Re-ranking 2022 NFL Draft by position: Aidan Hutchinson, Brock Purdy stand out

Turns out, the 2022 NFL Draft was all over the place.

Picks No. 2 and 3 (Aidan Hutchinson and Derek Stingley Jr., respectively) have blossomed into two of the NFL’s best defenders and pillars for their respective franchises. The No. 7 pick (Evan Neal) is still with the team that drafted him (the Giants), only he now earns the league minimum and no longer plays tackle. The Panthers used a third-round pick on a QB (Matt Corral) who has now been in the UFL for three seasons.

You just never know how it’s going to play out. The ’22 class featured a bunch of high-level defensive talent, some really good wide receivers, and either the weirdest or the worst (or both) quarterback class we’ve ever seen.

As members of that class prepare to enter their fifth NFL season, let’s re-rank each position group based on pro performance.

(Note: A highlighted row indicates a player no longer with the team that drafted him.)

Quarterback

Just about every analyst with a keyboard declared the 2022 QB class a dud months before the actual NFL Draft took place. And — all due respect to Mr. Irrelevant, Brock Purdy — that assessment was more or less correct. Not only did Purdy become the most improbable starter out of that draft class, but also he quickly saved (and recentered) Kyle Shanahan’s 49ers offense after the Trey Lance whiff. He remains the only nine-figure-contract QB in this class.

Malik Willis is the other ’22 QB with a firm starting job heading into training camp, though it’ll be the first of his career. The unproven former Green Bay backup (who was originally drafted by the Titans) earned a three-year deal with the Dolphins after performing well last season in place of an injured Jordan Love.

Bailey Zappe and Kenny Pickett are high-end backups with spot-start ability.

Running back

No longer known just as Dalvin Cook’s little brother, James Cook scored a four-year, $48-million extension ahead of 2025 after posting back-to-back 1,000-yard seasons and consistent production as a receiver. Cook paid Buffalo back with a career rushing year in 2025, leading the league with 1,621 yards en route to a third straight Pro Bowl.

Kyren Williams, meantime, was a serious find by Sean McVay and the Rams — the 207-pounder from Notre Dame has three straight 1,000-yard seasons, in addition to 111 career receptions. Kenneth Walker III, last season’s Super Bowl MVP, has been a better receiver in the NFL than expected and will now be the top back in Kansas City.

This was a quality running back class. Rachaad White, Isiah Pacheco and Brian Robinson Jr. have all made impacts, as well.

Wide receiver

This was billed ahead of the draft as a tremendous wide receiver class. So far, so good.

It’s hard to say Pickens has been a surprise, at least from a scouting perspective. He has outperformed expectations at least in terms of consistency, though, and his 93-catch, 1,429-yard, nine-touchdown 2025 season is repeatable. I have Garrett Wilson ranked slightly ahead of Drake London, as his offensive situation has been as bad as, or worse than, anyone else’s in the league — and he’s still a top-shelf weapon.

If Tyler Shough can continue his improvement at QB, New Orleans could be a much-improved squad this season, which in turn could help shine more light on how good Olave has been — he’s produced three 1,000-yard seasons in four tries.

Alec Pierce comes in just ahead of Detroit speedster Jameson Williams for No. 5 on the list, but that’s a tough call. Both have earned extensions from their original teams and provided serious big-play ability.

Tight end

Trey McBride was arguably the best pick in the entire 2022 NFL Draft. In hindsight, teams were too concerned about the impact of his light frame in the run game and weren’t high enough on him as an ascending receiver talent. McBride’s 90-catch, 1,121-yard senior year at Colorado State doubled his next-best college season, but it was just the start for him — he’s already made 347 catches for 3,475 yards and 17 touchdowns as a pro, and his 126 catches last season set a single-season NFL record for tight ends.

Jake Ferguson was another great pick, as he’s now made two Pro Bowls as a durable and reliable inline tight end who can block on first downs and move the chains on third. We can say similar things for the other three guys on this list, including Isaiah Likely, who followed John Harbaugh to the Giants.

Offensive tackle

After some inconsistency over his first two seasons, Charles Cross was one of the smoothest pass-protecting left tackles in the NFL over the past two years and allowed just two sacks during Seattle’s Super Bowl run. He signed a $104 million extension in January, making him the NFL’s fifth-highest-paid tackle.

Close friends and former Central Michigan teammates, Bernhard Raimann and Luke Goedeke were two of the most unlikely prospects in the 2022 class. The Austrian-born Raimann was discovered playing tight end as a prep foreign exchange student in a southwest Michigan town of fewer than 900 people; Goedeke’s career began as a walk-on tight end at Division III Wisconsin-Stevens Point. Each nailed down a starting job with the team that drafted him and earned more than $20 million last season.

Guard

Many scouts graded Tyler Smith as a tackle (his college position at Tulsa) heading into the 2022 draft, and they were nervous about his lack of experience as he was one of the younger linemen in the class. He was terrific at left tackle as a rookie and has been even better since moving to guard ahead of the 2023 season. At 25, Smith is one of the top offensive linemen in the NFL.

Zion Johnson just signed a three-year, $49-million deal with the Browns after starting the past four seasons for the Chargers. He’s coming off the best year of his career, but he’s also been up and down from a protection standpoint.

Center

Two of the NFL’s best centers came from the 2022 draft. Tyler Linderbaum has made three straight Pro Bowls and just signed a gigantic $81 million deal with the Raiders in free agency. Cam Jurgens, meanwhile, replaced a Philadelphia legend in Jason Kelce and promptly helped the Eagles win another Super Bowl in 2024. Linderbaum, Jurgens and Kansas City’s Creed Humphrey form the NFL’s current class of elite centers.

Sean Rhyan and Cade Mays both entered the league at other positions up front before shifting to center. Rhyan signed a three-year extension with the Packers this offseason; Mays left Carolina for Detroit, also on a three-year deal.

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Edge

One of the hottest pre-draft debates in 2022 was that of who belonged at the No. 1 edge spot, especially after Travon Walker put together one of the best combine performances we’ve ever seen. Aidan Hutchinson wasn’t much worse, though. Despite losing most of one NFL season to a leg injury, Hutchinson pretty clearly emerged as the best of this bunch, and arguably the best player in the class regardless of position. The NFL’s only non-quarterback with a bigger contract than Hutchinson ($180 million) is Micah Parsons ($186 million).

Walker has hardly been a slouch. He put up back-to-back 10-sack seasons, beginning in 2023, and he just signed a $110 million extension.

Kayvon Thibodeaux has been more flash than consistency to this point, but he’s still plenty talented.

Defensive tackle

So many analysts (rightly) focused on Jordan Davis’ freaky measurables and testing numbers at the 2022 combine, to the point that the attention overshadowed what Baltimore found in the third round. Travis Jones is a great example of a prospect who was dripping with athletic traits, but also came with questions about his technique and ability to win against high-level talent. He’s answered the bell, though, as an ascending talent, both against the run and as a pass rusher.

Devonte Wyatt has been the best sack producer of this group (combined 16 through four years), but he loses the tiebreaker with Jones on run defense.

None of this is to say Davis has struggled — he’s been a good player for the Eagles, but this was a really good DT class. Micheal Clemons also has been a consistent pocket-pushing presence inside.

Linebacker

It’s probably cheating to have Nik Bonitto with the linebackers and not the edge defenders, but he is more than a normal edge. The 6-foot-3, 240-pounder can line up, and win, pretty much anywhere. His agility and nose for the ball have made him one of the NFL’s most lethal defensive playmakers. A Clay Matthews Jr. clone, Bonitto has totaled a combined 37 sacks and 199 pressures in four years.

Among the best pure off-ball linebackers from this crop, it’s hard to argue with the production we’ve seen from Quay Walker. He’s played more than 3,000 career snaps, and he has more than 250 tackles on designed runs plus a run-stop rate of 19.5 percent since his rookie year.

Devin Lloyd, Terrel Bernard and Nakobe Dean all have produced, as well — if Dean can stay healthy, his best could be ahead of him.

Cornerback

It’s been a true privilege to track the progress of the top cornerbacks in this class. We knew it was special at the time, and the debate over whether Derek Stingley Jr. or Sauce Gardner would be the cream of the crop is still going — and might continue to rage for years. Right now, I’ll lean toward Stingley, who has blossomed into everything we thought he could be as a man-coverage defender with elite ball skills. He’s had a combined nine picks in more than 1,100 coverage snaps over the past two years.

Trent McDuffie has also forced himself into the conversation. He is a truly elite corner who is now the NFL’s highest-paid player at his position ($124 million over four years), after being traded from Kansas City to the Rams this offseason.

Safeties

Kyle Hamilton is the best safety in the league; when healthy, Kerby Joseph is no worse than top five. That Hamilton fell all the way to No. 14 remains ridiculous, as he could make a case (along with Stingley) to be the second-best player in this class behind Hutchinson. Joseph was one of the top steals of the 2022 draft and leads all NFL players with 20 combined interceptions since 2022.

Jalen Pitre, Bryan Cook and Nick Cross have been productive NFL players. So has Daxton Hill, when he’s been healthy. Lewis Cine has never been the same since he suffered a compound fracture during the first month of his rookie year.