Breaking down the most questionable moves from the 2022 NFL Draft

The word “loser” may sound a little harsh here. But the teams that make it to this list did make questionable decisions or didn’t value/use assets according to consensus rankings. Some players are already in the NFL and have seen their teams select picks or decline to do so, to the detriment of the names mentioned here.

1. New England Patriots

People shy away from criticizing Bill Belichick because he is the greatest coach of all time, and the Patriots' way has been the gold standard for nearly 20 years. Still, we can only judge things at the time we’re at.

If you go through New England’s draft history since 2017, you'll be at a loss to find anyone else other than Mac Jones (who fell into their lap 15th overall last year), a couple of average starting offensive linemen, and running backs that you can hang your hat on.

Let’s start at the top with UT-Chattanooga interior offensive lineman Cole Strange at 29th overall. The process of moving back eight spots and picking up a third- and fourth-round pick each from Kansas City was notable. Strange will be a solid starter for them, but he is a third-round pick, and that’s where he was valued based on the consensus board.

It’s great if you have conviction in your picks, but don’t overestimate your evaluations to where you show no understanding of the board. He could have easily been there when they were back on the clock at 50th overall, where they selected Baylor speedster Tyquan Thornton, but more so as an early day-three selection.

If they end up with North Dakota State wide receiver Christian Watson and maybe Strange at 50, that’s entirely different. If not, interior O-line and wide receiver were arguably the two deepest position groups in this draft.

The two corners they picked next, Houston’s Marcus Jones and Arizona State’s Jack Jones, are remarkable players to watch as 5’8” corners with tremendous click-and-close ability and ball skills.

But before they got to a couple of depth pieces on the line, they drafted two more running backs and solid players. However, there are now seven on the roster, with five still on their rookie contract, and it's unclear how many of them they intend to carry on gamedays.

The Patriots then used a fourth-round pick on Western Kentucky quarterback Bailey Zappe, who will be a long-time backup in this league.

The value of having that guy on a rookie deal is understandable, but the Pats are not in a position to make luxury picks.

Suppose you take The Athletic's consensus draft return, which compiles the evaluations of 82 different analysts. In that case, the Patriots come in dead-last by a margin at -2031.1 (next-closest are the Jaguars at -1397.7).

2. Ryan Tannehill

There are multiple factors for Tannehill to make the list. First: the Tennessee Titans traded away A.J. Brown for the 19th overall selection, which they did convert into Arkansas wide receiver Treylon Burks, who presents a very similar skill-set to Brown in terms of a big-bodied physical run-after-catch specialist. But he’s a far less nuanced route-runner, who can’t create separation on curls and comebacks.

Burks could have gone 26th overall to Tennessee, but that plan included Brown, who would have been a better replacement for Julio Jones.

More importantly, the Titans got extremely lucky for Liberty quarterback Malik Willis to still be on the board midway through the third round. A third-rounder doesn’t usually get on the field early on, if there’s a quarterback in place who has led the team to an AFC Championship and a couple of division titles.

However, there’s a sour taste in the mouth of Tennessee supporters after Tannehill threw a couple of ugly picks to knock them out of the playoffs in their first game as the No. 1 seed. There might also be a change in their philosophy of how they can win long-term.

In comes Willis, who would be best suited to learn a dropback NFL system with his simplistic approach at Liberty. He has a killer arm and tremendous mobility to fit into that offense. Even if he never sees the field as a rookie, there’s a potential in Tannehill’s contract next offseason. If Willis lives up to the status of a top-20 prospect, they may be ready to move on.

3. Ultra-athletic developmental cornerback prospects

This seems odd because everything the NFL has told us for several years now is that guys like UTSA’s Tariq Woolen and Sam Houston State’s Zyon McCollum would be names teams value highly and should be top-100 locks.

Woolen is one of the most remarkable athletes in terms of size-speed combination, standing tall at 6’4” and 205 pounds with offensive tackle-like 33 ½-inch arms and running a 4.26 in the 40.

On the other hand, McCollum put together one of the greatest combine performances in the event’s history, testing in the 89th percentile or better across the board, including the top mark among all performers this year in both the agility drills, while measuring in at 6’2” and 200 pounds himself.

However, somehow they both didn’t hear their names called until the fifth round at picks 153rd and 157th overall, respectively. Woolen could have been taken in the late third or early fourth round because there were a lot of false steps and overrunning the break point when he wasn’t in phase. He also missed ten of 35 tackling attempts this past season, routinely just diving at the legs of ball-carriers. Yet, with his athletic profile and the speed and length to make up for some initial separation, he could have gone top-50.

McCollum was significantly lower on, because he routinely lost contact with his receiver, became highly reactionary in zone coverage, and did not wrap and drive as a tackler but rather launched a shoulder at ball-carriers after stopping his feet, which led to eight missed tackles last season.

Still, it's unbelievable how one of the all-time great athletic displays went so late in the draft.

4. Pittsburgh Steelers’ research team

After the Steelers' first-round pick, their next three selection were really good, bringing in a top-50 and another top-100 overall prospect at wide receiver: Georgia’s George Pickens and Memphis’ Calvin Austin III.

Between Pickens and Austin, the Steelers also got Texas A&M defensive lineman DeMarvin Leal, who was projected to be a top-ten pick a year ago. But their 20th overall pick, Pitt quarterback Kenny Pickett, earns them a place on this list.

Pickett is ideally a QB5 and if you really go into the tape rather than looking at the numbers, you end up with some serious concerns that are less “fixable” than some of the other players in this class who weren’t asked to make full-field reads. Apart from that we can all agree that the next three players who heard their names called are clearly more talented.

The reality is that Pickett will compete in a division with Lamar Jackson, Joe Burrow, and (now) Deshaun Watson, who when available are all top-eight players at the position.

Philosophically, Pickett can not be the key to take the team through the AFC, which looks absolutely loaded. But there's a big gripe: the Steelers grabbed Pickett 54 spots before the next quarterback. If you’re this close to the rest of the league, there has to be some understanding of where the other teams stand on this group. You also have to question if your pick might have even been available a round later.

5. Justin Fields

It's hard to believe that Tennessee wide receiver and return specialist Velus Jones Jr. (71st overall) and Baylor gadget player Trestan Ebner (203rd overall) were the only two offensive skill-position players the Chicago Bears added over draft weekend.

They made two picks in the second round—Washington cornerback Kyler Gordon and Penn State safety Jaquan Brisker. But whether it would have been Western Michigan’s Skyy Moore, as more of run-after-catch specialist and someone who’s not afraid to go over the middle of the field, or Georgia’s George Pickens, who can be a true X receiver and sideline maestro, there were players selected shortly after. Even some names that were on the board on day three could have been upgrades over what they have there right now.

Now, the Bears did go heavy on the offensive line on day three, but a couple of developmental tackles can be seen, who will get run through on passing downs if you put them out there in year one, and two interior players, who are rather better in the run game.

Fields and Allen Robinson never really clicked last season, but if you remove him, the team's two “big” additions are Byron Pringle and Equanimeous St. Brown. The only two players you add in this draft were outside the top-20 at the position in the consensus rankings.

6. Steve Keim’s usage of first-round picks

Since Steve Keim took over as general manager of the Arizona Cardinals in 2013–and he’s been with the organization since 1999 as a regional scout–these are the selections they’ve made on day one of the draft:

Guard Jonathan Cooper, who started 11 games for them
A role-playing linebacker in Deone Bucannon
An average starting left tackle in D.J. Humphries
Defensive tackle Robert Nkemdiche, who didn’t record a sack for them until his third and final year in Arizona
Outside linebacker Haason Reddick, who they decided not to pay once he finally had a productive fourth season
Quarterback Josh Rosen, who they moved on from a year later for No. 1 pick Kyler Murray, who they can’t agree with on a contract
Two inside linebackers: Isaiah Simmons and Zaven Collins, who still weren’t able to out-snap veteran Jordan Hicks, who’s about to turn 30 and is now with the Vikings after being released a couple of months ago.

In 2021, on opening night, the Cardinals traded their 23rd overall pick for Ravens wide receiver Marquise Brown and pick number 100. Considering Brown was the 25th selection three years ago, at best Hollywood has lived up to his draft status, having increased his production every season. He just cracked the 1000-yard mark this past year.

However, a large portion of the value draft picks present is their contract. Baltimore had three years of the receiver’s services for just over $8 million. With the Cardinals picking up his fifth-year option less than 24 hours after the trade, they are bound to pay him 13.4 million dollars in 2023 alone. Brown could ask for an extension well beyond that number, seeing how the market at the position looks like right now.

7. Veteran running backs Chris Carson, Devin Singletary, and Antonio Gibson

This is a fairly easy one to figure out. The first running back off the board in this draft was Iowa State’s Breece Hall, going to the New York Jets at the top of the second round. But we saw Michael Carter Jr. have issues staying healthy as a rookie when New York tried to put him in a featured role. So he will welcome a one-two punch situation like this as he’s paired with a bigger, more physical back, similar to now-Bronco Javonte Williams, whom he shared touches with at North Carolina.

Five other players at the position were selected over the course of Day 2. You could mention their veterans here as well, but there was plenty of competition in the 49ers backfield already, and Leonard Fournette just signed a new three-year deal, with the majority of the money guaranteed. However, Singletary, Carson and Gibson are in trouble.

Five picks after Hall came off the board (41st overall), Seattle surprisingly picked Michigan State’s Kenneth Walker III, who was a Heisman Trophy candidate for a while last season, and impressed with his combination of explosion, ability to make any kind of cut necessary, and break arm tackles.

We don’t know the exact status of Carson, who missed almost all of last season with a neck injury. There are some who believe he may never play again. Making this move for Walker is a sign of Carson potentially not getting on the field a whole lot, even if he comes back. Moreover, Rashaad Penny showed signs in the latter half of last season and will be fighting for lead duties himself.

Buffalo used the penultimate second-round pick on Georgia’s James Cook, who was one of the biggest home-run hitters and the most natural pass-catcher in this class.

Singletary, in correlation to public perception, is actually one of the more underrated backs in this draft and was a productive player down the stretch. But he doesn’t have that extra gear Cook has, and we’ve seen him legitimately split out wide and run by people. So he makes perfect sense for an offense that doesn’t feature that position in terms of total touches, but you want all of them to matter.

Finally, Washington seemed to be pretty set with Gibson and J.D. McKissic being brought back. Last year’s UDFA Jaret Patterson looked good when given an opportunity. So using a late day-two pick on Alabama’s Brian Robinson Jr. was kind of surprising.

Gibson is a supremely talented player, but he hasn’t shown a ton of improvement in vision and technique, which leaves the door open for a complete three-down back like Robinson to steal snaps.

8. Justyn Ross and Carson Strong

Michigan edge defender David Ojabo tore his Achilles at the Michigan Pro Day, but at least there’s a clear track record of how players are able to come back from it. That’s why he still went in the middle of the second round. LSU linebacker Damone Clark recently underwent spinal fusion surgery but was drafted late in the fifth round.

The two players who never got a call were Clemson wide receiver Justyn Ross and Nevada quarterback Carson Strong.

Ross looked like a future first-round pick, and he is still probably in the nightmares of Nick Saban and those Alabama defensive backs with all the huge catches he made on third downs against them back in the national title game as a freshman.

He has the ability to defeat press with footwork and power, he can run the full route-tree from the outside or the slot, he’s tough to bring down with the ball in his hands, and he has an innate feel for how to position his body as the pass is in mid-flight to win in contested situation. Yet, the worries with him are real as he suffered a career-threatening neck injury back in 2020.

Strong, on the other hand, did not come into college football as highly regarded, being outside the top-2000 overall recruits back in 2018. But he improved throughout his time with the Wolfpack.

His doctors advised him to not play last season, but he did anyway. He was throwing off one leg a lot of times, yet still threw bullets all over the field. Even without the injury, he can be a bit of a statue back there, but he showed great peripheral vision in that Air Raid-based offense. He has some throws on tape that arguably nobody else can consistently deliver in this class. He’s already had three major knee surgery for a condition where the cartilage gets detached from the bone, which is frightening.

NFL Draft 2022: Biggest Losers