My good friend Tim asked me to project the top ten picks of the 2022 NFL Draft, and I will offer those up momentarily. Before I do that, I wanted to offer some thoughts on the recent passing of former Ohio State quarterback Dwayne Haskins.
I want to offer that I never met Dwayne Haskins, and everything I have read and heard about him as a person represent that his tragic death is going to be something that will be questioned for a long time. As my cousin John and I discussed it, we may never know why Haskins decided to walk on a busy highway adjacent to the Fort Lauderdale airport. The death of a young person is always something that just leaves people questioning why it happened.
As I wrote up above, I never knew Dwayne Haskins, so I cannot offer up much more than my sincere sympathies to all who knew and loved him. I can only imagine how his wife, parents, sister, friends, and former teammates are doing with his loss.
As someone who follows Ohio State football, one thing I feel comfortable writing about Dwayne Haskins is his impact upon the program. Haskins was originally going to go to Maryland, but a coaching change persuaded him to reevaluate his decision, and he signed with Ohio State in February 2016. After redshirting that first year, Haskins moved into the primary backup quarterback position behind J.T. Barrett. When called upon in THE GAME, Haskins came in and rallied the Buckeyes to a victory. For most Ohio State fans, this is common knowledge.
The impact Dwayne Haskins had upon the program is being felt today, with quarterbacks such as C.J. Stroud. Quite simply, Haskins became the starter in 2018, and had arguably one of the best seasons in college football history. Haskins decided to enter the 2019 NFL Draft, but his performance in 2018 gained the attention of another quaterback who was looking to make a move from Georgia to Ohio State - Justin Fields. And while at Ohio State, Fields' play at quarterback was what helped to attract C.J. Stroud.
Before Dwayne Haskins, Ohio State quarterbacks were not looked upon as top NFL prospects. In 1982, the then-Baltimore Colts drafted Art Schlichter in the first round of the NFL Draft. The B1G did not have a quarterback selected in the first round until the 1995 NFL Draft, when Carolina selected Kerry Collins of Penn State. And in 2019, Washington drafted Dwayne Haskins. Two years later, Chicago traded up with the NY Giants to select Justin Fields. Barring injury, C.J. Stroud will be a first round selection in 2023, making him the third straight Ohio State quarterback selected in the first round of the NFL Draft.
The impact of a player is sometimes difficult to quantify. In the case of Dwayne Haskins, and what he meant to the Ohio State football program, it is very easy to see how he changed the trajectory of the quarterback position. Rest In Peace, Dwayne Haskins.
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If someone were to put up a dart board and blindfold me, I may have better chances of identifying how the top ten of the 2022 NFL Draft will go. There are talented players, but nobody falls in the truly marquee category. Rumor has it that teams are eager to move down, but are not finding teams wanting to move up. With that being said, here's how it may shake out...
- Jacksonville: Travon Walker, DL, Georgia
- Detroit: Aidan Hutchinson, DL, Michigan
- Houston: Ikem Ekwonu, OT, North Carolina State
- NY Jets: Sauce Gardner, CB, Cincinnati
- NY Giants: Charles Cross, OT, Mississippi State
- Carolina: Evan Neal, OL, Alabama
- NY Giants: Jermaine Johnson, DE, Florida State
- Atlanta: Garrett Wilson, WR, Ohio State
- Seattle: Kayvon Thibodeaux, DE, Oregon
- NY Jets: Drake London, WR, USC
Put it this way...IF Garrett Wilson is on the board at pick 13, when the Browns would have been drafting before the big Deshaun Watson trade, I will be forever thinking of this scene
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