Way too early 2022 mock draft

[wthigoot]

I'm always way too early starting a draft thread. Here is an initial idea of a mock for 2022.

Assumptions:
- No last dance, Rodgers, Adams, MVS, Lazard, Tonyan, King are back
- 4th (for Linsley) and 6th (for J. Williams) round comp picks
- Picking 32nd

This is mostly a position vs. round draft only. Can't tell where these guys will end up ranked. Seems like Bell for sure will move up as evaluations go on.

Rd No Player Pos Ht Wt College
1 32 Penning, Trevor OT 6-7 321 Northern Iowa
2 64 Bell. David WR 6-2 205 Purdue
3 96 Wyatt, Devantae DT 6-3 315 Georgia
4 130 Carter, Zachary DE 6-4 285 Florida
4 136 LaPorta, Sam TE 6-4 249 Iowa
5 170 Weatherford, Sterling S 6-4 215 Miami (OH)
6 <Traded for Cobb>
6 214 Gunter, Jeffrey OLB 6-4 260 Coastal Carolina
7 220 Cantrell, Daniel LS 6-0 241 Boise State
7 248 Moody, Jake PK 6-1 211 Michigan

[texaspackerbacker]

Position vs. Round, I don't like it, especially the first 3 or 4 rounds. I notice you didn't make the assumption Crosby will be back. I'm thinking/maybe hoping he will not. No mention of Z. Smith either.

With the returnees and the experience the young guys got, we don't need an O Lineman in the first round or anywhere early. Ditto that for WR and maybe TE too. I'd take a pass rusher early as well as a ILB. We also could use Safety earlier. Forget the long snapper, just bring several in for tryouts. I'd consider taking a kicker earlier than 7th also. I'd also consider a late round QB just on the chance we could trade Love for a decent pick.

[RashanGary]

I agree with Tex that we don’t need an OL. Meyers and Newman will be second year players and much improved. Nijman can be our RT. Bakh will be the left. Runyan should only get better too. Eventually Jenkins will be back. We have a lot of good quality young guys just stepping into their primes.

I do think we’re going to let Turner go. The money is going to have to come from somewhere next year.

[wthigoot]

Interesting takes, I was thinking that the Smiths and Gary would be back for one more year. Know there might be cap issues with that. If they are back, get a developmental guy in later rounds. Anyone to help right away will probably take the first round pick.

Tackle looks thin to me. Bakhtiari, Nijman, and Kelly if Turner is gone, unless Jenkins moves outside. Certainly no need for interior guys as there is a lot of depth, but would like to have another good tackle.

There doesn't seem to be a real #2 receiver right now. Lazard was #2 for a while, MVS might be that. A new #2 would give everyone else better matchups; no money for a vet, maybe able to get one in the draft. Wouldn't use the first rounder for that; would use the 2nd.

TE is Tonyan (if back and healthy), Deguara, M. Lewis (if back), Dafney. Mid to late round for development, not urgent if all these guys are back.

Safety starters (Amos and Savage) are good, can get backups mid to late. I would be OK with taking one a little earlier.

I think Crosby is back but is on the bubble. Use the 7th for the kicker you want to compete with him (kickers seem to be drafted more these days, so maybe tex is right and you need to use an earlier pick for the right guy).

Use the other 7th for your choice of LS. That didn't work the last time as the drafted punter and LS were released, but you get your choice instead of hunting for someone in free agency. The PK and LS in the mock are from northern schools for the cold weather familiarity,

[run pMc]

I think Z is gone. Both Smiths might be gone and then they'll need pass rushers.... I just see more needs on D than O. Granted, defense tends to vary more season over season than offense, but I think they will skew towards D in the draft as they get into Year 2 of Joe Barry defense. I could see them taking another crack at CB in the mid-rounds along with S. Sullivan has been ok and a good contract value for them, but I suspect they want to upgrade there, and my gut tells me Shemar J-C is not the answer. Vernon Scott has been a healthy scratch and Henry Black is not the answer as the third safety when they go to those looks, plus you want better depth behind your starting safeties than what they have. Devondre Campbell made himself a lot of money and is likely gone; they'll need to find another ILB who can play that role. I get the feeling Barry's D places a higher value on ILBs than Pettine, and Gute might draft there. I don't think they bring Burks back unless it's for cheap depth/ST, Summers is meh, and McDuffie is undersized. If they go D in R1, it's either for an OLB or a DL -- sacks/pressures and athletic 300 pounders are always at a premium. They can let Lowry and Lancaster go and plug Keke/Slaton next to Clark with a draftee backing them up.

What they do with Rodgers is question 1a, Davante is 1.b
They will need to figure out a few things on O, and I wouldn't be against taking a swing at finding a RT to eventually replace Billy Turner. Amari Rodgers will have to make a big jump; if Adams leaves the need for a WR goes up. I wouldn't draft a TE unless it was early on a bonafide player or late round flyer on athletic type who can do a lot of the Tonyan stuff. This was a contract year for Tonyan and I think his production/injury means they'll bring him back if possible on a cheap 1-2 year prove-it deal. If you look thru the list of TEs drafted vs. late round/UDFA's it seems like it's a tossup.

They might let Mason walk, if they do they have JJ Molson on the PS and they protect him every week... which means they like him. I could see them letting Mason go, and bringing in a few other K for a competition to save a few bucks but honestly the LS and holder (and blocking) are bigger issues IMO. Wish they could teach the backup QB to be the holder; would open up some interesting possibilities to pull fakes.

Pretty early - but what they do will largely be driven by cap space, Rodgers, and Adams. (They'll take the 5th year option on Jaire and sign him to a long-term deal for cap room too.) Every team has holes, enjoy this season. I think the roster will be very different next year.

[smuggler]

We'll trade out of the first round and trade up from the third so we'll have three 2nd rounders.

[RashanGary]

We'll trade out of the first round and trade up from the third so we'll have three 2nd rounders.

Gute has been pretty good with 1st round picks. Usually I’d like that 3 2nds thing but his 2nds haven’t been as good as his firsts.

[wthigoot]

Will just post some draft news on occasion in this thread.

Senior Bowl invitees that have accepted:

https://www.seniorbowl.com/the-game/accepted-invites/

Compensatory Pick prediction (article is from this summer), 4th and 6th for Packers (wonder if the Campbell signing will erase the 6th, should get the 4th for Linsley though):

https://www.nfl.com/news/2022-nfl-draft-compensatory-pick-projections-for-every-team

[smuggler]

Packers signed Campbell too late in the FA process for him to factor into comp picks, IIRC.

E: Yes, in order for Campbell to factor into Comp Pick calculations, he'd have to sign by April 27th, but the Packers signed him in June!

[wthigoot]

Packers signed Campbell too late in the FA process for him to factor into comp picks, IIRC.

E: Yes, in order for Campbell to factor into Comp Pick calculations, he'd have to sign by April 27th, but the Packers signed him in June!

Thanks for the info, good news. Another lotto ticket is always welcome.

[HarveyWallbangers]

I don’t see OT with the first pick. The Packers have four good OTs (Bakh, Turner, Nijman, Jenkins).

[RashanGary]

I don’t see OT with the first pick. The Packers have four good OTs (Bakh, Turner, Nijman, Jenkins).

Turner could be a cap casualty. Jenkins won’t be back till mid season. So they have 2. But two is manageable.

[MadScientist]

I don't understand people saying we don't need receiver help. There's Adams, and then a bunch of jags who are #4 receivers (maybe a low #3 if being generous). Maybe Copper develops, but more talent needs to be in the pipeline.

[HarveyWallbangers]

Turner could be a cap casualty. Jenkins won’t be back till mid season. So they have 2. But two is manageable.

I’m not sure Turner is a cap casualty. They only save $4-5m by cutting him, and teams generally don’t give up solid OTs for that. Depends on the Rodgers situation though.

[Guiness]

I’m not sure Turner is a cap casualty. They only save $4-5m by cutting him, and teams generally don’t give up solid OTs for that. Depends on the Rodgers situation though.

His overall cap hit is pretty sizable at almost $9m in the last year of his contract but there's a dead cap of $5m if they cut him. I don't think you cut a good performing RT for a saving of 4m, especially if Jenkins who could be looked at as an RT in the future isn't going to be ready by TC.