At the risk of stating the obvious, every draft is vital to an NFL team. Young, cost-controlled players help make up the foundation of any good squad. You can’t win — consistently — if you don’t draft well.
When it comes to the 2022 Draft, there are a few teams that face particularly intriguing decisions as they try to find their way to what’s next.
Two of those five teams are looking to start a rebuild after completely bottoming out. Two others have young promising QBs that need more help. The final team has Patrick Mahomes but lost one of his favorite targets.
Detroit Lions (3-13-1)
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The Lions are likely still a year or two from relevance, but that doesn’t make this weekend’s draft less essential. If anything, with four picks in the top-66 (including No. 2 overall), this is the draft that could ultimately determine whether the Brad Holmes-Dan Campbell era works out as fans hope.
Detroit could elect to go for broke and take, say, Malik Willis as their future franchise quarterback. Or they could wait on a quarterback and continue to build the overall team foundation and ride with someone like Kayvon Thibodeaux.
One thing’s for sure: The Lions need a serious talent upgrade. Campbell’s first team overachieved by a lot — and still only won three games. He’s proven he can get players to execute at a high level, now it’s up to Holmes to give him a roster good enough to win more games.
New England Patriots (10-7)
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I almost hesitated to put the Patriots in the “make-or-break draft” category. They won 10 games and made the playoffs last year! Mac Jones looks like he has real promise! Bill Belichick is, still, their head coach!
But since Tom Brady’s departure, something feels a bit off in New England. It’s almost as if there isn’t a coherent plan to make the ceiling of the Jones era anything more than Perennial Fringe Wild Card Contender.
For example, while the Bills added Von Miller, the Dolphins nabbed Tyreek Hill and Terron Armstead, Belichick and Co. let an All-Pro level corner in J.C. Jackson walk. Then, they traded arguably their best lineman — Shaq Mason — to Tampa Bay for a fifth-round pick.
Jackson is 26-years-old and has 25 picks in the four years since he became a full-time starter. Belichick is known for letting veterans go instead of signing them to big deals, but this one feels like a mistake. Meanwhile, Mason, 28, is an elite guard with a $7.38 million cap hit in 2022. Oh, and the noted always-healthy Devante Parker is New England’s current No. 1 receiver.
It’s tough to question Belichick, given all he’s done in the NFL, but still: What’s the strategy in Foxborough?
The rest of the AFC is loading up for the future. Belichick better wake up during this draft before the conference starts to lap him.
Houston Texans (4-13)
AP Photo-Eric Christian Smith
Far be it from me to make assumptions, but if you have 10 picks in one draft — with six in the top 108 slots — there’s probably a lot of weight riding on it.
It’s the start of the Lovie Smith era in Houston. If Smith, his glorious beard and friends see anything in 2021 third-rounder Davis Mills, it’s time to construct a solid bedrock around him.
The Texans are essentially starting over. They don’t have many legitimate game-breakers outside of Brandin Cooks (maybe). They’re not going to be a factor for a long time, but this year’s draft gives them a chance to start assembling the first pieces of a young core.
Kansas City Chiefs (12-5)
AP Photo-Paul Sancya
Even more so than the Patriots, I almost feel gross saying the Chiefs are on notice in this draft.
Pat Mahomes is the best quarterback in football. Andy Reid is consistently in the conversation for the best coach in football. The trade of Tyreek Hill aside, Travis Kelce still wears McDonald’s red and gold. And I really like the addition of Juju Smith-Schuster as a possession target.
Ah, but such is the burden of high expectations. With Mahomes in his prime, the Chiefs are supposed to be a championship contender every year. Since beating the 49ers in Super Bowl 54, they took a Super Bowl beating at the hands of the Bucs, and blew a multi-touchdown lead — at home, no less — to the Bengals in an AFC title game. Now, their division, the AFC West, genuinely seems better than ever.
I will never count out the Chiefs as long as Mahomes is their quarterback. But, oh boy, could they use some immediate impact players — especially if they stay at No. 29 and No. 30 in the first round — to quell some of this nausea I’m feeling about them lately.
Kansas City seems vulnerable for the first time in forever. One draft could flip that.
Chicago Bears (6-11)
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The Bears are in a tough spot.
They have a new GM, Ryan Poles, who understandably wants to leave his imprints all over Lake Forest. New head coach Matt Eberflus is the next supposed Leader of Men to take Chicago to the promised land. In Justin Fields, the Bears might have their first legitimate franchise quarterback since the dawn of the Internet.
But some veterans on both sides of the ball — like Roquan Smith, David Montgomery, Darnell Mooney, and Jaylon Johnson — are undoubtedly great talents and ready to be a part of a contender now.
There’s one problem. Mooney is currently Fields’ only true reliable target, and two second-year pros — Teven Jenkins (who barely played as a rookie) and Larry Borom — are penciled in as the starting tackles. On paper, the Bears don’t exactly have what we’d call a championship offense. I would go as far as to say it doesn’t even resemble a competent offense.
But Chicago will have to be savvy to find high-end talent. At the moment, the Bears have three picks in the top-71, including No. 39 and No. 48 after trading Khalil Mack. They need to hit on those picks or waste another year of Fields’ development by failing to give him the weapons he needs to make full use of his abilities.
