2022 NFL Draft Round 1 recap

The SEC was well represented at the 2022 NFL Draft. Stop me if you’ve heard that sentence before. Of the 32 players selected Thursday night, 12 of them are from your favorite conference!

#1 overall pick Travon Walker of Georgia joined some elite company last night. Walker became the fifth Bulldog to ever be picked first overall in the NFL Draft. He joins Super Bowl Champion Matthew Stafford as the two Dawgs to achieve this feat in the 21st century.

LSU’s Derek Stingley Jr. was picked third overall by the Houston Texans. Stingley Jr. is the second cornerback in three years to be selected as high as third by a team in the NFL Draft and just the third since 1997. Jeff Okduah and Shawn Springs of Ohio State were the other two aforementioned players, obviously respectively.

Evan Neal became the latest Alabama Crimson Tide player to be drafted in the Top 10. Neal was selected 7th overall by the New York Giants, who drafted Oregon’s Kayvon Thibodeaux 5th overall with their other first-round choice. Neal’s Top 10 selection means it’s been four years in a row for the Tide with a Top 10 pick. They also extended their first-round streak another year and are one year away from breaking Miami’s run of first-round picks from 1995-2008.

Mississippi State broke a long drought without a Top 10 pick. Not since 1983 when the Philadelphia Eagles drafted running back Michael Haddix has anybody from Mississippi State been picked in the Top 10. Charles Cross, an offensive lineman, ended that stretch when the Seattle Seahawks took him 9th overall.

The other players to be selected in the first round included:

• Alabama WR Jameson Williams (12th overall, Detroit Lions)
• Georgia DT Jordan Davis (13th overall, Philadelphia Eagles)
• Texas A&M Aggies OL Kenyon Green (15th overall, Houston Texans)
• Arkansas Razorbacks WR Treylon Burks (18th overall, Tennessee Titans)
• Georgia LB Quay Walker (22nd overall, Green Bay Packers)
• Florida Gators CB Kaiir Elam (23rd overall, Buffalo Bills)
• Georgia DT Devonte Wyatt (28th overall, Green Bay Packers)
• Georgia DB Lewis Cine (32nd overall, Minnesota Vikings)