2022 Road to the Draft – Part 8
March 8, 2022
By Noonefromtampa
It’s NFL Combine time. Throwing, running and jumping, oh my! The general manager wizards and their brain trusts have gathered in Indianapolis, Indiana to evaluate this year’s crop of potential draft picks. We now know that Kenny Pickett’s hand are apparently the smallest of any current NFL quarterback. We seen sub 4.4 40 times from a number of players and by the end of the combine a lot of questions about players physical traits will have been answered.
Freshness Rating
39% of mock draft data for this week is one week old or newer and 61% is two weeks or older. This week is the least “fresh” that the mocks have been so far this offseason. I would expect this trend to continue since there is a larger number of mockers only publish a couple of versions of their mocks, whereas a smaller portion of the draft “experts” publish weekly. The next big wave of mock draft updates should occur after free agency starts and player signings start happening.
| Age | Age % |
| New | 24.48% |
| 1 Week Old | 14.69% |
| 2 Weeks Old | 27.97% |
| 3+ Weeks Old | 32.87% |
| Grand Total | 100.00% |
Position Distribution
The number of mocks is up 16 this week to 143 overall, an increase of 12.6% over last week. The position focus is still centered on quarterback, with the overall percentage up slightly, about one-half percentage point from last week. The big winner this week was wide receiver, which is up about 1.5% and the big loser was safety down about 1.75%.
| Position | Picked Count | Picked % | Last Week % | % Change |
| QB | 111 | 77.62% | 77.17% | 0.46% |
| WR | 10 | 6.99% | 5.51% | 1.48% |
| IOL | 6 | 4.20% | 4.72% | -0.53% |
| LB | 6 | 4.20% | 3.94% | 0.26% |
| CB | 6 | 4.20% | 3.15% | 1.05% |
| S | 2 | 1.40% | 3.15% | -1.75% |
| OT | 2 | 1.40% | 2.36% | -0.96% |
| 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 | 143 | 100% |
The players mock picked to Washington at the 11th pick are in descending frequency:
| Player | Position | School | Picked Count | Picked % |
| Malik Willis | QB | Liberty | 33 | 23.08% |
| Kenny Pickett | QB | Pittsburgh | 32 | 22.38% |
| Matt Corral | QB | Mississippi | 26 | 18.18% |
| Sam Howell | QB | North Carolina | 13 | 9.09% |
| Treylon Burks | WR | Arkansas | 4 | 2.80% |
| Nakobe Dean | LB | Georgia | 4 | 2.80% |
| Kenyon Green | IOL | Texas A&M | 4 | 2.80% |
| Desmond Ridder | QB | Cincinnati | 4 | 2.80% |
| Garrett Wilson | WR | Ohio State | 3 | 2.10% |
| Derek Stingley Jr | CB | LSU | 3 | 2.10% |
| Tyler Linderbaum | IOL | Iowa | 2 | 1.40% |
| Russell Wilson | QB | SEA | 2 | 1.40% |
| Devin Lloyd | LB | Utah | 2 | 1.40% |
| Kyle Hamilton | S | Notre Dame | 2 | 1.40% |
| Ahmad Gardner | CB | Cincinnati | 2 | 1.40% |
| Charles Cross | OT | Mississippi State | 1 | 0.70% |
| Drake London | WR | USC | 1 | 0.70% |
| David Carr | QB | NFL – LVR | 1 | 0.70% |
| Ikem Ekwonu | OT | NC State | 1 | 0.70% |
| Chris Olave | WR | Ohio State | 1 | 0.70% |
| Andrew Booth Jr. | CB | Clemson | 1 | 0.70% |
| Jameson Williams | WR | Alabama | 1 | 0.70% |
| Grand Total | 143 | 100.00% |
Malik Willis broke the Matt Corral streak as the most frequently selected quarterback. Corral even dropped to third behind Kenny Pickett, who is running a close second to Willis. Willis picked up comments from Ron Rivera who likened him to Cam Newton, who Rivera drafted in Carolina. That probably influenced some mockers, but I don’t see the Commanders taking such a project at quarterback, not when rumors of Washington offering Seattle multiple first round picks for Russell Wilson persist.
Trades
Every week now, there are a couple of new trades proposed in the mocks. This week it seemed to involve trading up for Malik Willis. I could be wrong, but I don’t see that as realistic either.
| Days Old | Notes | Trade Direction | Trade
Slot |
Trade
Team |
Player Involved |
| 5 | WSH (pick 6 overall) & CAR (pick 11 overall, 2022 2nd, 2023 2nd) | Up | 6 | CAR | Malik Willis |
| WSH (pick 5 overall) & NYG (pick 11, pic 42, 2023 1st) | Up | 5 | NYG | Malik Willis | |
| 6 | Washington Commanders sends picks 11 and 42 to the Carolina Panthers for picks 6 and 144 | Up | 6 | CAR | Kenny Pickett |
| 12 | Washington Commanders sends 2022 1st round pick, 2023 1st round pick, 2022 2nd round pick for QB Russell Wilson | Player | N/A | SEA | Russell Wilson |
| 13 | Seattle Seahawks receive picks 11, 42, 2023 first and third-round picks, Taylor Heinicke. Washington Commanders receive Russell Wilson. | Player | N/A | SEA | Russell Wilson |
| 14 | Washington sends pick 11 to Las Vegas for David Carr | Player | N/A | LVR | David Carr |
| 17 | Washington sends picks 11, 42 to Carolina for pick 6 | Up | 6 | CAR | Malik Willis |
| 24 | Washington receives picks 8 & 217, Atlanta receives picks 11, 75, 228, and 2023 2nd round | Up | 8 | ATL | Kenny Pickett |
Time until NFL Free Agency March 16, 2022: 1 week
Time until NFL Draft on April 28-30: 7 weeks
Sources: nflmockdraftdatabase.com