The 2026 NFL Draft will take place next week. Before that, it’s worth taking a look back at the past few years to see how well the teams did and what they could have done better. Today we’re looking at the 2022 draft.
The 2022 draft was all about defense and the first five picks were all defensive players. In today’s re-draft it looks a bit more offensive, although like back then only one quarterback made it into the first round – but a different one than back then.
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NFL Re-Draft 2022
1st pick: Jacksonville Jaguars – Aidan Hutchinson, EDGE
Original pick: Travon Walker, EDGE
From today’s perspective, Hutchinson is certainly the best player in the class at the time. While Walker was a slow-to-develop project but has since been extended for $100 million, Hutchinson has been a fearsome, elite pass rusher right out of the gate.
2nd pick: Detroit Lions – Sauce Gardner, CB
Original pick: Aidan Hutchinson, EDGE
Pass rush remains a construction site for the Lions, but since they still don’t really have their secondary under control years later, Gardner would probably have been a good solution here. When he’s fit, he’s certainly the best cornerback in his class.
3rd pick: Houston Texans – Derek Stingley Jr., CB
Original Pick: Derek Stingley Jr.
Close behind, however, is Stingley, who has actually been better than Gardner when he was fit over the past two years. Stingley had a difficult time in his first year in a scheme that didn’t suit him, but since DeMeco Ryans took over in 2023, the former LSU star has also blossomed.
4th pick: New York Jets – Brock Purdy, QB
Original Pick: Sauce Gardner, CB
As things stand, we know that Zach Wilson was an absolute draft bust from the year before. And Purdy was the only QB worth mentioning in the class of 2022. Now it must be clear to everyone that he too would have suffered from the poor offensive coaching staff, but from today’s perspective we simply know that he can be a top quarterback. And accordingly he leaves the board at this point.
5th pick: New York Giants – Drake London, WR
Original Pick: Kayvon Thibodeaux, EDGE
If you look at the past four years, you objectively come to the conclusion that no 2022 wide receiver has been as consistently good as London, who played a strong role for the Falcons as an X-receiver and a kind of big slot. He would have been a good fit for the Giants, too, because the receiving corps was completely broken in 2022.
6th pick: Carolina Panthers – Bernhard Raimann, OT
Original pick: Ikem Ekwonu, OT
Ekwonu has played a solid four years in the NFL so far, but if you look at the tackles in the class over the entire period – and tackle should continue to be the pick for the Panthers – then no one has been as consistently good as the Austrian, who was particularly impressive in pass blocking. He was a third-round pick back then and is now a bench on the blind side for the Colts. Who knows how much he could have helped the Panthers.
7th pick: New York Giants – Nik Bonitto, EDGE
Original Pick: Evan Neal, OT
The Giants had a second top 10 pick that they completely blew. While Thibodeaux has at least been solid at 5 so far, Neal has been a complete failure as both a tackle and a guard. They’ll find a right tackle later, but Bonitto turned out to be an outstanding pass rusher for the Broncos and would certainly have helped the Giants more than their original picks back then.
8th pick: Atlanta Falcons – George Pickens, WR
Original Pick: Drake London, WR
2025 was a revelation as far as Pickens was concerned. He showed that he can thrive in the right environment. And since we are looking for an X receiver here, it is my choice at this point. Bonus: he was a star with the Georgia Bulldogs, so would have been an ideal pick for the Falcons as a local hero.
9th pick: Seattle Seahawks – Charles Cross, OT
Original pick: Charles Cross
He had ups and downs, but in the end the cross pick from before absolutely paid off. So why change anything?
10th pick: New York Jets – Garrett Wilson, WR
Original pick: Garrett Wilson
I’m torn between Wilson and Chris Olave here. Both were about equally good in their first four years and both had a serious injury. However, Olave has had more problems with concussions, which is always a concern. And Wilson was even Offensive Rookie of the Year back then with a bad QB (Wilson). In this respect, this pick remains.
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11th pick: Washington Commanders – Chris Olave, WR
Original Pick: Chris Olave, WR (Saints)
The Commanders went 16th after a trade and selected Jahan Dotson. Dotson only played two years in Washington and remained pale. Olave might have been a much better option.
12th pick: Minnesota Vikings – Trent McDuffie, CB
Original Pick: Jameson Williams, WR (Lions)
The Vikings don’t make a trade at this position and then make a big upgrade at cornerback with McDuffie. Cameron Dantzler played his last season in Minnesota in 2022 and Patrick Peterson, then 32 years old, did the same…
13th pick: Houston Texans – Jalen Pitre, S
Original Pick: Jordan Davis, DT (Eagles)
The Texans drafted Pitre at the start of Round 2, but this time they struck earlier knowing how great his development would be.
14th pick: Baltimore Ravens – Kyle Hamilton, S
Original pick: Kyle Hamilton
One of the best in his position. No reason to change anything!
15th pick: Philadelphia Eagles – Jordan Davis, DT
Original Pick: Kenyon Green, OG (Texans)
The fact that the Eagles traded heavily for Davis at the time and recently signed him to a lucrative extension says it all, right?
16th pick: New Orleans Saints – Trey McBride, TE
Original Pick: Jahan Dotson, WR (Commanders)
Top receivers are out at this point, but in McBride they have found one of the best receiving tight ends in the league. At that time, this role was still held by Payton favorite Adam Trautman, who is not a real factor in the passing game.
17th pick: Los Angeles Chargers – Tyler Smith, OT
Original Pick: Zion Johnson, OG
The O-line has been a construction site for the Chargers for a long time and was already so in 2022. Tyler Smith may have moved inside to left guard in Dallas, as expected, but since the Chargers still have problems in this area to this day, he would have been the pick.
18th pick: Philadelphia Eagles – Jameson Williams, WR
Original Pick: Treylon Burks, WR (Titans)
Without the trade with the Titans, AJ Brown won’t end up in Philly, which means the Eagles will have to improvise here. Williams is the best receiver available as a big-play weapon, although we now know that he basically wasted his first two seasons with a torn ACL and subsequent betting problems…
19th pick: New Orleans Saints – Abraham Lucas, OT
Original Pick: Trevor Penning, OT
The O-line needed upgrades back then and penning was a misstep. Accordingly, the path here leads to Lucas, who was always at a good level compared to Charles Cross at the Seahawks and would have helped the Saints in the long term.
20th pick: Pittsburgh Steelers – Riq Woolen, CB
Original pick: Kenny Pickett, QB
They desperately needed a new quarterback after Ben Roethlisberger’s retirement, but after Purdy, there was no one around who could have been drafted in Round 1. Then why not beef up the weak cornerback lineup? And maybe Mike Tomlin would have gotten Woolen’s indiscipline under control back then…
21st pick: New England Patriots – Zach Tom, OT
Original Pick: Trent McDuffie, CB (Chiefs)
The O-line was already a problem back then and Zach Tom (then Packers 4th round pick) turned out to be one of the best tackles in the class. And since right tackle was a bigger problem back then, this might have been a good pick.
22nd pick: Green Bay Packers – Devin Lloyd, LB
Original Pick: Quay Walker, LB
Linebacker was already the right trend back then, but Lloyd developed significantly better than Walker, who was often noticed for his lack of discipline.
23rd pick: Arizona Cardinals – Jermaine Johnson, EDGE
Original Pick: Kair Elam, CB (Bills)
The Cardinals needed a pass rush at the time and Johnson is probably the best available at this point.
24th pick: Dallas Cowboys – Luke Goedeke, OL
Original Pick: Tyler Smith, OT
Not ideal, but the Cowboys needed help on the O-line at the time. Goedeke once played guard for the Bucs, but has since established himself as a right tackle. Before the draft, Tyler Smith was also scheduled to play guard, but had to move to left tackle early on because Tyron Smith was seriously injured. Maybe Goedeke could have done that too.
25th pick: Buffalo Bills – Christian Benford, CB
Original Pick: Tyler Linderbaum, C (Ravens)
Benford was one of their top picks at the time and was a real steal in Round 6. This time he’s the pick and not draft bust Kair Elam after a trade with the Cardinals at 23…
26th pick: Tennessee Titans – DaRon Bland, CB
Original Pick: Jermaine Johnson, EDGE (Jets)
At his best, Bland is an excellent ballhawk. Something the Titans haven’t had in a long time.
27th pick: Tampa Bay Buccaneers – Jake Ferguson, TE
Original Pick: Devin Lloyd, LB (Jaguars)
The Bucs brought in two new tight ends in the draft at the time: Otton and Kieft. But neither of them comes close to what Ferguson has achieved so far in his career.
28th pick: Green Bay Packers – Alec Pierce, WR
Original Pick: Devonte Wyatt, DT
It took him a while, but over the past two years he has been more productive and consistent than the two wide receivers the Packers drafted back then (Christian Watson, Romeo Doubs) and Aaron Rodgers would certainly have benefited from a true deep threat in his final year in Green Bay.
29th pick: Kansas City Chiefs – James Cook, RB
Original Pick: Cole Strange, OG (Patriots)
The Chiefs spent big on Kenneth Walker in 2026. A late first-round pick for Cook would certainly have paid off over the past four years. He is consistency personified and has now put together three 1,000-yard seasons in a row.
30th pick: Kansas City Chiefs – George Karlaftis, EDGE
Original pick: George Karlaftis
He has remained a bit pale lately, but he played a big role in the first few years, especially in the playoffs, and helped a lot in winning two Super Bowls since 2022 and reaching three. So the pick paid off.
31st pick: Cincinnati Bengals – Tyler Linderbaum, C
Original Pick: Braxton Hill, S
Despite participating in the Super Bowl before that draft, the Bengals’ offensive line was already a huge problem back then. Linderbaum would probably have been the anchor to improve this construct.
32nd pick: Detroit Lions – Kayvon Thibodeaux, EDGE
Original Pick: Lewis Cine, S (Vikings)
Thibodeaux certainly hasn’t been bad up to this point. He was a top-10 reach, but that certainly would have been interesting value-wise at the end of Round 1, especially since the Lions would still have needed help in the pass rush in that scenario.
