Wide receivers also starred in the first round in Las Vegas
started the Draft 2022 from NFL. The first round ended. One that left nine trades, the most for a first round since the draft was expanded to three days in 2010 – last year there were just three trades in the same phase of the draft.
Added to the 11 trades arranged before kickoff, that was 20 trades in the first 32 draft picks.
Georgia displaced to Alabama as the leading school. The national champion became the first school in draft history to field five defensive players in the first round of a draft. Instead, Alabama left just two players, the fewest since 2016.
Georgia was the first overall pick: defensive end Travon Walker, selected by the Jacksonville Jaguars; with the 13th pick, the Baltimore Ravens took another defender, Jordan Davis, and the Minnesota Vikings, late in the session, took safety Lewis Cine. But it was the Green Bay Packers who marked a milestone in the draft along with the school of Georgia.
The Packs took linebacker Quay Walker at 22nd and defensive tackle Devonte Wyatt at 28th. The Green Bay franchise is the first in the Common Draft Era to take two defensive players from the same school in the first round of a draft; seventh organization to take two players from the same college in the first round.
The selections continued their course and they had to pass 19 so that in the 20 Pittsburgh Steelers chose the first quarterback – and only one of the round – by taking Kenny Pickett.
The last time only one QB left in the first round of a draft was in 2013, when the Buffalo Bills took EJ Manuel with 16th overall.
The ones that were in demand were wide receivers. For the first time in the Common Era, of the top 20 pics, six were wide receivers; three were selected consecutively, the second time in a draft since 1967. According to the classification of ESPNNew York Jets, with the 10th pick, took the top prospect: Garrett Wilson from Ohio State.
Ultimately, it was the first round in draft history since the Common Era with no running back or tight end selected.
The draft will continue with the second and third rounds on Friday, at six o’clock in the followingnoon in central Mexico.
