NFL Draft 2022 Cheat Sheet

Round 1 of the 2022 NFL Draft kicks off in Las Vegas on Thursday at 8 p.m. ET with Rounds 2-7 following Friday and Saturday.

We offer you a one-stop-shop for everything related to the draft. Not sure what time the draft starts each day or where to look? Scroll down. Who are Scouts Inc.’s top-ranked prospects? Scroll down. What is the draft order for each turn? Scroll down.

The Jacksonville Jaguars have the No. 1 pick — again — but who that pick will be is still unclear. For months, our four draft analysts – Mel Kiper Jr., Todd McShay, Jordan Reid and Matt Miller – and our 32 NFL Nation reporters assessed prospects and team needs, constructed mock drafts and finalized the classification of prospects.

You’ll be the most informed fan watching the draft if you – say it with us this time – scroll down the page.

Along with all the rankings and fictional drafts, we’ve included information on ESPN stats and insights, introductions to some of the top draft prospects, and a look at ESPN’s Draft Day Predictor. Plus, details on our draft challenge, where you can predict the picks and potentially win prizes.

Let’s start with the basics:

ESPN Draft | Best available

When and where is the repechage?

  • Round 1: Thursday at 8 p.m. ET (ESPN, ABC, ESPN App, ESPN Radio, ESPN Deportes, NFL Network)

  • Rounds 2-3: Fridays at 7 p.m. ET (ESPN, ABC, ESPN App, ESPN Radio, ESPN Deportes, NFL Network)

  • Rounds 4 to 7: Saturday at noon ET (ESPN with ABC simulcast, ESPN App, ESPN Radio, ESPN Deportes, NFL Network)

The 2022 draft is taking place in Las Vegas. The 2020 draft was to be held in Vegas before the league moved to a virtual draft that year during the pandemic. Among the many players who will be on hand are Michigan OT Aidan Hutchinson, Ohio State WR Chris Olave and NC State OT Ikem Ekwonu.

When does each team select?

There will be 262 picks in this year’s draft, and the Jaguars have the first pick for the second year in a row. The Jaguars and Kansas City Chiefs have the most picks in the entire draft with 12 apiece, while the Miami Dolphins have by far the fewest with just four after trading for Tyreek Hill last month.

Top 10:

1. Jacksonville Jaguars
2. Detroit Lions
3. Houston Texans
4. New York Jets
5. New York Giants
6. Carolina Panthers
7. New York Giants (via CHI)
8. Atlanta Falcons
9. Seattle Seahawks (via DEN)
10. New York Jets (via SEA)

See the full preliminary order of 262 choices

How do prospects in this class rank?

Scouts Inc. Top 10 Prospects:

1. Aidan Hutchinson, DE, Michigan (Highlights)
2. Travon Walker, DE, Georgia (Highlights)
3. Ikem Ekwonu, OT, NC State (Highlights)
4. Evan Neal, OT, Alabama (Highlights)
5. Ahmad Gardner, CB, Cincinnati (Highlights)
6. Garrett Wilson, WR, Ohio State (Highlights)
7. Kayvon Thibodeaux, DE, Oregon (Highlights)
8. Derek Stingley Jr., CB, LSU (Highlights)
9. Kyle Hamilton, S, Notre Dame (Highlights)
10. Charles Cross, OT, Mississippi State (Highlights)

Scouts Inc.’s top six quarterbacks:

1. Malik Willis, Freedom
2. Kenny Pickett, Pittsburgh
3. Desmond Ridder, Cincinnati
4. Matt Corral, Ole Miss
5. Sam Howell, North Carolina
6. Carson Strong, Nevada

Do our analysts agree or disagree with these rankings? Find each of their final lead and position rankings here:

Kiper: Final ranking, top 230 prospects and best at each position (ESPN+)

Mc Shay: Stacking of 366 prospects plus position breakdowns (ESPN+)

Reid: Top 365 prospects and final positional ranking (ESPN+)

Miller: Top 300 prospects and final ranking by position (ESPN+)

legwold: Ranking of the 100 best prospects

Now that we’ve ranked all the prospects, let’s look at the risers and top performers:

legwold: Seven prospects who rose through the ranks in the past year

The 2022 NFL Draft is the best overall: Most accurate, best road runner, best corner coverage and more (ESPN+)

Projection of the best players in the draft in the NFL

Football Outsiders uses metrics to predict how good players will be in their first five years in the NFL.

Does the quarterback class of 2022 have an elite QB in the mix? How do running backs position themselves? Which wide receiver in this deep class will have the biggest impact? And which pass-rusher should be drafted first? All of these answers are below.

• Quarterbacks (ESPN+)
• Running backs (ESPN+)
• Wide receivers (ESPN+)
• Pass rushers (ESPN+)

What should I expect?

The theme this offseason has been to expect the unexpected. There are plenty of questions that simply won’t be answered until Thursday night — like who will be picked at No. 1 and when will the first quarterback be taken off the board. But our draft analysts have been hard at work gathering information and establishing the final rankings and dummy drafts.

The latest buzz draft:

• Late-breaking updates on potential first-round deals, growing prospects, surprise picks (ESPN+)

• Everything Todd McShay hears about top prospects, QBs, first picks and team strategies (ESPN+)

• Draft Buzzbook, Rumors, Favorite Sleepers: Updates on Willis, Pickett, more (ESPN+)

• Mailbag NFL draft 2022: Kiper and McShay answer questions about trades, surprises, deepest positions and more (ESPN+)

Dummy drafts:

• Kiper’s final mock draft of the first round (ESPN+)

• McShay’s fictional final draft of the first round (ESPN+)

• Reid’s mock seven-round draft (ESPN+)

• Miller’s fictional seven-round draft (ESPN+)

• NFL mock draft 2022 with all trades: Bill Barnwell offers deals for all 32 picks

What is the outlook for each NFL team?

Each NFL team has its own draft roster, strategy, and unique set of positioning needs. How might your favorite team approach Round 1…and beyond?

• Miller and Reid break down the top draft needs of the 32 teams (ESPN+)

• Football Outsiders draft guides for all 32 teams (ESPN+)

What should I know about betting on the NFL Draft?

Yes, you can bet on what happens in the NFL Draft. Our ESPN Chalk analysts are here to help.

• Bet like ‘The Bear’: Chris Fallica’s top picks and plays for the NFL Draft

• Betting predictions and strategies for the best prospects at each position

• Betting on the NFL Draft: tips, tricks and best practices for making money

• Georgia Bulldogs DE Travon Walker emerges as the consensus favorite to be the No. 1 pick in the NFL Draft in sports betting

• 2022 NFL Draft betting market poses challenges for league and bookmakers

Draft day predictor

Are you curious what the odds are that your team will choose your preferred prospect? Well, Seth Walder and the ESPN analytics team have a tool that does just that. And it is available to the public for the first time.

ESPN’s Draft Day Predictor is a statistical tool that produces a range of draft results for prospects in the NFL Draft. It uses fictional expert drafts, Scouts Inc. notes, and team needs as inputs and helps us answer questions about how things might go. This gives a percentage chance that each prospect will be available – and selected – at each draft slot, which of course leads to a likely range of picks in which they could realistically come out of the picture.

It will be updated Thursday morning as the latest fictional drafts arrive, then updated live during the Thursday evening draft.

Walder: NFL Draft Day Predictor 2022: When could QBs be drafted? Which teams should trade? Which prospects are Round 1 sleepers?

Meet some of the top prospects of 2022

Learn something new about these top leads by reading these features below. You never know who your team might draft.

From ESPN’s Statistics and News Office

  • After the quarterbacks became No. 1, No. 2 and No. 3 overall in 2021, this draft could mark the first time since 2013 — and only the second time in the past 20 years — that no quarterback -back is only selected in the top five. Even if quarterbacks don’t leave early, this could be the seventh straight year that at least three quarterbacks have been selected in the first round, extending what is already the longest streak in the common draft era (since 1967).

  • While players drafted in the first round get most of the attention, a significant portion of a team’s roster is built on Days 2 and 3. Of the players active in 2021, 66% were drafted after the third round or were not drafted.

  • There could be four Georgia defensive players selected in the first round, which would tie Miami (2004) and Florida State (2006) for a school’s most defensive players in the first round of a draft.

  • Of the 55 players drafted No. 1 overall, 33 have multiple Pro Bowl selections, 15 have a first-team All-Pro selection and eight are in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

How can I play the ESPN Draft Challenge?

With the ESPN Draft Challenge, you can predict how the draft will go and win prizes. And it’s easy and free to participate.

Play the ESPN Draft Challenge

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