NFL Trade Rumors
One of my favorite summer offseason exercises is a retrospective on past drafts. So much is made of each draft in the leadup and immediate aftermath, then they are largely forgotten save for the loud successes and failures. It’s not often we get to look back on a draft in its entirety, so let’s do that today.
Common wisdom holds that three years out is when you can truly grade a team’s draft haul. With the majority of their rookie contracts in the books and plenty of team-building done since, you get a pretty clear picture of which picks were foundational for a roster and which ones set teams back in their quest for a title. Players’ careers aren’t necessarily defined by this three-year stretch of course, but on a team level it’s enough time to say with 90 percent confidence whether the pick was a success or failure.
With that in mind, let’s take a look back at and re-grade the 2022 draft. Much was made of the weak quarterback class we just had a few months back, but the 2022 quarterback class made the 2025 group look spectacular by comparison. Only one signal-caller went in the first round and none were in the top 10, leading to a more wild and unpredictable top of the draft than we usually see.
I’ll be examining each team’s draft haul and assigning them a new grade with the benefit of some hindsight. Let’s jump right into it:
Round 2, Pick 55: Colorado State TE Trey McBride
Round 3, Pick 87: San Diego State ED Cameron Thomas
Round 3, Pick 100: Cincinnati ED Myjai Sanders
Round 6, Pick 201: USC RB Keaontay Ingram
Round 6, Pick 215: Virginia Tech G Lecitus Smith
Round 7, Pick 244: Valdosta State CB Christian Matthew
Round 7, Pick 256: Penn State ED Jesse Luketa
Round 7, Pick 257: Oklahoma G Marquis Hayes
Original Grade: B
3-Year Grade: C-
How you grade this draft hinges entirely on how you view the McBride pick relative to the rest of the draft. McBride has become one of the best tight ends in the NFL, coming off a 1,000-yard season and having almost 2,000 combined yards over the last two. He’s a true stud at the position, a home-run pick, and operated as the top option in Arizona’s passing attack for the last two years.
The rest of the draft produced absolutely nothing. Ingram stuck around as a depth back for a few seasons, but McBride is the only pick still on the Cardinals’ roster. Sanders barely made the roster as a rookie and was cut during his second season, and Thomas didn’t last much longer. Out of eight picks, only one turned into an NFL player, though that one was a huge hit and salvages this grade somewhat.
Round 1, Pick 8: USC WR Drake London
Round 2, Pick 38: Penn State ED Arnold Ebiketie
Round 2, Pick 58: Montana State LB **[Troy...
