If this offseason is anything to go by, the AFC East should be pretty competitive in 2022. The Bills continue to be one of the league’s strongest teams and the Patriots will always be in the mix as long as Bill Belichick is in charge. The Jets and Dolphins both look to be on the rise too, making some splash signings and taking their rosters to the next level. Here are my 2022 NFL Drat grades for all four teams.
Buffalo Bills
1.23 – CB Kaiir Elam, Florida
2.63 – RB James Cook, Georgia
3.89 – LB Terrel Bernard, Baylor
5.148 – WR Khalil Shakir, Boise State
6.180 – P Matt Araiza, San Diego State
6.185 – CB Christian Benford, Villanova
6.209 – OT Luke Tenuta, Virginia Tech
7.231 – LB Baylon Spector, Clemson
The Bills entered the draft in the luxurious position of not having any major needs on their roster. From that standpoint it is always difficult to really fail in the draft, but they do still deserve credit for some of the talented prospects they managed to grab. Kaiir Elam was an excellent selection in the first round and should slot in opposite Tre’Davious White from day one of his rookie season.
The rest of the draft was pretty good too. They did address their need at running back in the second round with James Cook, who should be a great addition to their backfield. Terrel Bernard seemed like an odd move in the third, especially with players like Leo Chenal and Channing Tindall still on the board. They made up for it in the later rounds though, securing an underrated receiving threat in Khalil Shakir and the best punter in the class in Matt Araiza.
Grade: B
Miami Dolphins
3.102 – LB Channing Tindall, Georgia
4.125 – WR Erik Ezukanma, Texas Tech
7.224 – LB Cameron Goode, California
7.247 – QB Skylar Thompson
The trade for Tyreek Hill was the Dolphins’ big move this offseason and it left them with remarkably little draft capital to work with. Their four selections were the fewest of any team in this draft and in fairness there is really only so much they were able to do with picks like these. That said, they did a very good job with what they had. Channing Tindall was excellent at Georgia and should have gone much higher in the draft.
Ezukanma was another smart addition who offers a complementary skillset to Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle, with outstanding contested catch ability and ball tracking downfield. He does also offer some sneaky ability as a YAC threat though, which makes him a nice fit in Mike McDaniels’ new offense. The one perplexing pick here is Skylar Thompson. Thompson will be a 25 year old rookie and at most will be the QB3 behind Tua and Teddy Bridgewater.
Grade: B
New England Patriots
1.29 – IOL Cole Strange, Chattanooga
2.50 – WR Tyquan Thornton, Baylor
3.85 – CB Marcus Jones, Houston
4.121 – CB Jack Jones, Arizona State
4.127 – RB Pierre Strong, South Dakota State
4.137 – QB Bailey Zappe, Western Kentucky
6.183 – RB Kevin Harris, South Carolina
6.200 – IDL Sam Roberts, NW Missouri State
6.210 – IOL Chasen Hines, LSU
7.245 – OT Andrew Stueber, Michigan
Everybody knows that Bill Belichick drafts differently to the other 31 teams in the NFL. There have certainly been times when that has worked to the Patriots’ advantage, but it has also led to a number of head-scratching picks. This year was no different. It started when New England took Chattanooga offensive lineman Cole Strange at No. 29 overall. Strange is a talented prospect, but this felt like a major reach, especially considering that he was the 76th ranked prospect on the Consensus Board.
Things got even more perplexing with the next pick, taking Baylor wide receiver Tyquan Thornton at No. 50 overall, ahead of players like George Pickens and Skyy Moore. Thornton offers great speed but is an unrefined prospect who ranked all the way down at 155th on the Consensus Board. He was barely in the conversation on day two, let alone a top 50 pick. It did get better after that, particularly with the selection of Houston corner and special teams ace Marcus Jones in the third, but it is very difficult not to let those first two picks sour the overall results of this class. Only time will tell if the Patriots were right in their evaluations, but it doesn’t look great at first glance.
Grade: C-
New York Jets
1.4 – CB Ahmad Gardner, Cincinnati
1.10 – WR Garrett Wilson, Ohio State
1.26 – EDGE Jermaine Johnson, Florida State
2.35 – RB Breece Hall, Iowa State
3.101 – TE Jeremy Ruckert, Ohio State
4.111 – OT Max Mitchell, Louisiana
4.117 – EDGE, Michael Clemons, Texas A&M
There are good drafts, and then there are great ones. The Jets’ 2022 haul is firmly in the latter category and is firmly in the conversation for the best of all 32 teams this year. They came away from the top ten with a lockdown corner in Ahmad Gardner and the best wide receiver in the draft class in Garrett Wilson. This was a team in dire need of pass rush too, and they got the steal of the first round with Jermaine Johnson at No. 26. All three players look to be quality starters out of the gate.
With all of their major needs taken care of by day two, they were free to just focus on talent. The selection of Breece Hall at the top of the second round was a smart move and gives them one of the more exciting young backs in football. I admittedly was not a fan of the Jeremy Ruckert pick in the third given the quality of other tight ends that were available, but when that is your main criticism of a draft you know you’ve done pretty well with the rest of your picks.
Grade: A
