2-Round 2022 NFL Mock Draft: Pre-Combine Mock Has Trades Galore!
By Hunter Haas
23. player. 32. Scouting Report. Pick Analysis. Purdue. George Karlaftis. EDGE
The Cardinals are facing some major decisions this offseason. Chief among them is the fact that star edge rusher Chandler Jones is a free agent and is looking for a big payday. After a five season stretch from 2015-2019 that saw him reach double-digit sacks in each campaign — totaling 72.5 sacks in that span — Jones battled injury all of 2020.
In 2021, he returned to form by reaching the double-digit sack plateau again and proving he still has something left in the tank. He will probably price himself out of the teams’ top offer, considering they already have JJ Watt’s lucrative deal on the books.
Enter Greece native George Karlaftis in this 2022 NFL Mock Draft. There was a time, not too long ago, where you couldn’t find a mock draft that didn’t feature Karlaftis in the first ten picks. The slip is more of a product of others rising at the position than it is an indictment on the talent that Karlaftis possesses.
He plays with a strength and motor that is on par with even the best in the NFL. Because of this he has one of the safest floor projections, which is rare for a player that has such little experience playing football. He may not put up the same counting numbers as Jones, but he can have a similar impact for the defensive unit.
24. Scouting Report. Pick Analysis. Georgia. 123. DL. Devonte Wyatt. player
Tyler Linderbaum is hard to pass up here in this 2022 NFL Mock Draft, and I’d understand if that’s the way Jerry Jones and crew elected to go. I decided on an interior lineman, he just plays defense instead. Devonte Wyatt fills a major need and can be argued as the best player still available. His teammate Jordan Davis stole a lot of the shine on the defensive front of Georgia, but Wyatt has the best pro potential of the two for a few reasons.
The first is that he is versatile. Wyatt can play the 0-, 1-, and 3- technique at a very high level, giving the Cowboys a jack-of-all-trades chess piece on the defensive line to match with their do-it-all linebacker Micah Parsons. The other reason is that he is built to hold up better over the course of a 60 minute football game. Wyatt gives the same effort in the fourth quarter as he does the first, giving him the traits to step in the lineup as an immediate difference maker.