2022 NFL Draft: Ranking position groups from best to worst with edge rushers leading the way

Which position group is the best in this draft class? That’s a question NFL Draft analysts get asked every year, and this year it feels even more vital to take a step back and access the class collectively because of the perceived (see: actual) weakness of the quarterback group.

Below, you’ll see the number of first-round grades and top 100 grades I have at each position in the 2022 class. Those numbers are to simply provide a quantitative glimpse into my big board. For these rankings, there’s no special formula based on those grades because positional value and positional scarcity need to be considered. The rankings are based on feel after comprehensively evaluating the 2022 NFL Draft class. 

11. Tight ends

First-round grades: 0

Top 100 grades: 4

Late-round feel: Bad

For the second straight year, tight ends are the caboose of this year’s draft class from a positional strength perspective. And there’s no Kyle Pitts type (of course), or a T.J. Hockenson-esque talent at the top. I do like the prospects in my top 4 quite a bit (Jeremy Ruckert, Charlie Kolar, Trey McBride, and Jelani Woods). They’re all quality, natural pass-catchers with their own unique style and athletic profiles. 

Later, Maryland’s Chigoziem Okonkwo is a fun H-back type with serious athletic gifts. The same is true for Coastal Carolina’s Isaiah Likely. And Wisconsin’s Jake Ferguson is not your classic Badgers tight end. He’s a dynamic mover on the field who can get open and create after securing the catch. In general, a tight end class lacking top-flight talent without considerable depth. 

10. Defensive tackles

First-round grades: 0

Top 100 grades: 5

Late-round feel: Good

I feel similarly about the defensive tackles as I do about the tight ends in this class. And, believe me, I totally understand how I view the interior rushers in this class is different from what will transpire at that position on draft night. Jordan Davis is going in the first round. Devonte Wyatt and Logan Hall probably will, too. I just have them graded right outside the first round, that’s all. 

Other Top 100 defensive tackles for me include Alabama’s Phidarian Mathis and the enigmatic DeMarvin Leal from Texas A&M. If he the latter is to succeed in the NFL, it’ll be as an interior player. I have Matthew Butler from Tennessee just outside my Top 100, impressive hair-on-fire type. 

This defensive tackle class is just devoid of the those trendy three-technique, burst-based rushers teams need today to generate pressure in a hurry from the inside. Later in the draft, the wide-bodied or simply overwhelmingly large nose tackle prospects are plentiful. And that’s where that position has the most value, anyway. 

9. Linebackers

First-round grades: 1 (Nakobe Dean)

Top 100 grades: 5

Late-round feel: Great

Devin Lloyd made my “Buyer Beware” list, but he’s the one prospect I felt the least confident about adding. I just don’t love him in coverage right now. He has a decently long way to go in that regard, simply because he wasn’t asked to cover very often. Everything else he does on the field is spectacular. Dean, on the other hand, is a covering magician, and that’s what you need to be entering the NFL today as a linebacker. 

You can almost fully never mind the highlight-reel splash plays against the run. They matter. But they’ll eventually be outweighed by plays the opposition can make against said linebacker on passes if he can’t cover. I’m a Chad Muma advocate. Love the three-down ability from the Wyoming linebacker. 

Some Day 2/later-round linebackers with serious skills — Montana State’s Troy Andersen, Oklahoma’s Brian Asamoah, Oklahoma State’s Malcolm Rodriguez and Appalachian State’s D’Marco Jackson. Two studs. Alabama’s Christian Harris is a springy playmaker, he just misses so many tackles. 

8. Quarterbacks

First-round grades: 3 (Malik Willis, Kenny Pickett, Desmond Ridder)

Top 100 grades: 6

Late-round feel: Bad 

This quarterback class is mostly as advertised. It’s not great. Do I think it’s the worst quarterback class ever? No. I’ve been enamored with Malik Willis since I graded him in January, and I like a lot of what Kenny Pickett can do improvisationally and from inside the pocket with his aggressive nature. 

Ridder was a first-round prospect for me from the jump — I always grade quarterbacks first — but I don’t believe he’s as athletic on the field as his combine indicates. The impact of his 50 career starts does appear often by way of minimizing mistakes and quickly diagnosing coverages. 

Brown’s EJ Perry is a fun late-round prospect, and I have Western Kentucky’s Bailey Zappe as my QB6 after North Carolina’s Sam Howell and Ole Miss’ Matt Corral. Howell could be the one true sleeper in this class because he’s young and the arm talent is there. There’s just a lot of quarterbacking development that needs to take place before/if he ever blossoms into a star. 

7. Safeties

First-round grades: 3 (Kyle Hamilton, Lewis Cine, Jaquan Brisker)

Top 100 grades: 7

Late-round feel: Good

Hamilton is my No. 1 prospect in this class. He’s carrying the majority of the weight here. Although Cine surprised me on film in coverage, as just from watching college football in the fall, I knew of his lay-the-lumber reputation. Brisker is a freaky mover on the field with a nice blend of sturdy run-halting play and coverage capabilities. 

After that, there’s a plethora of sizable, explosive-in-a-straight line types like Maryland’s Nick Cross, Florida A&M’s Markquese Bell, and Louisiana’s Percy Butler. Texas A&M’s Leon O’Neal is the more finesse, change-of-direction matchup safety likely to be picked on Day 3. 

Now, you could theoretically move Baylor’s Jalen Pitre and Michigan’s Daxton Hill into this group, which would spring the safety class up a few spots. I saw those two cover the slot more than anything else. They’re cornerbacks for me. 

6. Interior offensive linemen

First-round grades: 2 (Tyler Linderbaum, Zion Johnson)

Top 100 grades: 10 

Late-round feel: Good

This is more about depth than a large grouping of elite talent. Based on the amount of Top 100 grades, that’s obvious. I like Linderbaum and Johnson. I think the hype for both has gotten a tick out of control. Johnson isn’t special athletically, but he’s long, powerful, and well-balanced. And for as special as Linderbaum is as an athlete, he has some weight and length deficiencies he’ll need to overcome at the next level. 

On Day 2 and early Day 3 feels like the sweet spot to grab an eventual, possible rookie starter at center or guard. Chattanooga’s Cole Strange can play either position, is a battler for the run and has high-level athleticism. UCLA’s Sean Rhyan is a compact power type in space. Zach Tom from Wake Forest is an absolute blast to watch and has some of the lightest feet I’ve ever seen in an offensive lineman. Seriously. Cam Jurgens from Nebraska can compete with Linderbaum athletically and is longer with more weight on his frame. And for a team that wants to get downhill in a man-blocking scheme, Oklahoma’s Marquis Hayes needs to be high on the Day 2 priority list. He’s a star in pass protection. 

5. Running backs

First-round grades: 0

Top 150 grades: 12 

Late-round feel: Great

In my grading system, I created/use a tool I call “Position Addition” that assigns point boosts for all positions based on how valuable I believe them to be in today’s NFL. Running backs get no boost. My running back grades/rankings are almost always much lower than the masses. As it turns out, in my system, the best backs aren’t truly valued until Day 2. Therefore, I considered all the backs who had Top 150 grades for the sake of this article. 

Ken Walker and Isaiah Spiller have the same grade atop my running back rankings. Breece Hall is ever so slightly behind them. The flip side of my system not valuing running backs early is it adores them late. South Dakota State’s Pierre Strong is a blazingly fast slasher. I have NC State’s Zonovan Knight as my RB4. So elusive and powerful through contact. Georgia’s James Cook can be a useful “wide back,” while his teammate Zamir White is one of, if not the more purely explosive backs through the second level in the class. Ole Miss’ Snoop Conner is a dynamic runner at 220 pounds, as is Florida’s Dameon Pierce. 

4. Offensive tackles

First-round grades: 5 (Evan Neal, Charles Cross, Ikem Ekwonu, Trevor Penning, Bernhard Raimann)

Top 100 grades: 13

Late-round feel: Average

My top tackles look like most everyone else’s, although I have Mississippi State’s Charles Cross ahead of NC State’s Ikem Ekwonu, strictly due to the difference in pass-protection skill right now. 

Northern Iowa’s Trevor Penning and Central Michigan’s Bernhard Raimann have the same grade for me, later in Round 1, and Minnesota’s Daniel Faalele carries an early second-round grade. I get Orlando Brown vibes from him, he just needs to crank the nastiness once he’s in the NFL. 

There are many quality tackle prospects who’ll go from late Day 2 into early Day 3. Arizona State’s Kellen Diesch and Louisiana’s Max Mitchell are your instant starter zone-blocking type. Tyler Smith and Chris Paul from Tulsa are two athletic specimens at tackle who may be on three teams in four years or borderline All-Pro types by Year 3. I love the length and pass-protection calmness of TCU’s Obinna Eze. Central Michigan’s Luke Goedeke is an admirable battler, and Florida’s Jean Delance is older but, wow, he’s an athletic freak. 

3. Wide receivers

First-round grades: 7 (Drake London, Jameson Williams, Garrett Wilson, Skyy Moore, Treylon Burks, Chris Olave, George Pickens)

Top 100 grades: 12 

Late-round feel: Good

This receiver class is rock solid at the top. I (clearly) adore Moore. And I truly believe Pickens would be widely considered a first-round pick had he not torn his ACL in March 2021. 

The more I watched the Day 2 and Day 3 types, the less infatuated with the receiver class I became. Good one-trick ponies. Not complete, well-rounded types. There are plenty of speedsters who can remove the lid of a defense, like Baylor’s Tyquan Thornton — who’s actually pretty polished — Memphis’ Calvin Austin, and Kentucky’s Wan’Dale Robinson. 

I’m not as high on North Dakota State’s Christian Watson or Cincinnati’s Alec Pierce as most, but there’s no doubting their appealing size/athleticism combinations. Boise State’s Khalil Shakir is a YAC monster, so is Tennessee’s Velus Jones Jr., it’s just that he’ll turn 25 as a rookie. Some late-round types who intrigued me, the crisp route-runner Josh Johnson from Tulsa, Purdue’s David Bell, who’s been on the draft radar forever, and Utah State’s twitchy burner Deven Thompkins. 

2. Cornerbacks

First-round grades: 6 (Ahmad Gardner, Derek Stingley, Andrew Booth, Daxton Hill, Roger McCreary, Jalen Pitre)

Top 100 grades: 14

Late-round feet: Good

This cornerback group is stacked. And it’s a lot more than just Gardner and Stingley. Booth is a bit of a mystery because he’s been injured during the pre-draft process. When healthy, he’s a first-round lock all day. Twitchy and equipped with stellar ball skills. Hill and Pitre are hyper-agile nickel corners at the next level, and if McCreary’s arms were about two inches longer, he’d be a first-round lock as well. 

On Day 2 is where there’s plenty of heft to this cornerback class. Sam Houston State’s tall, elite athlete Zyon McCollum is a tremendous watch. Nebraska’s Cam Taylor-Britt and Pittsburgh’s Damarri Mathis are two in-your-face, explosive outside corners who’ll outplay their draft position. Washington’s Kyler Gordon is as flexible as they come at outside corner, and I like his teammate Trent McDuffie, just not in Round 1. A little too small with not enough collegiate production for my taste. Martin Emerson from Mississippi State is the oversized, physical specimen who can thrive in zone or man at the next level, LSU’s Cordale Flott has amazing change-of-direction skill to lock down the slot, and Alabama’s Jalyn Armour-Davis is the ultimate sleeper, a former monster recruit who was only a starter one season for Nick Saban but made a big impact on the Crimson Tide secondary. I like the experience and overall games of Alabama’s Josh Jobe and Penn State’s Tariq Castro-Fields, too. 

1. Edge rushers

First-round grades: 5 (Aidan Hutchinson, Kayvon Thibodeaux, Arnold Ebiketie, George Karlaftis, Boye Mafe)

Top 100 grades: 17

Late-round feel: Great

This edger rusher class is stellar, from top to bottom, outstanding. And what’s funny about me ranking this group at No. 1 is that I’m lower on Travon Walker from Georgia and Florida State’s Jermaine Johnson. So if you love them, you wouldn’t be crazy to label this as the best edge group in a long time. 

And that’s without a Myles Garrett or Chase Young freakazoid type at the top. Ebiketie is bound for stardom in the NFL. He has it all. Burst, bend, dip, pass-rush moves, power. Karlaftis is ready to be a 700-snap defensive end in Year 1, and Mafe is only going to get better and better in the pros. So explosive. 

And the hits keep coming on Day 2 and into Day 3 — Sam Williams from Ole Miss is an immediate starter with powerful hands, David Ojabo from Michigan, USC’s Drake Jackson, and Myjai Sanders from Cincinnati have All-Pro upside. Ohio State’s Tyreke Smith and San Diego State’s Cam Thomas are NFL ready. Oklahoma’s Isaiah Thomas, Texas A&M’s Michael Clemons, and UAB’s Alex Wright are physical specimens who bring it around the corner. 

This edge group has those Day 3 fliers with compelling athletic profiles like Western Kentucky’s DeAngelo Malone — who thrived at the Senior Bowl — Miami of Ohio’s Dominique Robinson and Texas A&M’s Tyree Johnson. If you need to improve how frequently your team gets to the opposing quarterback, select two edge rushers in this draft.