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Vegas Does Not Disappoint: Top 5 Takeaways from Round 1

Viva La Las Vegas!!! Go Big, or GO HOME! In what has undoubtedly been the most unpredictable and entertaining first rounds in recent history the 2022 NFL Draft has not disappointed. Here are my Top 5 Takeaways from yesterday’s first round of the NFL draft.

1. New York Jets win the first round

The New York Jets easily stole the spotlight and won the first round of the NFL draft. New York sent the NFL Commissioner, Roger Goodell, to the podium 3 times; the most in the draft. With those picks, they acquired 3 of Daniel Jerimiah’s Top 10 Best Prospects, they filled every need, without reaching or over sacrificing draft capital. While there were some great selections all around, the fact that the Jets were able to land the prospects they did, when they did is something New York fans have to be excited about. They obviously did their homework and scouted well, landing what many scouts believed to be the best CB in the draft at No. 4: Ahmad ‘Sauce’ Gardner. The best DB the Jets have drafted since Darrelle Revis, Sauce joins a revamped secondary that includes DJ Reed, Jordan Whitehead, Ashtyn Davis and Michael Carter II. At No. 10 the New York Jets took Garrett Wilson out of Ohio State, making it the first time they’ve taken a WR in the 1st Round since 2001, yes, their streak was longer than the Packers (we’ll get to them later.) Wilson gives the Jets other Wilson (Zach) the weapon they’ve been trying to acquire all offseason, the most day one ready Wide Receiver in this draft the Jets luck out in acquiring a great talent without having to pay these high WR contracts, this shows the fans they want to win now and believe they are assembling a team to do so. Somehow Jermaine Johnson the Edge rusher out of Florida State (whom many had as a potential top 10 pick) fell all the way into the later half of the 1st round, this gave the Jets an amazing opportunity to fill the only other glaring need for them they had to start the draft. The Jets have very quickly rebuilt a much stronger defense then the one that ranked in the Bottom Five last year, and still managed to provide extra help for their talented young QB, and Zach Wilson obviously approves.

2. Detroit Lions are all in on Jared Goff

I got to say, I love the sound of the ‘Motor City Maniacs’ a nasty new D-Line nickname for Detroit, reminds me of the classic ‘Purple People Eaters’ or ‘Steel Curtain’ of the 70’s and 80’s, and especially after taking Michigan standout Aidan Hutchinson 2nd overall Detroit could definitely be forming its on version. They acquire a huge need and building block for a D-Line unit that needs to provide pressure on Aaron Rodgers, Kirk Cousins, and Justin Fields, in order to compete in the NFC North. Than out of nowhere they do something even more shocking and move up for Jameson Williams a seeming insult to Green Bay (I promise we’ll get to them) the Lions snag what many believe to be the best WR in the draft, providing Jared Goff with a better receiving corps than Aaron Rodgers has EVER had. If anything yesterday showed that the Lions have faith in Jared Goff and plan to move forward with him they had plenty of chances and options for QB, and still do but the fact they made the move to not take one and build and offense around their current lineup should be a promising sign for Goff.

3. Ravens get biggest draft steal

Wow the Ravens definitely got a steal in Kyle Hamilton, probably the BEST value pick in the first round, Kyle Hamilton gives the Baltimore Ravens the Safety they wanted when they dished out all that money for Earl Thomas a few years ago, to be honest I can’t believe we predicted this one right in our last second Mock Draft yesterday, but we knew if he was still on the board at 14 the Ravens couldn’t pass on him, Hamilton joins the deep end of a strong Ravens secondary that features Marlon Humphrey and Marcus Peters, a huge need for a team with Super Bowl aspirations and a need to cover the likes of the elite receivers AFC playoff teams have. They than followed up their 14th pick by trading back into the 1st round and drafting Tyler Linderbaum. While Lamar Jackson wasn’t happy with Baltimore giving up their current WR1, it came to fruition that Hollywood Brown actually was the one who asked to be traded, there was a huge need for an Offensive Lineman that could become a long term anchor in Baltimore, and that is Linderbaum.

4. WR Carousel continues into the draft, and includes rookies

This was just insane, what a year for WR’s, even before the draft, between Tyreek Hill and Devante Adams being traded, Christian Kirk receiving a mega deal, the draft continued to be focused on WR. With all the buzz around Deebo Samuel and where he could go after asking for a trade from the 49ers, it was AJ Brown who got dealt first to the Eagles, in a wild blockbuster draft day trade the Eagles can now claim the best WR duo in the NFC East by a mile. Other than Garrett Wilson to the Jets almost all of the Top WR’s in the draft went to unexpected places, Jameson Williams to the Lions, Treylon Burks to the Titans (due to the AJ Brown trade), Jahan Dotson to the Commanders, and than after all that, as mentioned earlier, the Ravens sent Marquise Brown to the Arizona Cardinals, and with all the focus on the WR’s in the 1st Round the biggest team left unmentioned….

5. Green Bay fails to provide for Rodgers

In a shocking and extremely disappointing turn of events for the Green Bay fan base the Packers were unaggressive during the run on WR’s and failed to make a trade for anyone with the capital they did have from the Davante Adams trade. They did however load up on defense and filled some big holes on that side of the ball with Devonte Wyatt and Quay Walker, both out of Georgia. However one does have to think, why would they continue to not provide one of the Greatest NFL QB’s, a 4x MVP, and Super Bowl winner with more weapons. However, at the time of posting this article the Green Bay Packers have moved up into the early part of the 2nd Round and taken Christian Watson a talented WR out of North Dakota Stat University, so this whole paragraph may all be in vein now.