Goldfish's Way Too Early Draft Rankings 2022 (All Up)

[Daniel]

My personal list:

1. Ravens-Obvious.
2. Jets-Lots of capital, but did it right.
3. Seahawks-Great picks top to bottom.
4. Chiefs-Fine in the first, great in the second and third.
5. Falcons-Three instant impact players and maybe a QB.
6. Texans-Good to great picks all the way down to Harris.
7. Cowboys-Williams, Tolbert, Ferguson, and Clark were all great values.
8. Packers-Meh on the early picks, but lots of athleticism and great value at back end
9. Raiders-A lot with a little.
10. Giants-Two of the best players in the whole draft, then eh.
11. Eagles-AJ trade, monster in Davis, and steal in Dean.
12. Titans-Burks is a future No. 1, and Willis was THE steal of the draft.  Some reaches though.
13. Colts-Some good adds, but nothing that blows me out of the water.
14. Bills-Elam and Cook are perfect fits at fantastic value.
15. Lions-Good value with the trade, and Hutch will be a great player.
16. Steelers-Don't like Pickett over better options, but the rest of the picks were great.
17. Panthers-Filled the biggest need with athletic upside on the back end.
18. Bucs-Fine.  Added value with trade back.
19. Commanders-Dotson was a reach, but I liked Robinson, Howell, and Turner.
20. Vikings-Nailed the need for DBs, but bad value trade, and not much gained after.
21. Chargers-First pick was a guard, but a great one.  Spiller too.
22. Saints-Gave up a whole lot for what they got.
23. Bears-Decent picks, but not much help for young QB.
24. Broncos-I like Bonitto and Dulcich, but that's it.
25. Jags-Questionable first overall, bad value in Lloyd, but some talent added.
26. Bengals-Hill and Taylor-Britt are solid, and decent value, but that's all.
27. Browns-Bell was good in college? Winfrey is solid though.
28. Cards-McBride and Sanders have all the potential in the world, but a TE shouldn't be the best pick in a deep TE class.
29. Rams-Bruss is good.  Not much here though.
30. Pats-Strange will be good, but huge reach, as is Thorton.  I like Marcus Jones though.
31. 49ers-Decent players in Jackson and Burford, but no real value.
32. Dolphins-Why even try?

[Chiefer]

I knew wed be 3rd. Drafted a bunch of tough, hard-nosed football players. Even if they arent a bunch of felons, id have no problem bringing a lot of the Chiefs class with me to a bar fight or through a dark alley. Particularly Kinnard and Chenal.

Really trying to revamp this defense and give Spagz the tools to be successful. This secondary is day and night different. Skyy Moore has the biggest hands in the draft, i think hes the best fit of any receiver by far.

 

 

[KimuraGod]

1 hour ago, Packerraymond said:

Chiefs were my #2 draft after the Ravens at #1, they found great value in the later portion of round day 1 and 2. Love that they stuck it to the pundits too and didn't take a WR round 1. Though they aren't getting blasted for it like GB.

Everyone is slobbering over the Jets draft, but when you have all the capital they did, kind of assume you're going to get some good players. Think the media got more hyped over a few days at the Senior Bowl for Johnson than his actual tape. Top 50 player for sure, but he doesn't win routinely enough to be a top 15 pick. Lots of really good FO's from picks 15-25 passed on him, should raise some concerns.

Great read as always, interested to see which of those two end up #1 for you. 

 

Annoys me when I read lazy narratives like this. The jets had great draft capital no doubt about it. But you have to use it and use it wisely. Something previous front offices has not been able to do. 

For me the top 2 drafts were 1. Jets. 2. Ravens. Both had ridiculous hauls.

 

Also massive congrats to @goldfishwarsthis draft recap has been a great read and highly entertaining. 👍🏼

[goldfishwars]

19 minutes ago, KimuraGod said:

Annoys me when I read lazy narratives like this. The jets had great draft capital no doubt about it. But you have to use it and use it wisely. Something previous front offices has not been able to do. 

For me the top 2 drafts were 1. Jets. 2. Ravens. Both had ridiculous hauls.

 

Also massive congrats to @goldfishwarsthis draft recap has been a great read and highly entertaining. 👍🏼

Thanks man

[FinSting]

19 minutes ago, KimuraGod said:

Annoys me when I read lazy narratives like this. The jets had great draft capital no doubt about it. But you have to use it and use it wisely.

Dolphins, for example. Three 1st-rd picks in 2020. Should be cake, right?

No. One of them (DB) is never on the field. One is a poorly rated o-lineman and the other is a QB that some (not me) think isn't the guy. 

Picking the right fit is an art form. 

[KimuraGod]

8 minutes ago, FinSting said:

Dolphins, for example. Three 1st-rd picks in 2020. Should be cake, right?

No. One of them (DB) is never on the field. One is a poorly rated o-lineman and the other is a QB that some (not me) think isn't the guy. 

Picking the right fit is an art form. 

Exactly. We’ve seen it throughout the years. Not only the draft but in FA also.

The cap space and the draft picks are great….if you have the front office to execute successfully. And if history has proven anything that’s not an easy thing to do. 

[Packerraymond]

3 hours ago, FinSting said:

Dolphins, for example. Three 1st-rd picks in 2020. Should be cake, right?

No. One of them (DB) is never on the field. One is a poorly rated o-lineman and the other is a QB that some (not me) think isn't the guy. 

Picking the right fit is an art form. 

Big difference between pick 4 and 10 and 18 and 30.

[goldfishwars]

2. New York Jets

 

This Class In One Sentence:

Man, I just can’t handle a good, competent Jets team. I just can’t. I just want Rex and that chaos back.

Pre-Draft Needs

S, LB, CB, WR, EDGE

Selections

Round 1. 4. Sauce Gardner  | CB | Cincinnati

Round 1. 10. Garrett Wilson  | WR | Ohio State

Round 1. 26. Jermaine Johnson II  | DE | Florida State

Round 2. 36. Breece Hall  | RB | Iowa State

Round 3. 101. Jeremy Ruckert  | TE | Ohio State

Round 4. 111. Max Mitchell  | OT | Louisiana

Round 4. 117. Micheal Clemons  | DE | Texas A&M

What I liked:

Man, to come out of the first round with Sauce, Wilson and Jermaine Johnson and not burn all of your assets in the process just would have been an impossible ask heading into the draft. It shouldn’t be allowed, but it happened.

‘THE JETS AREN’T TAKING A CORNER’ – Every Jets fan any time a mock linked the Jets with Sauce or Stingley heading in. Well, you were wrong and what’s more, you landed an exceptional player – unreal confidence, length and athleticism. Nobody threw at this guy in college, he barely had to do anything but exist out on the field. Corners with his length and athletic package are just rare. He can play too. 

Garrett Wilson gives the team a bit of everything at receiver – including as a deep threat for Zach to test his arm. He has a superb set of mitts too. I have no idea what caused Johnson’s slide (is he a jerk?), it feels a bit like Montez Sweat’s slip a while back. But he was connected to NYJ at 4 or 10 – so that’s wild. He’s built to play edge in the NFL, a powerful filled-out frame and can turn a corner. He was dominant during his time at the Senior Bowl too.

Even without the insane first round, the Jets continued to make good selections before putting their feet up whilst other teams scrambled for falling talent. Breece Hall has it all as an attacking weapon from running back, an ideal blend of size and speed who can make plays as a receiver. Ruckert was TE1 for some observers, a picture perfect for an all-round role who should have been targeted more in college, as he always stepped up when he was.

Man, even Max Mitchell and Micheal Clemons were two of my mid-round guys. Mitchell is a beastly run-blocker who might need to fill out a little before he starts a game. Clemons spells his first name weirdly, but is another built-in the lab physical specimen coming off a big final season. He’s raw, but a big ball of clay to work with, as they say.

It's all now down to you little Zach Wilson. Don’t mess it up, those Jets fans are way too pumped to be let down again.

What I didn’t like:

As a Patriots fan, I hated all of it. Absolute filth.

Outside of Wilson’s progression worries, the other major concern for Jets fans has to be the continuing struggles of Mekhi Becton who. At last check, he weighed over 400 pounds and was really struggling for health. Perhaps this draft is a vote of confidence in his progression – but the signs were not looking good only a few moments ago. There are a couple of names on that roster who can do a job, but clearly the Jets were in a good place to take a top offensive lineman in this draft if they had wanted to give Zach some extra insurance. 

[goldfishwars]

1. Baltimore Ravens

 

This Class In One Sentence:

Good players fall to them like magical magnets, we’ve heard it a million times - but they really do. What a class.

Pre-Draft Needs

C, CB, DT, EDGE, WR

Selections

Round 1. 14. Kyle Hamilton  | S | Notre Dame

Round 1. 25. Tyler Linderbaum  | C | Iowa

Round 2. 45. David Ojabo  | OLB | Michigan

Round 3. 76. Travis Jones  | NT | UConn

Round 4. 110. Daniel Faalele  | OT | Minnesota

Round 4. 119. Jalyn Armour-Davis  | CB | Alabama

Round 4. 128. Charlie Kolar  | TE | Iowa State

Round 4. 130. Jordan Stout  | P | Penn State

Round 4. 139. Isaiah Likely  | TE | Coastal Carolina

Round 4. 141. Damarion Williams  | CB | Houston

Round 6. 196. Tyler Badie  | RB | Missouri

What I liked:

You know what would be nice, just for once – that the Ravens don’t have a catastrophe with injuries. It really has been the major thing holding them back, because they keep stacking that roster with talent and the coaching staff are always scrambling to try and stop the ship from sinking. It’s been continual bad luck and I hope it changes.

Man, do you know what was funny? Seeing the Ravens getting jumped over and over and then watching them taking a quality player anyway. Kyle Hamilton and Tyler Linderbaum were arguably top ten talents in this class, if you strip positional value away and the Ravens are always in good position to make good use of that. Hamilton did it all at the back end at Notre Dame and comes in a rare size and athletic profile. I don’t know if Linderbaum is an ideal fit for a gap scheme, it’ll be interesting to see what happens there. I do know that’s a creative offense, and will make good use of his get-off speed and ability to block on the move.

I love Ojabo in the second round, edge was a big need and he’s a great stash for later if he can recover from a horrible injury. Having him end up on a team with one of this best friends (Odafe Oweh) is a sweet end to the tale. Arguably he jumped off the tape more than Aiden Hutchison. Travis Jones in the third round was unfair, he should not have been there. He’s a tank in the middle and should thrive in Baltimore. He was crazy dominant at the Senior Bowl, just took souls on the one on one drills.

Daniel Faalele made no sense as a prospect in many places, and yet makes perfect sense with the Ravens who make it work with their monsters. He feels like a good development stash for now. Jalyn Armour-Davis was one of the better mid-round corners to take a shot on, he’s got some real talent I think this could end up being one of the steals of the draft in all honesty if he can keep that hip injury at bay.

I love the two tight end pick-ups. This was a deep class in middle-tier tight ends and that exact type has flourished in Baltimore who like to sprinkle in those dudes. It was amazing how important Nick Boyle was to that team last year, something nobody outside of Baltimore said until he got hurt. Both of these selections are, I would say, receiver-first types and foremost. Unlike Boyle, they’re not glue players, not yet. Likely is a seam stretcher and Boyle is more of a red zone guy. For a team whose passing game thrives over the middle, it makes sense to find mismatches where you can get them.

Of the remaining picks, Jordan Stout was apparently the real Punt God when you looked the stat sheet – ridiculous accuracy in pinning teams back in the ten. Tyler Badie was the offense at Mizzou, coming off a year with 18 touchdowns and almost 2,000 yards. He’s such a balanced, intelligent runner and the Ravens ran out of those last season.

What I didn’t like:

It’s a thinn(ish) roster at wide receiver with no Marquise Brown in town. There’s a lot now on Rashod Bateman’s shoulders to carry the can. Hopefully the injury curse which has plagued this team doesn’t hit that room too. Other than that, I don’t know much about Damarion Williams.

[goldfishwars]

All up guys, thanks for checking in with my badly researched and ill-formed ramblings again. Here's to the bleak months of no football ahead 🍻

[Hunter2_1]

15 hours ago, Chiefer said:

Im sure, but they still got Goff. If my team loses to Goff I’m more mad at my team😂

Ha! This!

[Hunter2_1]

1 minute ago, goldfishwars said:

All up guys, thanks for checking in with my badly researched and ill-formed ramblings again. Here's to the bleak months of no football ahead 🍻

Thanks for quenching our un-relenting thirst for all things Football, Goldie 

[INbengalfan]

Thanks again for another fantastic draft wrap up

[minutemancl]

As good as the Ravens class is, they maneuvered really well and drafted exceptionally against the consensus board, there is a huge, huge bust factor associated with it. They drafted exceptions or unicorns with almost every early pick. 

Kyle Hamilton is a  really tall safety who didn't test well speed wise. Linderbaum is a small center; small centers recently have been more like Garrett Bradbury than Jason Kelce. David Ojabo is a risk after just having suffered the worst injury a modern football player can have. Faalele has size concerns; can he keep his weight manageable, and can his body support that much of a human being over the course of a full season?

There is a reason teams look for prototype players. The Ravens didn't seem to care about prototype anything in their draft this year. I'd personally have their draft #2 behind the Jets, so I obviously still like it, but there is a ton of risk associated with this draft class the Ravens put together.

[onejayhawk]

I would have swapped the last two because the first four Jets picks outweighs Baltimore's volume. Still, it is clear that these were two of the top three based on what we know now. In three years we'll see.