Our Top Prospects in the 2022 NFL Draft

The plan for this year’s draft cycle was to put out a piece covering the high-end prospects at every position group we covered. I wanted to go in-depth on what we flagged as the worthwhile traits for every group and explain why certain guys should make the cut and others shouldn’t.

As is so often the case, that plan did not survive contact with the enemy. Well, if the enemy is “a lack of free time precipitated by a job change,” I guess.

Still, as a matter of historical record, I wanted to make sure I wrote out the list of guys we had as Tier 1 prospects in every position group. We’ll do a better job next year of measuring who falls into which tier and why, but as far as 2022 goes, here are our Tier 1 players.

Running Back

  • Breece Hall - Iowa State

  • Pierre Strong Jr. - South Dakota State

  • Rachaad White - Arizona State

  • Jerome Ford - Cincinnati

  • Bryant Koback - Toledo

  • Max Borghi - Washington State

Wide Receiver

  • Christian Watson - North Dakota State

  • Kevin Austin Jr. - Notre Dame

  • Ra’Shaun Henry - Virginia

  • George Pickens - Georgia

  • Alec Pierce - Cincinnati

  • Jalen Nailor - Michigan State

Tight End

  • Jelani Woods - Virginia

  • Greg Dulcich - UCLA

  • Austin Allen - Nebraska

Offensive Line

  • Abraham Lucas - Washington State

  • Alec Lindstrom - Boston College

  • Cole Strange - Tennessee-Chattanooga

  • Cade Mays - Tennessee

  • Zach Tom - Wake Forest

  • Luke Wattenberg - Washington

  • Logan Bruss - Wisconsin

  • Dawson Deaton - Texas Tech

  • Trevor Penning - Northern Iowa

  • Zion Johnson - Boston College

  • Bernhard Raiman - Central Michigan

  • Zach Thomas - San Diego State

  • Cameron Jurgens - Nebraska

Edge Rusher

  • Amare Barno - Virginia Tech

  • Kayvon Thibodeaux - Oregon

  • Sam Williams - Mississippi

  • Jermaine Johnson II - Florida State

  • David Ojabo - Michigan

  • George Karlaftis - Purdue

  • DeAngelo Malone - Western Kentucky

  • Cameron Thomas - San Diego State

Defensive Line

  • Tracis Jones - Connecticut

  • Logan Hall - Houston

  • Ben Stille - Nebraska

  • Zachary Carter - Florida

Linebacker

  • Leo Chenal - Wisconsin

  • Chance Campbell - Ole Miss

  • Devin Lloyd - Utah

  • Micah McFadden - Indiana

  • Mike Rose - Iowa State

  • Christian Harris - Alabama

  • D’Marco Jackson - Appalachian State

  • Damone Clark - LSU

  • Quay Walker - Georgia

  • Kyron Johnson - Kansas

Cornerback

  • Zyon McCollum - Sam Houston State

  • Tariq Castro-Fields - Penn State

Safety

  • Kyle Hamilton - Notre Dame

  • Jalen Pitre - Baylor

  • Daxton Hill - Michigan

  • Marquese Bell - Florida A&M

AnalysisJon Meerdink2022 NFL Draft