2022 NFL Draft reactions: Draft grades, best and worst picks, biggest steals, undrafted signings, fantasy ranks

Patriots owner Robert Kraft made two things clear at the NFL owners’ meetings. One was that he expected the Patriots to continue to put together strong draft classes like the one they got in 2021. The other was that while Bill Belichick sometimes does things in an unconventional way, his results speak for themselves.

Those two ideas collided on draft weekend. Belichick started the draft by moving back in the first round and taking Chattanooga offensive lineman Cole Strange over worthy cornerback prospects. That pick and the Patriots’ second-round pick of Baylor wide receiver Tyquan Thornton were met with skepticism from draft analysts, including our own Dane Brugler.

Belichick then double-dipped at running back and cornerback, grabbed a backup quarterback, a Division II defensive lineman and closed the draft by taking two more offensive linemen. The result is a draft class that has the potential to produce starters but looks like it could be short on immediate contributors who will help the Patriots get over the top in the AFC East.

Read more here.

(Photo: Kirby Lee / USA Today)

The Bucs have a great history of finding undrafted gems and getting them to not only make the roster but make an impact — tight end Cam Brate, third in team history with 33 touchdown catches, is a perfect example of that. Outside linebacker Cam Gill had a half-sack in the Super Bowl, and former Bucs running back Peyton Barber already has 2,457 career rushing yards.

This year's group of UDFAs include two receivers who caught more than 100 passes last season and the younger brother of Jaguars defensive tackle Foley Fatukasi.

Read more here.

Colts DE Kwity Paye’s brother Komotay Koffie lands with the Chiefs, the next step in a remarkable personal story that The Athletic's Stephen Holder chronicled last week.

Koffie was Dane Brugler's No. 79 safety entering the draft.

The Houston Texans entered the 2022 NFL Draft with 10 picks over three days and left with nine prospects as the second year of general manager Nick Caserio’s rebuild continues.

The Texans started Thursday night by selecting LSU cornerback Derek Stingley Jr. at No. 3. Texans head coach Lovie Smith stated the need for a top-notch cornerback for his Tampa-2 scheme and Houston believes it has a franchise player it can build around in Stingley Jr. Houston traded the No. 13 pick it received from the Deshaun Watson trade to the Eagles for picks Nos. 15, 124, 162 and 166, using the 15th pick on Texas A&M offensive lineman Kenyon Green.

On Day 2, the Texans started by picking Baylor’s Jalen Pitre at No. 37. They then sent the No. 68, 108 and 124 picks to Cleveland for No. 44 to select Alabama receiver John Metchie III, who is one of the more polished route-runners in the class. Metchie III is recovering from ACL surgery, but expects to be ready for training camp. The Texans finished Day 2 by adding another Alabama player in linebacker Christian Harris.

This draft class has a hometown flair for the Texans with three picks hailing from the Houston area in Green (Atascocita), Pitre (Stafford) and sixth-round pick Austin Deculus (Cypress).

Read more here.

Multiple trades down by Bears general manager Ryan Poles resulted in eight picks on Saturday after he started the day with only three. The Bears finished with 11 selections, their largest draft class since 2008, when Jerry Angelo made 12 picks, including five in the seventh round. Ryan Pace’s high was nine in 2016; Phil Emery took eight players in 2014.

Getting more swings at players in what was considered a deep draft after more players stayed in school because of the COVID-19 pandemic was a goal for the Bears. And Poles succeeded.

Read more on the first-year GM's approach.

Dane Brugler will roll out a ranking of his favorite draft classes and a 2023 mock draft early this week.

With the 2022 NFL Draft wrapped up, it’s time for the NFL Draft grades … for fantasy football. If you haven’t seen this piece from past years, each player gets two grades. The first draft grade is redraft-only value (2022). The second is the player’s dynasty grade/potential.

For the grade itself, A’s are your stars – players who can or will become a “one” at their position (RB1, TE1, etc.). For B’s, we’re talking about second and some third-tier starters in all leagues. When we get to C’s, those are fringe starters, maybe some boom/bust plays, etc. And D’s are waiver wire players with maybe some Best Ball or rare bye week, matchup play potential.

Read more here.

(Photo: Butch Dill / USA Today)

After staying quiet in free agency — at least on the offensive side of the ball — the Colts went big in this weekend’s NFL Draft. They went offense-offense-offense with their first three picks, adding a wide receiver in Cincinnati’s Alec Pierce, a tight end in Virginia’s Jelani Woods and a left tackle in Central Michigan’s Bernhard Raimann. The hope is the first two become dependable targets for Ryan within the next two seasons and Raimann solidifies the ever-important left tackle spot.

More on the Colts' draft haul here.

The Chicago Bears have released quarterback Nick Foles, they announced on Sunday. Foles, 33, played in only one game for Chicago in 2021.

The Bears signed Trevor Siemian in March to back up Justin Fields.

Read more here.

Kwesi Adofo-Mensah and Kevin O’Connell were a breath of fresh air for an organization that badly needed it. They were chosen to put new eyes on a roster that seemed to need a re-evaluation after missing the playoffs the past two seasons. You don’t struggle like that just because a coach’s culture or scheme deteriorates, as Mike Zimmer’s did. The roster has a large say in that, too.

But here we are now, 10 weeks later, and the truth is an uncomfortable one for Vikings fans. As the roster-improvement phase of the offseason culminated this weekend with the NFL Draft, the harsh reality is that this roster really isn’t much better than the one that hasn’t had a winning record since 2019. The moves made by this front office haven’t really distinguished itself from those of the previous one.

Maybe that works out. The Vikings have shunned a rebuild, confident that O’Connell’s improved scheme and a better culture will be the recipe to yield several more wins each season. And maybe that happens.

But it’s also clear that O’Connell isn’t being given a drastically better toolbox with which to work.

Read more here.

Atlanta Falcons wide receiver Drake London and Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Kenny Pickett are the favorites to win offensive rookie of the year, according to BetMGM. The Nos. 8 and 20 picks in the 2022 NFL Draft, respectively, London and Pickett have 13-2 odds to win the award.

A pair of edge rushers — the Detroit Lions' Aidan Hutchinson and the New York Giants' Kayvon Thibodeaux — are co-favorites to win defensive rookie of the year, each with 9-2 odds.

See the full odds here.

The 49ers like to go through the offseason with four quarterbacks and No. 4 — at least for the time being — is the final pick in the draft, Iowa State’s Brock Purdy.

Kyle Shanahan on Saturday cited Purdy’s poise, leadership and experience in explaining why a passer who’s just a bit more than 6 feet tall and who doesn’t have a big arm caught the team’s eye. He said there were similarities to Nick Mullens, whom the 49ers brought in as an undrafted free agent in 2017 and who has remained in the NFL since.

Read more here.

With the 2022 NFL Draft in the rearview mirror, we can begin evaluating teams’ classes while also identifying which selections might have been the biggest boons or worst mistakes for their respective teams. And to do that, we have the Consensus Big Board.

A look at the biggest reaches, which include No. 1 pick Travon Walker and No. 29 pick Cole Strange, and the biggest steals, including No. 7 pick Evan Neal and Malik Willis in the third round.

Another NFL Draft is in the books, so now it’s time for some way-too-early analysis before any of these players take the field.

While The Athletic’s Dane Brugler works at grading every team’s draft and looking ahead to 2023’s top prospects, his fellow draft experts Nate Tice, Diante Lee and Nick Baumgardner unpack the past few days in Las Vegas.