By noreply@blogger.com (Newsrust)
April 29, 2022, 12:23 a.m. ET
April 29, 2022, 12:23 a.m. ET
The top of this year’s NFL Draft didn’t look like a franchise-changing quarterback. Instead, Round 1 on Thursday night in Las Vegas belonged to players known to stop those passers and clubs trying to maneuver around the draft board.
Edge rushers went No. 1 and No. 2 overall, with Travon Walker from Georgia go first to the Jacksonville Jaguars, followed by Michigan’s Aidan Hutchinson to the Detroit Lions.
Walker, a centerpiece of the Georgia defense who handed the university a national championship in January, was one of five Bulldogs defensive players selected in the first round, setting a record for single-school defensive unit . He was also the first non-quarterback to become No. 1 overall since 2017, when the Cleveland Browns selected point carrier Myles Garrett.
The night was also marked by trades, including a big move from the Philadelphia Eagles to acquire wide receiver AJ Brown, a 2020 Pro Bowler, from the Tennessee Titans.
Brown missed four games last season due to injury, but was Tennessee’s leading receiver with 869 yards and five touchdowns in a season that ended in a loss to the Cincinnati Bengals in the playoffs. AFC playoffs. Tennessee used the Eagles’ No. 18 pick to select another wide, Arkansas Treylon Burkswhile cashing in on a third-round pick in the trade.
There were nine total trades in the first round, including an unlikely trade between the Minnesota Vikings and the NFC North division rivals Detroit Lions.
Prior to Thursday, a quarterback had been chosen from the top three picks in every draft since 2014.
The Steelers took the lone quarterback in Round 1, selecting Pittsburgh’s Kenny Pickett at No. 20. It’s the last the first-round quarterback has been selected in the first round since 1997, when the 49ers picked Jim Druckenmiller with the 26th pick.
Round 2 begins Friday at 7 p.m. EST when the Tampa Bay Buccaneers will be on the clock with pick No. 33.
Source: NFL Draft 2022 Picks and Reactions: How the first round went
Category: Football, Sports
