round 1 after Tyreek Hill trade
Remember when Tyreek Hill was traded? That was apparently a bit over a month ago and not several years back. Where does the time go? Probably reading and obsessing over hundreds of mock drafts.