The 2022 NFL Draft kicks off tonight with Round 1 live from Las Vegas.
Charles Robinson @CRob5769
Lead Writer – @ChiefsFocus
The day is finally here. Put on your favorite team’s gear (if you’re reading this – Chiefs gear, obviously), go through your game day routine, and buckle up your seatbelts for an action-packed day and night of drama that only the NFL can provide. It’s time to get your last PFF Mock draft screenshots posted to twitter – because we all care, for sure. In fact, it’s time to start refreshing your twitter feed nonstop until the Jags are on the clock, because anything could happen from this point forward. I want you pulling down on that home screen so many times that by the time the Draft actually gets here your thumbprints are worn off.
The NFL Draft kicks off tonight, and with a draft class chockfull of players at positions of need for your Kansas City Chiefs, it promises to be an exciting ride all the way through Saturday evening.
This week has been relatively calm in regard to rumors and even calmer when it comes to actual moves being made leading up to the draft, but in the next few hours as the clock ticks closer to 7 PM central, the buzz will get louder and more vibrant for all 32 NFL fan bases.
Monday we got the news that noted questionable decision maker – Jacksonville Jaguars GM Trent Baalke – had fallen out of love with the universally admired Aidan Hutchinson and instead was leaning towards Georgia’s Travon Walker with the first overall pick. Walker is more of a project and didn’t have nearly the production that Hutchinson had in college, and Jags owner Shad Khan reportedly disagrees with his new GM – but who cares! Let’s take Walker! It’s the Jags thing to do, after all!
There’s also still two huge trade clouds looming over the draft process, and a couple more subtle ones. Are the Browns primed to make a move to get something in return for Baker Mayfield? What about the man who demanded a trade last week – 49ers all-world Swiss Army Knife Deebo Samuel? Well, on Monday 49ers GM John Lynch went on record saying “I can’t ever imagine wanting to move on from Deebo.” Well, I can’t ever imagine wanting to pay a hefty chunk of my income to the US Government (shoutout IRS), but I do it every year anyway. Now, Lynch can’t be thrown in jail for not trading Deebo, but he certainly can put himself in a precarious position if the wideout elects to sit out the season and the looming mess creates division in the locker room in San Francisco. For a team that is ready to win now, there are a lot of question marks surrounding how their roster will look in 2022. Could Deebo be dealt today or tonight? Could the Chiefs be in play?
There’s also the x-factors of players like Terry McLaurin and AJ Brown. If Washington and Tennessee want to hedge their bets and hang on to them, they can – or they can try to collect more draft capital in tonight’s first round and additional compensation through the weekend if they so choose. A lot of things can still happen that can affect the order of tonight’s first round and even further down the line in rounds 2-3 (airing tomorrow night) as well as 4-7 (wrapping up on Saturday).
And then, of course, there are our beloved Kansas City Chiefs. What wizardry will Brett Veach pull off today/tonight leading into the first round? As it stands, KC still has possession of the 29th and 30th picks in the first round, but there is firm reason to believe that they will not end up selecting in those two spots tonight. Tuesday rumors started flowing about the Chiefs engaging the Vikings in discussions for a package that would net them the 12th overall pick, as well as whispers of them reaching out to other teams. You can read about the strategy and details of that in my blog from Tuesday.
With all the uncertainty surrounding what will actually happen in tonight’s draft, let’s zero in on what we know will happen over the course of the next 72 hours.
There will be stupid questions asked :
Some humdingers to watch out for tonight –
“Does Kayvon Thibadeaux love football enough?” – Probably tough to get to a level where you’re an elite first round draft prospect without having some passion for the process of improving at football, but there’s a possibility he doesn’t. Maybe he just hates practice? Every athlete hates practice.
“Are Kenny Pickett’s hand too small?” – Overplayed and unwarranted. You can find an elaborate list of things that Kenny Pickett’s hands are bigger (and smaller) than here thanks to our friends over at Pardon My Take.
They are confirmed larger than a cosmic brownie.
“How does Trent Baalke keep getting GM jobs?” – Ok, this one might be warranted.
Prospects will plummet down the draft board :
We’ll also inevitably see some players tumble down draft boards due to concerns that we may or may not know about at the moment. There has been subtle concern about Alabama’s Evan Neal not showing up to his medical follow up after the NFL Combine. Many outlets have speculated on the attitude issues that have plagued Georgia wideout George Pickens. The rap on him is that he “needs to be in a veteran wideout room” to check his attitude. You know who else they said that about? Randy Moss. Luckily Moss was drafted into a scenario in Minnesota where Cris Carter was able to take him under his wing and teach him how to blame his problems and misbehaviors on others (“fall guys”).
The bottom line is, we’re in for a hell of a night and a hell of a weekend. I’ll leave the current round 1 order below, along with the dozen picks the Chiefs have below that. Stay tuned to our Twitter page (@ChiefsFocus) all day and night for updates, evaluations, and some of the best takes on Chiefs twitter.
Round 1
- Jacksonville Jaguars
2) Detroit Lions
3) Houston Texans
4) New York Jets
5) New York Giants
6) Carolina Panthers
7) New York Giants (from Chicago Bears)
8) Atlanta Falcons
9) Seattle Seahawks (from Denver Broncos)
10) New York Jets (from Seattle Seahawks)
11) Washington Commanders
12) Minnesota Vikings
13) Houston Texans (from Cleveland Browns)
14) Baltimore Ravens
15) Philadelphia Eagles (from Miami Dolphins)
16) New Orleans Saints (from Indianapolis Colts through Philadelphia Eagles)
17) Los Angeles Chargers
18) Philadelphia Eagles (from New Orleans Saints)
19) New Orleans Saints (from Philadelphia Eagles)
20) Pittsburgh Steelers
21) New England Patriots
22) Green Bay Packers (from Las Vegas Raiders)
23) Arizona Cardinals
24) Dallas Cowboys
25) Buffalo Bills
26) Tennessee Titans
27) Tampa Bay Buccaneers
28) Green Bay Packers
29) Kansas City Chiefs (from San Francisco 49ers through Miami Dolphins)
30) Kansas City Chiefs
31) Cincinnati Bengals
32) Detroit Lions (from Los Angeles Rams)
Chiefs Draft Picks 2022
- Round 1, Pick No. 29
- Round 1, Pick No. 30
- Round 2, Pick No. 50
- Round 2, Pick No. 62
- Round 3, Pick No. 94
- Round 3, Pick No. 103
- Round 4, Pick No. 121
- Round 4, Pick No. 135
- Round 7, Pick No. 233
- Round 7, Pick No. 243
- Round 7, Pick No. 251
- Round 7, Pick No. 259
