Each year, as the NFL draft creeps closer and I finalize my rankings, I like to unveil my list of favorite prospects at every position for the class. It has become an annual tradition, highlighting one player from quarterback through safety whom I like more than most.
This is not a list of the best overall prospects in the 2022 class nor is it a list of the guys I consider the best at each position. These are the prospects whom I’ve:
Often rated higher than other evaluators within the draft media or than team evaluators with whom I discuss prospects, or …
Ranked higher in close debates within position groups, or …
Watched and rewatched on tape, just because I like the way they play the game.
This class is so interesting because we’re less than two weeks out from the start of Round 1 (April 28 at 8 p.m. ET on ESPN and ABC), and we still don’t really know where the quarterbacks will go. That makes every scenario still possible. Let’s start with my favorite signal-caller in this class, and I’ll include projections on the round in which each prospect is likely to be drafted. I’ll also give a few fun nuggets and stats for all 12 prospects:
Quarterback
Willis is electric with the ball in his hands and has a cannon for an arm. What’s not to like? He didn’t play with much NFL talent in college, but he made everyone around him better. He took an FBS-high 51 sacks last season — some were because he held on to the ball too long — and still finished with 878 rushing yards (yes, college football still counts sacks as negative yards for quarterbacks).
Willis took a leap forward as a passer in 2021, even with a trio of three-interception games. He had 63 plays of 20-plus yards over the past two seasons, which ranked seventh in the country. He is extremely accurate when he gets outside the pocket. Again, he did this at Liberty, which doesn’t have any other draft picks in this class. Like any young quarterback, Willis needs to go to a team with talent around him (Pittsburgh?) to…
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