2022 Road to the Draft – Part 11

March 30, 2022

By Noonefromtampa

Every week seems to bring more blockbuster trades. Deshaun Watson to Cleveland, Tyreek Hill to Miami are the latest trades. Picks are moving between teams faster than a bullet train, and all these trades will have a great impact on the draft and which players go to what teams.

The Commanders still hold the eleventh pick in the draft, but nine picks in the first round have changed hands, including one twice. As it stands today, two teams have back-to-back picks in round one, Philadelphia at 15/16 and Kansas City at 29/30. The Lions, Giants, Jets, Packers, Chiefs, Texans and Eagles all have multiple first round picks with the Eagles having three and the rest two.

Freshness Rating

This week, 31.5% of the mock data is one week old or newer, and 68.5% is two weeks or older.  I expanded the age breakdown and as you can see there is a large bubble of mocks that have not been updated in 5 or more weeks. 55% of the mocks tracked have been updated in the last month.

Age Age %
New 22.99%
1 Week Old 8.56%
2 Weeks Old 23.53%
3 Weeks Old 6.95%
4 Weeks Old 6.95%
5+ Weeks Old 31.02%
Grand Total 100.00%

 Position Distribution

The number of mocks is up 9 this week to 187 overall, up over 5% from last week. As expected in the post-trade for Wentz environment, mockers projecting a quarterback as the first pick for the Commanders shrunk again this week by 20.4%. The big winner was the wide receiver position, followed by cornerback.

Position Picked Count Picked % Last Week % % Change
QB 94 50.27% 70.66% -20.39%
WR 47 25.13% 13.17% 11.96%
CB 22 11.76% 6.59% 5.18%
OT 8 4.28% 2.40% 1.88%
IOL 6 3.21% 2.99% 0.21%
S 5 2.67% 1.20% 1.48%
LB 4 2.14% 1.80% 0.34%
TE 1 0.53% 0.60% -0.06%
Edge 0 0.00% 0.60% -0.60%
RB 0 0.00% 0.00% 0.00%
DT 0 0.00% 0.00% 0.00%
Grand Total 187 100%    

If you consider that 55% of the mocks comprise the most recent updates, the change is even more noticeable. Wide receiver is the most frequently picked position among those mockers.

Position Pick Count Pick %
WR 43 41.75%
QB 29 28.16%
CB 17 16.50%
OT 6 5.83%
IOL 3 2.91%
S 3 2.91%
LB 1 0.97%
TE 1 0.97%
Grand Total 103 100.00%

The players mock picked to Washington at the 11th pick are in descending frequency:

Player Position School Picked Count Picked %
Kenny Pickett QB Pittsburgh 32 17.11%
Malik Willis QB Liberty 24 12.83%
Garrett Wilson WR Ohio State 18 9.63%
Drake London WR USC 18 9.63%
Matt Corral QB Mississippi 17 9.09%
Sam Howell QB North Carolina 15 8.02%
Derek Stingley Jr CB LSU 13 6.95%
Ahmad Gardner CB Cincinnati 7 3.74%
Treylon Burks WR Arkansas 5 2.67%
Chris Olave WR Ohio State 5 2.67%
Kyle Hamilton S Notre Dame 4 2.14%
Desmond Ridder QB Cincinnati 4 2.14%
Devin Lloyd LB Utah 3 1.60%
Trevor Penning OT Northern Iowa 3 1.60%
Charles Cross OT Mississippi State 3 1.60%
Kenyon Green IOL Texas A&M 2 1.07%
Zion Johnson IOL Boston College 2 1.07%
Ikem Ekwonu OT NC State 2 1.07%
Tyler Linderbaum IOL Iowa 2 1.07%
Trent McDuffie CB Washington 1 0.53%
David Carr QB NFL – LVR 1 0.53%
Trey McBride TE Colorado State 1 0.53%
Nakobe Dean LB Georgia 1 0.53%
Russell Wilson QB SEA 1 0.53%
Daxton Hill S Michigan 1 0.53%
Andrew Booth Jr. CB Clemson 1 0.53%
Jameson Williams WR Alabama 1 0.53%
Grand Total 187 100.00%

Overall, quarterbacks still hold the top two positions in the player rankings, but two wide receivers, Garrett Wilson and Drake London, have climbed into the third and fourth spots on the board.

When the data is broken into the most recent 55% of mock drafts, Wilson and London are tied for the top spot with Pickett, with Stingley and Willis rounding out the top 5 players. For fans hoping for the pick to be a wide receiver, this will be welcome news.

Trades

There were no new or revised trades this week. The Commanders are in a good spot in the draft for trade back if a team with more draft resources wants to move up for a specific player remaining on the draft board at the number 11 pick.

Days Old Notes Trade Direction Trade Position Trade Team Player
13 Atlanta receives pick 11, 42, 2023 3rd rounder, Washington receives picks 8 and 2023 7th rounder. Up 8 ATL Malik Willis
15 Commanders receive Saints 1st, 2nd, and 5th round picks Down 18 NO Zion Johnson
16 Pittsburgh Steelers receive pick 11. Washington Commanders receive picks 20, 52, 2023 third-round pick Down 20 PIT Chris Olave
19 Washington Commanders receive picks 18, 49, and 100. New Orleans Saints receive pick 11 Down 18 NO Sam Howell
33 Washington Commanders send 2022 1st round pick, 2023 1st round pick, 2022 2nd round pick for QB Russell Wilson Player N/A SEA Russell Wilson
38 Washington sends picks 11, 42 to Carolina for pick 6 Up 6 CAR Malik Willis
27 Washington Commanders send picks 11 and 42 to the Carolina Panthers for picks 6 and 144 Up 6 CAR Kenny Pickett
35 Washington sends pick 11 to Las Vegas for David Carr Player N/A LVR David Carr

 

Time until NFL Draft on April 28-30: 4 weeks

Sources: nflmockdraftdatabase.com