2022 NFL mock draft: The first round

With the 2021 college season over, the 2021 NFL regular season done and Super Bowl LVI settled, we can focus on the things that really matter: like, NFL mock drafts. 

In this, the latest update to our 2022 mock draft first published last June, team draft order is locked and final. So, who are the 32 elite college players who'll be chosen in the first round? And how many NFL teams in need of quarterback will use a premium pick to get one in a draft year that's arguably light on first-round QBs? 

This mock does not project possible draft-day deals. So, all those draft slots that potentially could get swapped if disgruntled veteran NFL quarterbacks, such as Aaron Rodgers and Russell Wilson, grumble their way out of town? Or all the deals the Tampa Bay Buccaneers might be willing to make in order to find the replacement for Tom Brady? Those are for another mock -- not this one. 

ESPN's Scouts Inc. considers this 6-foot-4 corner out of UTSA a first-round talent, rating him as the 31st-best prospect in the 2022 draft class.  

Jahan Dotson is a favorite of ESPN's Mel Kiper Jr. Kiper calls the Penn State senior an "explosive wideout." 

247Sports' Chris Hummer called DeMarvin Leal "an athletic, scheme-versatile lineman with a motor that runs hot." 

According to 247Sports' Zack Pearson, the Florida star "has good size for a defensive back and has a knack for making plays in the secondary." 

Nicholas Petit-Frere was a 247Sports-rated, five-star recruit from Tampa, Florida. He went on to become the starting right tackle for Cincinnati. 

In 2021, the 6-foot-4, 250-pound junior returned as the Trojans' starting outside linebacker, and scored five sacks and one interception. 

The early rounds of the NFL draft have not been welcoming to running backs of late -- and the 2022 draft looks to be no different. Spiller is the first and only running back noted here. 

After having lost their way to last year's top selection, the Jags scored Trevor Lawrence. And after posting the NFL's worst team offense in 2021, they lost their way to the top selection again. This time, they pray they weren't wrong about Lawrence, and look to get him protection in the form of 6-foot-7, 360-pound Evan Neal. 

In the 2021 college season, Evan Neal stepped into the left tackle position vacated on the Alabama line by Alex Leatherwood. 247Sports' Zack Pearson called Neal "a legit pass protector."

Sure, the Lions need a real fresh start at quarterback, but they'll get the most value out of this slot, and have a go at fixing their near-worst league defense, by selecting Michigan's Aidan Hutchinson. 

Aidan Hutchinson was a star of last year's mock drafts, too. But the 6-foot-6 Wolverine, who saw his 2020 campaign abbreviated by injury, opted to return to Michigan for his senior season. Suffice to say, he made a good decision. 

Houston's even more desperate for a quarterback than Detroit, but this is not the place to draft one in 2022. So, instead the Texans select Kyle Hamilton, the 6-foot-4 defender out of Notre Dame. 

Kyle Hamilton is a safety who, per CBS Sports' Ryan Wilson, is "the latest in a long line of freakishly athletic defensive back[s]." He moves up to the No. 3 draft slot in this update. 

In the 2021 NFL Draft, the Jets used their high-end picks on offense, landing, among others, quarterback Zach Wilson. A year later, they'll use the draft to see if they can score some sacks, rather than just give them up. And so the team with 2021's league-worst team defense will select the 6-foot-5 Kayvon Thibodeaux. 

Kayvon Thibodeaux "just might be the best talent in this class," 247Sports' Zack Pearson judged in the 2021 preseason. CBS Sports' Kyle Stackpole says the Jets "should be ecstatic" if Thibodeaux stays on the board even this long.

Are the Giants serious about sticking with Daniel Jones at quarterback? With the team in makeover mode, who knows? Is there a QB worthy of being selected with the fifth overall pick? Probably not. Whether Jones stays or goes, the Giants may want to bolster their O-line for whoever lines up behind center. Even before the 2021 college season began, CBS Sports' Chris Trapasso saw Mississippi State's Charles Cross as a Top 10 draft talent. 

Though young (Charles Cross was just a red-shirt sophomore in 2021), the 6-foot-5, 310-pound pass-blocker, Chris Trapasso wrote, is a "battled-tested SEC blocker with quality pass-protection capabilities." 

Old (wrong) thought: Spencer Rattler will be the first quarterback selected in the 2022 NFL Draft. New (not-yet disproved!) thought: After throwing for 42 touchdowns in 2021 for Pitt, Kenny Pickett will be! 

For what it's worth, CBS Sports' Jason La Canfora reported that Pickett impressed during Senior Bowl week, and that NFLers now consider him to the most pro-ready QB on the board. Enter Carolina, another team that needs a pro-ready QB. 

After moving to protect their QB with their earlier first-round pick, the Giants look to nab a receiver with their next top selection.  

As a junior in 2021 for Ohio State, Garrett Wilson scored more than 1,050 receiving yards, and hauled in 12 touchdown passes. Wilson is CBS Sports' highest-rated wide receiver prospect from the 2022 draft class.

As much as Matt Ryan's future as the Atlanta quarterback seems up in the air, the Falcons need more immediate help on defense. And so they select the reigning Butkus Award winner, Nakobe Dean. 

This will sound familiar: The Broncos need a quarterback. But they won't use a Top 10 pick on QB talent that's not considered Top 10-worthy. So, the thought here is Denver solves its QB situation with a trade for a vet, and then uses its premium pick to get its new passer a premium target: Drake London.  

The 6-foot-5, basketball-playing London brings size and athleticism. He's also handy with the football, logging more than 1,000 receiving yards for the Trojans in 2021.

With their second pick of the first round, the Jets call on Ahmad Gardner to improve their porous defense. 

Gardner, 247Sports' Chris Hummer judged, was a "big reason" Cincinnati dominated on defense in 2020,  Gardner -- and Cincinnati -- only got better in 2021.

In two years at Liberty, the dual-threat QB passed for more than 5,100 yards, and rushed for another 1,800-plus. 

CBS Sports' Kyle Stackpole sees Malik Willis going as high as the ninth overall pick (to Denver); his colleagues Ryan Wilson, Chris Trapasso and Josh Edwards all have Willis going in this slot to the newly redubbed Washington team.  

The 6-foot-1 Derek Stingley missed game time in 2020 and 2021 due to injury and illness. But he remains a top NFL prospect because, as 247Sports' Zack Pearson puts it, he's "blazing fast." Stingley is the namesake son of coach and former Arena Football League player Derek Stingley, and the grandson of Darryl Stingley, the New England Patriots star receiver who was paralyzed in a 1978 NFL preseason game. 

If Cleveland doesn't punt on Baker Mayfield, then they look to get their QB a new receiving target. The 6-foot-3 Treylon Burks impressed in his three years with Arkansas, and is ESPN's Scouts Inc.'s third-highest-rated receiver on its list of draft-eligible players.  

The 6-foot-3 Tyler Linderbaum is the most-coveted center of the 2022 draft class. Both CBS Sports and ESPN's Scouts Inc. regard him as a Top 15 (or better) prospect.

Rated a three-star recruit by 247Sports back when he was at North Carolina's Providence Day School, Ikem Ekwonu is a redshirt sophomore at NC State who was called "the most feared lineman in the ACC" by The Athletic. The Philadelphia Eagles use their first of their bounty of first-round picks to lock him up. 

With their next (but not last!) first-round pick, Philadelphia picks up a new defender: Travon Walker. The 6-foot-5 Georgia Bulldogs star scored 12 sacks in 2021, including one in the College Football Playoff National Championship Game against Alabama. 

In 2021, the junior Purdue defender,  a former Freshman All-American, rebounded from an injury-shortened 2020, and wrapped up 39 total tackles. After narrowly missing the playoffs, the Chargers could use help in the wrapping-things-up department.  

New Orleans reboots at QB with Matt Corral. In 2021, the Ole Miss junior inserted himself into the Heisman race, and mock-draft universe, with a 381-yard season-opener against Louisville. He ended the year with a college-career-best 3,343 passing yards. 

Given that Jameson Williams tore his ACL in the College Football Playoff National Championship Game, it may seem risky to take the Alabama wide receiver this high. But all picks come with risk -- and not all picks come with Williams' upside.  

After transferring to Alabama from Ohio State, the 6-foot-2 Williams logged 1,572 receiving yards, and 17 total touchdowns for the Crimson Tide in 2021.

Unlike other teams called out here, Pittsburgh doesn't need a new quarterback. It really needs one. But it just doesn't seem like a Steelers-y move to replace a franchise legend with a borderline first-round QB prospect. So, Pittsburgh finds Ben Roethlisberger's successor through trade or free agency, and uses this pick to upgrade its defense. Enter Devin Lloyd. Both CBS Sports and ESPN's Scouts Inc. have the 6-foot-3 linebacker down as a Top 20 prospect of the 2022 draft class. 

The 6-foot-5 defender started his college career at a community college in Kansas. A stint at Georgia followed, before the transfer portal brought him to Florida State where a 2021 breakout season saw him record 11.5 sacks and 70 total tackles. ESPN's Scouts Inc. considers Johnson the third-best defensive end in the draft pool. 

With the Las Vegas franchise in flux, it's impossible to know what its priorities will be come the draft. The pick here is of the general, best-athlete-left-on-the-board variety. That brings us to Washington corner Trent McDuffie, rated as the 13th-best player in the 2022 draft class by ESPN's Scouts Inc.

Assuming Kyler Murray is staying (his Cardinals-free social-media accounts notwithstanding), then Arizona looks to improve its should-be-better offense for their franchise QB with Chris Olave. In his senior season for Ohio State, the 6-foot-1 receiver hauled in 13 touchdown passes. Olave is rated as the 19th-best draft prospect by CBS Sports. 

The 6-foot-5 Michigan Wolverine emerged in a big way in his junior year in 2021, his first as a starter. David Ojabo recorded 11 sacks -- and bounded up mock draft boards. CBS Sports' Ryan Wilson has him going as the seventh overall pick (to the New York Giants).   

Devonte Wyatt is a 6-foot-3, 315-pound defender who played four seasons for Georgia after emerging from the junior-college scene. ESPN's Scouts Inc. has him ranked as the 23rd-best prospect from the 2022 draft class. 

The 6-foot-7 Bernhard Raimann is seen here at a practice for the 2022 Senior Bowl. During his four-year run at Central Michigan, he transitioned from tight end to the O-line -- and became a top draft prospect. 

Assuming the Bucs don't discover the next Tom Brady, they upgrade at defense with Andrew Booth. Seen here in action in the 2021 national title game, the 6-foot-tall defender scored 37 total tackles in his junior year for Clemson. 

The winner of the 2021 Outland Trophy, the 6-foot-4, 340-pound Georgia senior is the best defensive lineman in the 2022 draft class, per CBS Sports. 

The Dolphins look to give their QB (whoever that may be in 2022) more protection via a CBS Sports-rated Top 20 NFL prospect: the 6-foot-4, 325-pound Kenyon Green. Green started at right tackle for Texas A&M in 2021. He's also been a left-tackle starter for the school. 

An All-Pac-12 First Team selection in 2021, the 6-foot corner recorded 45 total tackles and two interceptions in his redshirt sophomore season for the Huskies. He is rated as the 31st-best prospect in the 2022 draft class by CBS Sports. 

With Joe Burrow getting sacked approximately a bajillion times during the Bengals' Super Bowl run, the QB's team uses the draft to bolster his protection. Enter Daniel Faalele, all 6-foot-9, 380 pounds of him. At Minnesota, Faalele played right tackle.  

While it was too soon for Detroit to make a play for a quarterback with the second overall pick, it might be the right time for the Lions to go for Cincinnati's Desmond Ridder with the 32nd. Ridder helped make history by leading a Group of Five team to the College Football Playoff. CBS Sports' Chris Trapasso sees Pittsburgh nabbing Ridder with the 20th overall pick.