2022 Road to the Draft – Part 4
February 9, 2021
By Noonefromtampa
All-Star Games
This past week the East-West Shrine Game and the Senior Bowl, games for players who have completed college eligibility, were held. The Shrine Game is for players who are likely to be drafted in the lower half of the draft and the Senior Bowl is for players likely to be drafted in the upper half of the draft. The big benefits to these games are getting to see the players work with NFL coaches and complete against a level of talent they may have not seen in their college games.
Here are my observations from watching practice recaps and the two games.
East-West Shrine Game
Offensive Players
The quarterback play in the game was not so great. The one player who did stand out was EJ Perry from Brown, who went 13 of 18 for 241 yards and 3 TDs.
Pierre Strong Jr, the running back from South Dakota State, had a nice 65-yard TD screen pass reception.
Jelani Woods, tight end from Virginia, is a big target. He had 3 catches for 30 yds and a TD, plus made great special teams play on the onside kick at end of game.
Samori Toure, wide receiver from Nebraska, is tall and has a big catch radius. This makes him a good red zone target. He had 2 touchdowns.
Of the offensive lineman, three stood out: Bamidele Olaseni, Utah, who will move inside at the next level; Ryan Van Demark, UConn, who may play inside or right tackle; and Zach Tom, Wake Forest, who will probably move to center.
Defensive Players
James Houston, linebacker from Jackson State, seemed to be all over making run stops and pressuring the quarterback. Another linebacker to keep an eye on is Darien Butler from Arizona State.
Defensive backs to watch for in the draft were Brandon Sebastian, corner Boston College, and Kyler McMichael, corner from North Carolina.
From the defensive line, Thomas Booker, Stanford, and Ali Fayad, Western Michigan, were two players who stood out.
Punter Tommy Heatherly from Florida International will be high on the undrafted free agent signing list for teams that need a punter. He really bombed some kicks during the game.
Senior Bowl
Offensive Players
My opinion on the quarterback play is that the Commanders should draft a player who is not a major project. After watching Malik Willis, he is definitely a major project. I would go with one of the steadier players like Kenny Pickett or Sam Howell. Carson Strong did not perform well, as he hadan interception and fumble on back-to-back series. Desmond Ridder moved ahead of Strong in my book.
Offensive line standouts were tackle Trevor Penning, Northern Iowa, and Zion Johnson, Boston College, who can play either guard or center. Another name to watch out for is Darian Kinnard, Kentucky who will play guard at the next level.
Offensive skill players I liked from the game included tight end Jake Ferguson from Wisconsin (3 catches for 30 yards and a TD); Velus Jones Jr., Tennessee, who showed he could fill multiple roster spots, such as wide receiver and return specialist; Rachaad White, Arizona State, was the running back who stood out and 4.7 yards per carry.
Another name to watch is wide receiver Christian Watson from North Dakota State, an FCS school. He has great size (6’4” with 4.4 speed) and held his own in practices against better competition.
Defensive Players
Boya Mafe, Edge, Minnesota and Perrion Winfrey, the defensive lineman from Oklahoma, had great practice and games. Winfrey was named MVP based on his two sacks and three tackles for a loss.
At linebacker, which is position of need for Washington, Chad Muma from Wyoming had a great game and even chased down Malik Willis on one of his long scrambles. Damone Clark from LSU was another LB who impressed during the week and game time.
The name to watch defensively is corner Tariq Woolen from the University of Texas at San Antonio, who has a unique combination of size (6’3”) and speed (4.3) that will intrigue many NFL scouting departments.
Jordan Stout, the punter from Penn State showed distance, hang time and accuracy (two punts inside the 20) to possibly be worthy of a late round pick for a punter needy team.
Freshness Rating
The mock data for this week is 56% one week old or newer and 44% two weeks or older.
| Age | Age % |
| New | 32.88% |
| 1 Week Old | 23.29% |
| 2 Weeks Old | 13.70% |
| 3+ Weeks Old | 30.14% |
| Grand Total | 100.00% |
Position Distribution
The number of mocks is up 8 this week to 73 overall, up over 12% from last week. Folks who publish mock on a regular basis will probably have updates this week based on how players performed in the recent All-Star games. The next big update wave of updates will come after the combine.
| Position | Picked Count | Picked % | Last Week % | % Change |
| QB | 48 | 65.75% | 66.15% | -0.40% |
| OT | 6 | 8.22% | 4.62% | 3.60% |
| S | 6 | 8.22% | 4.62% | 3.60% |
| LB | 4 | 5.48% | 1.54% | 3.94% |
| WR | 3 | 4.11% | 9.23% | -5.12% |
| IOL | 3 | 4.11% | 6.15% | -2.04% |
| CB | 3 | 4.11% | 7.69% | -3.58% |
| Edge | 0 | 0.00% | 0.00% | 0.00% |
| RB | 0 | 0.00% | 0.00% | 0.00% |
| TE | 0 | 0.00% | 0.00% | 0.00% |
| DT | 0 | 0.00% | 0.00% | 0.00% |
| Grand Total | 73 | 100% |
The players mock picked to Washington at the 11th pick are in descending frequency:
| Player | Position | School | Picked Count | Picked % |
| Matt Corral | QB | Mississippi | 18 | 24.66% |
| Kenny Pickett | QB | Pittsburgh | 11 | 15.07% |
| Malik Willis | QB | Liberty | 9 | 12.33% |
| Sam Howell | QB | North Carolina | 6 | 8.22% |
| Charles Cross | OT | Mississippi State | 4 | 5.48% |
| Kyle Hamilton | S | Notre Dame | 4 | 5.48% |
| Desmond Ridder | QB | Cincinnati | 3 | 4.11% |
| Nakobe Dean | LB | Georgia | 3 | 4.11% |
| Derek Stingley Jr | S | LSU | 2 | 2.74% |
| Ikem Ekwonu | OT | NC State | 2 | 2.74% |
| Tyler Linderbaum | IOL | Iowa | 2 | 2.74% |
| Andrew Booth Jr. | CB | Clemson | 2 | 2.74% |
| Kenyon Green | IOL | Texas A&M | 1 | 1.37% |
| Carson Strong | QB | Nevada | 1 | 1.37% |
| Garrett Wilson | WR | Ohio State | 1 | 1.37% |
| Ahmad Gardner | CB | Cincinnati | 1 | 1.37% |
| Devin Lloyd | LB | Utah | 1 | 1.37% |
| Treylon Burks | WR | Arkansas | 1 | 1.37% |
| Drake London | WR | USC | 1 | 1.37% |
| Grand Total | 73 | 100.00% |
Matt Corral is still the most frequently selected quarterback in the various mocks, followed closely by Kenny Pickett and Malik Willis. All the leading QB candidates are playing in the Senior Bowl except for injured Matt Corral.
NFL Combine: Tuesday, March 1st to Monday, March 7th
Time until NFL Free Agency March 16, 2022: 6 weeks
Time until NFL Draft on April 28-30: 12 weeks
Sources: nflmockdraftdatabase.com