2022 NFL Draft: Grades for All 32 Teams

In one of the craziest NFL Drafts in recent memory, we saw a frenzy of trades, wide receivers flying off the board, and positions like quarterback seriously losing their value. There were many surprise moves that made this draft crazy. We’ll break down each team and what grade they earned over the course of 3 action-packed draft days. 

Arizona Cardinals Draft Grade: B+

The Arizona Cardinals traded away their 2022 1st round pick and got exactly what they needed after Christian Kirk took a massive payday in Jacksonville. The Cardinals traded it away for Marquise Brown and it couldn’t have come at a better time as Pro Bowl Receiver Deandre Hopkins is suspended for the first 6 games of the season. The Cardinals did keep their 2nd and 3rd round picks which they used to get the best tight end of the draft in Trey McBride and a pair of stud edge rushers. 

Atlanta Falcons Draft Grade: B+

The Atlanta Falcons made the right decision in not drafting a quarterback with the 8th overall pick after the rumors circulating around that they intended to. The Falcons also didn’t draft a quarterback in their next 2 picks either allowing them to fill huge needs. We were very happy to see the Falcons filling those positions before taking Desmond Ridder all the way down in the 3rd round which was a great value selection. Ridder & Mariota can compete for the starting job while they continue the overhaul the team has to undergo. The Falcons would’ve been rated higher if they chose the best players who were available at those positions they drafted rather than who they did. We would have liked to see Nakobe Dean over Troy Andersen and Wilson or Olave over London, but a solid draft overall for Atlanta. 

Baltimore Ravens Draft Grade: A

Having to part ways with Marquise Brown was inevitable after he asked for a trade with his frustrations with the team. The Ravens received the Cardinals 1st round pick where they were able to draft a top interior lineman in the draft to help keep Lamar Jackson and the rest of their rushing attack healthy. The Ravens had some of the best home run steals in the draft with top 3 talent Kyle Hamilton falling out of the top 10, David Ojabo sliding out of the 1st, the biggest offensive lineman in the 4th, and a pair of late round tight ends with receiving upside. The Ravens only missed out on getting a receiver when there was opportunity but all of their picks were great value adds and some of the best available. 

Buffalo Bills Draft Grade: A-

The Buffalo Bills addressed their biggest needs in the draft, getting each of them in a great spot. Kaair Elam was a solid pick, James Cook replaces Singletary & Moss as the front man, and then Matt Araiza in the 6th was awesome after several punters went before him. The Bills have some prospects who could use some fine tuning, but the talent level is there making it easy for McDermott to transform them to the next stage of their careers. 

Carolina Panthers Draft Grade: B-

The Panthers were smart in passing on a quarterback with the 6th overall when we all expected them to go that route. The Panthers took an offensive lineman which will hope to keep Christian McCaffrey safe after the injuries he;s endured over the last couple seasons. The Panthers did end up with a solid quarterback in Matt Corral at the end of the 3rd which he should eventually replace Sam Darnold. After those 2 picks, there wasn’t anything to get excited about for Carolina. 

Chicago Bears Draft Grade: B-

Chicago doubled down landing two fantastic defensive backs with their first two picks. Kyler Gordon & Jaquan Brisker are going to be solid starters for the Bears defense who was one of the league’s worst last year. The Bears are moving forward with Justin Fields on offense and should have focused on giving him some help after his disaster of a rookie season. The Bears got one receiver who they overreached for and passed on many other higher quality players. 

Cincinnati Bengals Draft Grade: B+

After the choke of the century in the Super Bowl, the Bengals got 2 defensive backs filling their biggest hole they had remaining. The Bengals already improved their offensive lineman in free agency and now add 2 young budding stars paving the way for a great future as they hope to make it back to the Super Bowl. 

Cleveland Browns Draft Grade: C+

In order to acquire Deshaun Watson, the Browns traded away a massive haul of draft picks leaving them with their 1st pick of the draft not being until the 3rd round. The Browns hit a couple solid value picks in David Bell & Perrion Winfrey that could make early impacts. The remaining picks all seem to be works in progress. 

Dallas Cowboys Draft Grade: C

The Cowboys caused many fans and other teams across the league to scratch their heads at some of the decisions they made not only in the draft but before the draft as well during free agency. Jerry Jones is not doing what’s best for the team and America’s team doesn’t look likely to make a run at the Super Bowl any time soon. 

Denver Broncos Draft Grade: B

Despite trading away a 1st round pick to get Russell Wilson, the Broncos still managed to have 9 selections in this year’s draft. With those 9 picks, they came out of it getting a pretty good haul of players they could walk away pleased with. 

Detroit Lions Draft Grade: A-

With the Jacksonville Jaguars passing on Aidan Hutchinson, the premier EDGE rusher stays close to home as the Detroit Lions quickly take him off the board. The Lions then proceeded to trade up to take Jameson Williams amidst the wide receiver frenzy of the first round. This was a smart move by the Lions who had an extra 1st round draft pick that they could spare to move up. Lions also had solid draft picks in later rounds too making it a change of pace for a below average drafting team. 

Green Bay Packers Draft Grade: B+

After passing on a wide receiver in the 1st round which shocked many, the Packers traded up in the 2nd to get North Dakota State standout Christian Watson. This was a smart move by the Packers as they got the 2 rockstars from Georgia’s National Championship winning defense. The Packers got 2 great defensive players, a good wide receiver, but we still wished they traded up in the 1st to get one of the top few receivers in the draft which they had the draft capital to do so, but we’ll see how things pan out for them. 

Houston Texans Draft Grade: B

The Texans earned this rating not for their 1st round picks, but for their day 2 and day 3 picks. The Texans reached very high in the 1st round with both their picks, but made smarter decisions as the draft went on. They got help for 2nd year quarterback Davis Mills in some talent at wide receiver and running back. 

Indianapolis Colts Draft Grade: B-

The Colts made a big switch in quarterbacks during the offseason with moving on from Carson Wentz and bringing in veteran Matt Ryan. Right now, Michael Pittman Jr. is the best receiver that Ryan has to throw to which is good but Pittman Jr. can’t do it on his own which led to Jonathan Taylor’s insane 2021 campaign. The Colts spent their first 2 picks on bringing in receiving talent for Matt Ryan in this new-look offense. They also landed projected late 1st rounder / early 2nd rounder Bernard Raimann late in the 3rd giving some more help to protect Jonathan Taylor and the offense. 

Jacksonville Jaguars Draft Grade: C+

In a surprising move, the Jaguars passed on Aidan Hutchinson and went with Travon Walker. Walker immediately adds value along with Devin Lloyd, but for the remaining picks, the Jaguars missed on many better options. 

Kansas City Chiefs Draft Grade: A

After trading Tyreek Hill, the Chiefs got a significant return of draft picks from the Miami Dolphins and this allowed them to trade up in the 1st to get one of the top defensive backs in Trent McDuffie. The Chiefs also addressed their other needs in getting George Karlaftis and Leo Chenal. It was a solid draft for the Chiefs who need to improve their defense if they hope to shut down the other high-powered offenses in the AFC. 

Las Vegas Raiders Draft Grade: B

The Raiders didn’t pick until #90 overall in the 3rd round, but used that pick wisely, selecting Dylan Parham out of Memphis. Outside of that, the Raiders didn’t have many picks, their next pick was a bit of a head scratcher as they selected Zamir White when they already have Jacobs & Drake. We were not a fan of the Raiders declining Jacobs option and changing the direction the team is headed in. 

Los Angeles Chargers Draft Grade: A-

Chargers invested a lot in their defense this offseason, allowing them to get 2 quality guards with one of them slated to be a day 1 starter. The Chargers get more protection for franchise signal caller Justin Herbert. 

Los Angeles Rams Draft Grade: B-

The Rams didn’t pick until the end of the 3rd, but their best pick came in the 5th with running back Kyren Williams out of Notre Dame. We had Kyren Williams as a round 2 / 3 level talent and he slipped down to the 5th round. The Rams lost Cam Akers last season which caused a huge blow but didn’t stop them from winning the Super Bowl. The Rams add another running back into a young backfield to splash things up as they hope to repeat. 

Miami Dolphins Draft Grade: C

The Dolphins only had 4 total draft picks this year after they made massive moves in the offseason to strengthen their team. The Dolphins won the offseason, but with the picks they did have in the draft were rather disappointing. 

Minnesota Vikings Draft Grade: B-

The Vikings left us very confused throughout the entirety of the draft, they would trade down, then up, then down further, we didn’t fully understand their strategy. The value they received in some of those trades was not nearly enough and came out on the negative side on some of them, especially starting with the 12th overall pick in the draft. The Vikings got a couple good players in the draft, but their value was nowhere near what they should have gotten.

New England Patriots Draft Grade: D-

We have only one word to say about the New England Patriots draft picks and that word is reach. 

New Orleans Saints Draft Grade: B-

The Saints made a good decision trading up to get one of the top receivers in the class with Chris Olave out of Ohio State. The Saints followed that up with another good selection in Northern Iowa offensive tackle Trevor Penning. After that, we were left waiting for the Saints to draft a quarterback and watched as they passed on all of them with many opportunities. 

New York Giants Draft Grade: B+

The Giants had a stellar 1st round, surprisingly getting both Evan Neal & Kayvon Thibodeaux. Outside of Wan’Dale Robinson, we don’t expect any of the other picks to see the field this season for the Giants. 

New York Jets Draft Grade: A+

The Jets started the draft with two 1st round picks and hit home run deals in Ahmad Gardner & Garrett Wilson. The Jets followed that up with trading into the 1st round to get Jermaine Johnson, one of the top EDGE rushers in the draft. They continued to follow it up with landing the best running back in the draft and almost every pick they had is instant value from day 1. The Jets had the best draft this year and sheds new light on a historically poor drafting team. 

Philadelphia Eagles Draft Grade: A-

The Eagles had two 1st round draft picks and traded one of them away to the Titans to be able to get star receiver AJ Brown. This was a huge need for the Eagles and gives Jalen Hurts a deadly weapon alongside Devonta Smith. The Eagles still got to keep their one 1st round pick and took one of the top defensive players in the draft with Georgia lineman Jordan Davis. The Eagles somehow managed Nakobe Dean, a fringe 1st rounder all the way down in the 3rd with the 83rd overall. The Eagles walked away pretty happy in the first 2 days of the draft. 

Pittsburgh Steelers Draft Grade: B-

The Steelers were the 1st team in the draft to select a quarterback taking local Kenny Pickett in the 1st round. With the next quarterback not being selected until the 3rd round, this was shown to be a pretty big reach by the Steelers in terms of value. The Steelers fan base was pretty happy though in getting the local kid who is the best quarterback out of Pittsburgh since Dan Marino in the 1980s. The Steelers also got Pickett another receiver to throw to in George Pickens. The Steelers offense of Pickett, Najee, Pickens, Claypool, Freiermuth, and Johnson is looking pretty top notch. The Steelers did well in revamping the offense. 

San Francisco 49ers Draft Grade: C

San Francisco didn’t pick until the 2nd and had a really good steal in Drake Jackson out of USC. After that, the 49ers reached at running back and kind of drafted all over the place even grabbing Brock Purdy with the last pick overall, we weren’t really sure what their intentions were. 

Seattle Seahawks Draft Grade: B+

The Seahawks had a great draft, but it was missing one thing, one huge Russell Wilson sized hole, a quarterback. The Seahawks didn’t draft a quarterback at all with Pete Carroll claiming that Drew Lock is better than any quarterback in this draft. The Seahawks had one solid pick after another, but in the 3rd round when you have players like Malik Willis, Matt Corral, and Desmond Ridder available, you need to take one of them. That was a big miss on the Seahawks part. 

Tampa Bay Buccaneers Draft Grade: B

The Buccaneers had a mediocre draft, nothing flashy, but it got the job done and they can feel good with what they received. 

Tennessee Titans Draft Grade: B+

After having to trade away AJ Brown since they didn’t want to pay him and releasing Julio Jones in free agency, the Titans got the best receiver available in Treylon Burks in the 1st round. The Titans somehow got Malik Willis late in the 3rd even with having Ryan Tannehill telling everyone they are ready for a new future and Tannehill doesn’t have many days left in Tennessee. The Titans also got a couple other great value picks in Roger McCreary and Hassan Haskins on days 2 and 3 respectively. 

Washington Commanders Draft Grade: B-

The Washington Commanders got some decent budget picks in the draft. We disagree with them trading down in the 1st round, we thought selecting Kyle Hamilton would have been the smarter move. Instead the Commanders got a mid-tier wide receiver to go alongside Terry McLaurin. They did get decent picks in Phidarian Mathis and Brian Robinson Jr. later on in the draft. The Commanders traded for Carson Wentz in the offseason, but decided to draft Sam Howell still when he fell drastically which we weren’t much of a fan of as we like Wentz and Heinicke better plus they could have added another receiver or a defensive player in this spot instead.