23. Los Angeles Chargers: Drake Jackson, EDGE, USC
With a loaded offense the Chargers have a chance to compete for Super Bowls in the near future, however they need to improve their front four in order for their defense to come close to as effective Brandon Staley’s defense was with the Rams. They add an edge rusher in this 2022 NFL Mock Draft.
Drake Jackson checks a lot of the boxes of what you want in a first-round edge rusher. He’s very projectable as a pass rusher as he has good size, length, athleticism, and strength. Jackson has also been dominant as a pass rusher for the Trojans so far this season as he’s registered a 87.7 pass rush grade.
24. Detroit Lions (via LAR): Sam Howell, QB, North Carolina
The Lions will receive this selection from the Rams via the Matthew Stafford trade. They were projected to take Aidan Hutchinson earlier in this 2022 NFL Mock Draft, and now they can look to add a quarterback if they chose with this selection.
Sam Howell’s stock has gone down this season as he has had some struggles as a passer, however he’s still shown enough to be a first round pick.
Howell is a three-year starter for North Carolina and has been consistently good. One thing that I liked about Howell coming into the season was how well he threw the ball downfield, and unfortunately this season he hasn’t done that nearly as well.
He has however shown what he can do as a runner as he’s rushed for over 800 yards, 11 touchdowns and has forced 63 missed tackles this season.